Victory at Mersea — Restaurant in Colchester

So disappointed, we were recommended to come here as we've never been to Mersea before and wanted somewhere special for my daughters 16th birthday. When we arrived I realised its more pub grub than special ocassion and tables are sticky when you rest your arm. When booking online it asks if coming for a special occasion so I put the details of birthday but absolutely pointless, not one member of staff wished our daughter happy birthday or did anything to recognise it. My steak was asked to be medium, instead it came blue! With piping running through, we had a lovely young man serving us initially and I showed him where I'd cut and he agreed and took it back to chef. My family ate all their meals and I was offered a free drink for the wait. I declined but said thank you for the offer. Finally my dinner came and the same mushroom (I'd eaten half before giving it back for new steak so knew it was the same) was on my plate and it looked like the same steak as the cut I'd made was in the same place and the piping and gristle. I didn't want to cause any more delays for my daughter so ate half and left the other half. We then got a lady who came to collect our plates. I explained the mushroom was cold and steak had thick piping so believe the same steak had basically been heated more so it was cooked medium/med rare. She was rude and said it was different steak, I said well my cut was still in it and she reiterated that it was a new steak and appeared to take my comment personally, so I said either way, it was a poor cut of steak. She was rude and defensive. Don't know her name but she wears a cartoon badge on her lanyard. No reduction on our £137 bill for the issues and I didn't want to say anything as was trying to keep it lovely for my daughter. Really upset with...

We arrived at 12 when the pub opened so there was hardly anyone there but it took probably about 15 mins to order food. Another 15 mins or so later, we were told that one of the dishes was not available...we duly ordered something else. Another 15 mins or so later, cutlery was brought out, and another 15 mins or so later, our food finally arrived. Firstly, it was cold sitting outside waiting for so long, and nobody came over to check if we were ok or wanted another drink whilst we were waiting (even though they were nowhere near capacity so should have had the time). Secondly, with hardly anyone else there, it should not have taken anywhere near an hour to get our food (other people who arrived after us, received their orders before us). When the food came, we were really hoping for a satisfying meal to warm us up....what we got was basic 1980's bar food at best but at 2021 prices. The plates were the small oval ones that don't fit a normal adult sized portion on. The chips were sparse skinny fries (even though for the scampi they were meant to be chunky). The smallest dollop of coleslaw I've ever seen. Only 8 small scampi nuggets which was not in any way anough. Burgers were poorly put together with some raw salad in a dry bun. And the replacement melon and quinoa salad had no quinoa, and the melon was barely defrosted. This was all extremely dissapointing for a meal in a pub which states on it's website that it is 'award winning', and who charge award winning prices (roughly £13 for each dish) AND we were told we had to pay up front so couldn't have got any money back, including the up front tip! Thoroughly dissapointing after such a long wait. We will not...

My second visit to The Victory, this time with the wife and doggy. We only ate on the pub and haven't stayed in the hotel.

It was a glorious summer's day after a wet fortnight so I thought it would be very busy even on a Wednesday during the school summer holidays but fortunately it was only moderately busy.

The Victory is on the western shore of Mersea Island so away from all the holiday parks and campsites which means the clientele tends to be nicer. This was borne out by the fact that the kids playing on the impressive, big playground structures in the garden area were playing nicely and not being brats.

We sat outside at one of the many bench tables and had lunch. I went for the usual fish and chips and my wife had the Squid starter and sticky toffee pudding with ice cream for desert.

The food was excellent, the fish was clearly freshly cooked to order rather than being one of a batch being kept warm. The fish was tasty and moist and the batter crisp and crunchy. The chips and peas were spot on.

My wife thoroughly enjoyed her food and desert and being a bit of a seafood fiend knows her way around that fayre and said it was lovely.

One thing to point out is that you order at the bar and they bring your food to you but it is cooked fresh to order and they do it properly and not rushed so we were happy to sit in the sun and sip our drinks while we waited the 30 minutes for our first dishes to come out and told them when we were ready for the desert. If you fast food or food done fast this isht the place for you. Relax, enjoy the ambience and...