Bull Inn Hockley — Restaurant in Rochford

LEFT ABANDONED - 90 YEAR OLD DISABLED MAN AND 82 YEAR OLD WIFE.

The three of us visited this Greene King pub on Monday 27 February 2023 at 1230.

We pre-booked our table for food and drinks about ten days prior, via their website, clearly stating my father is disabled and uses a cane and is very slow and requested a table near to the entrance, warm and if possible near to the toilet.

We arrived 15 minutes early. The waitress at the computer pointed to our table (table 8) and we found our own way to the bench seat and two chairs. The velour backing on the bench was badly stained, but the general location was fine and near to the disabled toilet and the table & floor was clean and acceptable.

After about ten minutes a male employee in a business shirt and tie (no jacket - it was warm in the pub and I assume he was management and possibly the mysterious Robert) came over and said someone would be over to take our order for drinks and food. Sit there and do not go to the bar someone will be over. We were thrown some tatty menus and we eagerly awaited our 'traditional pub experience' .

Twenty minutes later (so we have been in the pub 30 minutes now on a QUIET MONDAY WEEKDAY) I worked out we had been forgotten. My father wears incontinence pants and has early stage dementia and as mentioned is disabled, so we try to go out regularly for his welfare and turn around our visits reasonably quickly. Our visit was not going well.

So thirty minutes in to our visit I go to the bar to order drinks. I advise the girl behind the bar we want to run a tab, as we are eating and want to order asap. She never swiped our card, but said a tab was up and running and to pay at the end.

I take the three drinks back on my own (a tray would of been nice and a smile from the bar staff but hey its a Monday and they are busy - not lol). Another 30 minutes later (so an hour now) we still haven't been able to order our food. By this time my dad, who also has diabetes and needs to eat regularly, is getting irritable and needed the toilet. After this, despite staff obviously aware we are cheesed off as we are constantly trying to catch their eye (see picture) we decided to pay our bill for the drinks and leave. By the way, when we paid we were never asked if we had a nice time etc - the staff were disinvested and to be honest probably fed up too with their experience.

So, over the past 8 days I have been in contact with Guest Relations at Greene King who said they would investigate and "put things right" with them coordinating with the pub management and business development manager. I eagerly was waiting for their conclusions. WHAT A Joke. WHAT CLOWNS.

Now, there is CCTV inside the pub COVERING the front of house areas presumably for safety and managing the staff and we booked via the Internet, so I'm thinking they are reviewing the whole sorry episode. No, I'm so naive, so today I got an email saying Robert was trying to contact me, but was unable to do so. My mobile is always on and I have no voice mails or missed calls, so someone is confused and it isn't me matey.

Do not visit this pub (in my opinion and without prejudice) because if you have a terrible experience at a local level, the corporate guest relations staff aren't, in my experience, any better. I was left with an email suggestion saying I could ring Robert if I was still unhappy.

I'm sorry Robert but I think our limited relationship has run it course, as has my relationship with your pub chain too.

So people here is the truth. My family and friends will avoid Green King pubs and especially the Bull Pub - instead we will give our loyalty to independent pubs that thankfully still exist.

As for the mysterious Robert at the Bull Pub, it was great not hearing from you.

PS. I had the General Manager ring me on 7/3/23. Appalling attitude and told him so and thereafter complained to Greene King HQ. Don't shoot the messenger.

PPS 9/3/23 - In response to owners comment below: you are being mislead -show me the screenshot of the calls to me or similar evidence. You...

I’ve been to The Bull many times and have always had a nice meal, so was appalled at the terrible experience we had there last Sunday (17/9/23). We booked the table for 6 people but unexpectedly had another guest, so we tried to call The Bull all afternoon only to be met with an impossible automated message and the chance to leave a voicemail. We left one and thought we’d try to explain when we arrived. We explained the situation upon arrival and said if our extra guest couldn’t be seated then no worries - and another table was found for us to which we said “ thank you, are you sure this is alright?” as we didn’t want to cause a fuss, and the waitress seating us scoffed and replied “well yeah I hope so”. Not particularly polite, but we ignored that and was grateful for the new table. Drinks and starters came, no issues there. For our mains we’d ordered 2 roasts, 2 steaks and 3 other dishes.

We then had to wait over half an hour for our mains - it was a Sunday and a little busy so we didn’t say anything about the wait. When our food did come, firstly the two roasts were bought out and we were told they were both beef. When we said one was meant to be turkey, the waitress bluntly said “turkey was changed for beef” as if we were to know. Had we been told, we’d have ordered something different but after waiting so long and not wanting to cause a fuss we just accepted the plates. Secondly one steak meal was bought out and we were told “this is the rare”. We cut it in half and well done would be an overstatement - it was like rubber. When the waitress returned we explained it was well done, and she took it back. Then she returned a moment later with the same plate and piece of steak cut in half and said “sorry this was the medium steak not the rare” and we explained again it was overdone. She took it away again and then bought another medium steak out - which was also well done. Again at not wanting to cause a scene we just accepted the plate, and began our meals whilst still waiting for one steak meal to come.

Eventually it arrived and we tried to enjoy our dinner, however were immediately appalled when one of the roast dinners - completely drenched in gravy - had turned out to be not only beef but pork. One slice of pork and one slice of beef. We checked both plates and they both had the same. Fortunately the two in our party with those plates didn’t abstain from pork, however the rest of us at the table did due to our faith and we were incredibly lucky we’d not ordered these.

When we explained to the waitress, she said she would get a manager and a few minutes later the manager came over. She apologised and said she would take money off the meal, but this mistake was unacceptable and there didn’t seem to be any real responsibility taken or any explanation given as to how this mix up had happened. We were offered new plates but we didn’t trust the kitchen now, and with the slow service we just wanted to leave. We asked for the bill and left shortly after.

We won’t be returning from now on, which is a shame because we’d previously always had good...

Visited the Bull on Thursday 17th July 2025.made our way in and found a lovely table by the window with ample space around it as my friend is walking poorly at present due to illness. Please note the table didn't have a reserved note on it.we were then asked to move as it was reserved for other guests. We were moved to another table. Waitress came to take our order,we ordered drinks as hadn't yet had time to view the menu. And minutes later ordered our food. 25 minutes passed and food was brought to table the condiment for my meal was on my friend plate !!! My meal should have come with gravy.the young Waitress apologised and went to fetch it. When it eventually arrived it was see through!!!!!,and tasted powdery. In addition to this my food was cold served a cold plate as was my friends. I spoke with the original Waitress whom had taken our order and she asked if I wanted a replacement meal. I stated no I didn't want food waste and that I just wanted that hot!!!!!. The food was returned a little the worse for wear and the gravy was not hot and of a normal consistency. I eat out all the time , and rarely see a duty manager sitting in the bar restaurant area on a laptop, whilst his staff are struggling to cope with a restaurant full of orders.!!!!. And I dreadful to think how short staffed the kitchen was on this visit. My meal was poor, due to the temperature and then due to how the temperature was rectified. A manager has a duty of care !!,and in a food establishment the bucket has to fall with him . Staffing wise,produce and consistency!!!!,training and team leading.!!!! Just from where I sat i counted 32 covers. The waiting team were stretched, no doubt the kitchen was also stretched and the manager sat on his laptop!!!!.outrageous!!!! Well done to the seasoned Waitress Caz whom is a credit to the establishment. She deserves praise for her professional manner. Note to the kitchen, belly pork should never be heated through on a griddle!!!!! Ask your manager for help if you can't cope at...