The Old Ship — Restaurant in Maldon

Extremely rude landlady. Will not be returning.

I never do reviews normally, good or bad, but I was so shocked by the way the land lady made me feel on my first ever visit, that I felt I should.

When I first walked in, the landlady was in the middle of telling off one customer with a walking stick not to block the staff hatch (the man had only moved to one side to allow a man with his drinks to leave the bar area before slotting into that place. She inappropriately answered back about him under her breath as she walked away which I as another customer heard.

I met my father at the bar who was currently being served and asked if I wanted anything to eat, I asked the lady if she could pass me a menu please, whereby she turned on her heels and huffed at me as if it was far too much trouble, and said "you could have got it yourself". I was stunned at the "huff" and tone of voice so questioned her, explaining that I'd not wanted to reach over the other customers (covid) where she said that she was VERY busy (there were 5 other customers in the bar area at that time) and ther staff were able to put on a smile for the customers without any effort. Maybe if there was more than 1 place for the menus (maybe at each end of the bar or on the tables it would have been easier for me to get one myself).

Having being genuinely upset by the landlady's abbrasiveness and the lady of respect for her customers, i decided I was not going to stay for food after all.

I went to join my mother on the table, she hadn't seen a menu either, but also said she wasn't fussed about eating there either. When I questioned why (as that was the purpose of our visit) she (independently of my experience), she stated she didn't really wish to stay for any food and told me how rude the landlady had been to all the people at the bar before I entered, in the way she told everyone to move down and the way she spoke to them.

Hastened to say, the ale was lovely, my dad (who did order food) enjoyed his food very much and the other staff all managed to smile. The other customers were all very pleasant too and some had their lovely friendly dogs with them.

The pub itself was really very nice. Its such a shame it was utterly let down by a bad atmosphere caused by the person supposedly running the business.

Having worked in a highly stressful job I am aware that some times, things just get to you, but in hospitality, it's never a good idea to make your customers first experience one that they would never care to...

We were going to go to the Jolly Sailor but it was super busy and looked to have a function on, so we parked and went up to the Old Ship. This was a mistake. Pleasant enough setting but inside resembles a characterless pub / cafe vibe. We needed to eat so took a table inside and grabbed menus. The tables were sticky. Like, the menu stuck to them sticky. The drinks stuck to them sticky. They didn't look dirty at all, but the tables were the sticky feel from pubs 30 years ago. The menu is fine - and we ordered a couple of burgers, some chicken etc. Food took a fair while to come - but it was pretty busy as it was a nice day, so no big surprise on the timing. When it arrived it was pretty disappointing. The burgers were very basic bog standard burgers you would get in a village fete food stand. Not pub standard and certainly not value for money. The chips were ok, but nothing to write home about. The chicken wasn't terrible, but there wasn't much of it. The beans on the kids meal had formed a skin by the time it got to us and tasted like cheap beans you get when at a school field trip. It was all edible, but pretty "meh" aws the teenager of the group would say. If it was a few quid cheaper per meal you would have written it off, but considering some of the pubs in the area are about the same price - the quality just wasn't there. Won't go back...

Found this place on Google Maps and used Google Navigation to get there on our Motorcycles, found it no problem, but to all bikers take a stand pad as the carpark surface is gravel. Went in and was greeted with a friendly welcome and asked what we'd like, had Half a Maldon Gold, Diet Coke and 2 bags of Walkers finest. Prices were what you'd expect for a pub on a tourist spot and they know how to look after the Beer. Found a table in the corner by the window overlooking the Basin and kicked back n let the world pass by. While sat there food was served at another table and looked reallly good for Burgers n chips etc(Mums with kids so nothing fancy) and the prices a reasonable too. The view is just lovely and is on a Coastal path so loads of people passing by and can be a little busy and it's good for Families too as theres a lot to do around the Pub. Really enjoyable place to visit, value at the bar and value from the kitchen, good location, clean and tidy, just could do with updating the Decore and the Pub Dog is lovely and likes a fuss. I'll be going back on a sunny day when the tide is high and have a beer and a bite, see you...