Mariners Restaurant — Restaurant in Ipswich

A couple of recent visits unfortunately none without fault but it was always a favourite place but now quite disappointed. Booked a table for 6 people previously and always used to love and rave about the chicken satay starter..flavour wise still good as is the aranchini ball but it didn't used to have soooo many whole peanuts in..it's changed but personally for me not for the better.  The Fish cake still as good as it was. When our steak arrived it looked amazing and the chips excellent.. but the steak was completely cold. We sent it back.. with an apology.. and that 'new' ones would come back.. understandably other people on the table tucked in whilst we waited.  When the 'new' steaks arrived they were actually the same steaks reheated but with new chips.  We knew they were the original steaks sent back due to the small pieces we cut off/tried before sending back.  Whilst I totally appreciate why they wouldn't cook brand new ones they shouldn't have said they'd cook 'new' ones.  To make it worse they gave my steak to other person on our table and their steak to me.. not ideal. That said the returned steaks once swapped and with their original owners did taste great.  We all ordered dessert and the chocolate fondant whilst lovely and per the menu would take time took about 45 minutes... others waited for theirs and unfortunately when the fondant arrived they completely forgot to bring one.. which was simply the cognac ice-cream... we had to ask.. it was then brought over.  The chicken main dish on offer was excellent .. crispy skin a wing, breast and great flavours. Kindly the supplements for both steaks were taken off the bill £6 and one dessert which based on the set menu equated to £2.  We paid and did leave a tip as eventually what we had was good.. Return trip.. Monk fish in curried batter, scraps and peas.. really very nice.. then came the roast beef.. the worst roast I've ever had.. the beef was supposed to be medium rare..it was light brown/beige. the gravy... No idea what it was... gloopy and pink and no flavour whatsoever.. soft and chewy roast potatoes, the Yorkshire pudding whilst very dry had a great taste.. as did the whole carrot, the green beans were squeaky on the teeth and the cabbage watery.. the addition of salt and pepper and horseradish sauce didn't really help it in anyway shape or form..I did eat the beef Yorkshire carrot and 2 potatoes... but honestly have to say I didn't enjoy it at all.. my husband had the satay as a main and did like it, but the addition of extra peanuts doesn't bother him.. We did go for dessert.. my husband had the coconut aranchini which we had previously and enjoyed both times. Mango flavours and pineapple. I had the pistachio  Paris Brest. The pistachio ice cream on the plate was really very good the choux bun crispy and cream raspberries nice. When the bill arrived the bottle of wine was missing.. we are honest people and advised the waitress who was thankful for our honesty as well as mentioning the disappointment of the main.. the revised bill including the wine was returned and we settled for £93.. The let down for me both times was the Main as the name suggests its the 'main event' of a meal.. flavour and cooking wise for the roast.. and the incorrect temperature of the steak along with mixing up and giving meals already part eaten to different people. Reviews are subjective and dependent on what you chose.. my husband would rate both visits as a 4 whereas my experience is a 2 hence...

Overall a great night at mariners. We were well looked after and all needs were accommodated within a few minutes.

We had to wait 1:45h for a table on Tuesday night as they were fully booked, however when we arrived the restaurant was already almost empty which caused the star drop in atmosphere.

Food overall was very good. I had myself scallops as a starter which were presented great and seasoned just right. The only let down was the temperature of the dish, as I would like them to serve a bit more hot. They were served on cold plates and cold puree which dragged down the temperature of the dish quickly.

As a main we both ordered Beef Wellington. The fondant potato was executed just perfectly, with great flavour, seasoning and creamy texture. Green beans were vibrant, fresh and cooked just right on al dente side. Jus was mediocre, lack of deep of flavour and felt like was helped to thicken with starches. Beef wellington itself was a great piece of meat with well cooked pastry, served exactly to the desired temperature, however it lacked seasoning during the searing process, also there wasn't much mushrooms (just little bit on the top) which combined with mediocre jus just felt more like unseasoned steak experience what took one star on food - however meat was great texture and flavour itself.

For desserts we had creme brulee and cheeseboard with coffee. Timeless creme brulee had great flavour and sugar was caramelised just right, but texture was already slightly on scrambled side, what bring down overall dish to being good, not excellent.

Cheese plate was a nice surprise, as selection of 4 cheeses presented well in room temperature with flavoursome relish and jelly on selection of crackers accompanied with celery sticks was just perfect. It was one of the best cheese plate which I had for a long time.

Americano coffee has excellent crema on the top, served just hot enough, however coffee flavour was more on sour side what I personally liked, but for some coffee lovers it may be...

A disappointing Valentine's evening. We've always enjoyed eating here before. On this occasion we booked for 6pm ( to free the table by 8.30) and pre-ordered, as requested, from the set menu. Unfortunately, we arrived at 5.45 and were told we couldn't go in because they were not open yet. After waiting outside on what was a very cold evening, we were either the first or second couple to be admitted. We were warmly welcomed and shown to a table from which I promptly tilted some cutlery, assuming it to have 4 legs rather than a pedestal! I apologised and was immediately forgiven. Regretfully this table was also very close to a speaker playing music which for me was very intrusive and distracting. I asked if we could move to another table ( the restaurant had only just opened). A waitress kindly turned the volume down but this didn't really help and we were then allowed to move to another table further down same side of the deck. We were offered drinks which came quickly.

We then found ourselves waiting until 6.50 for our first (pre-ordered and cold) courses to arrive.

The starters were excellent, especially the scallops, as were both our main courses. The desserts were both very good.

Sadly, our Valentine's experience was really spoiled by the way in which we were ignored during our prolonged wait to be served. While acknowledging that the staff were very busy that evening, I really don't think this justified the total gaze-avoidance whenever a member of staff went past us. After all, we had pre-ordered and had arrived on time. We we ended up feeling that we must have been being punished for me being a fussy old man who had asked to move table. Sad, because my wife and I really like eating at "The Boat" and had so looked forward to...