The Rayleigh Lodge — Restaurant in Rochford

I have given one star but would have given -1 if I could. We tried to book this restaurant last Friday night but the online booking service said the place was almost full and to 'turn up'. We figured this was because we were trying to book on Friday night for Friday night so assumed it would be really busy so just decided to turn up and try our luck. When we arrived, the car park was empty as was the dining area, save for two other families, so the online booking system is clearly wildly inaccurate. Due to supply issues, we had to modify what we wanted from the menu, which can't be helped I guess (no chicken, no sausages etc). My partner chose the burger and I had to go with steak, which I requested medium. When it arrived it looked lovely, a nice big bit of steak, however when I cut into it, it was completely red, not even rare, less than rare. When I eventually saw a member of staff to speak to about it, she insisted that it was cooked medium as requested and that if I wanted it cooked more I should have asked for 'medium well'. So, ask for one up from how you want it cooked basically. My partner was not having this and he asked her to take the steak back to the chef and ask him if he thought it was cooked 'medium'. The lady came back and said the chef said it would have been medium but this particular bit of steak was very thick. So surely you adjust the cooking time depending on the thickness of the steak? A professional chef would know this, surely? No, she and the chef insisted it was cooked correctly, so it was the steak's fault for being too thick. Round and round we went until eventually she said all she could offer me was a hot drink or a dessert. I was starving as I had only eaten half a tomato, a mushroom and the tiniest of microwaved jacket potatoes (for almost £13, not bad eh?) but we just wanted to get out. The lady was so rude, adamant it was my fault and that the steak was cooked correctly, not budging at all. This lady was not a member of the waiting staff, she had a clip board and was wearing fairly formal clothes so would have to assume she was management, although how she got a job in management with that attitude I will never know. We most definitely will not be eating there again and will not be recommending to anyone that we know to eat there, in fact we would recommend they avoid the place. Shocking behavior...

Beautiful setting. You really feel like you are in the middle of the country! Unfortunately, the service was not so Beautiful. We booked a table, however, when we got there it was unclear where the table was and no staff around to ask. We went to the bar where we were told we could sit wherever and were told to order our food on the app, although, weren't told what app we needed. After searching Google to find out what app we needed (Ember Inns) we ordered our food. An hour and a half later our starters arrived, no apologies for the delay, or that the server had is thumb in my partners sauce! The roast dinner came out, I would estimate a further 30-45 mins later! (I would like to add, it was NOT busy). The roasts came without the parsnips, mine was missing the stuffin and my partners was missing the pigs in blankets! I would normally have said something when the server came over to check the food was OK, however, we didn't see the server (or anyone) until roughly 20-25 mins after we finished the food. I mentioned the above when he came over and he said 'someone should have told you we had no parsnips' and that the other missing food was 'on them'. No offer to bring out the pigs in blankets and stuffin. No offer of partial refund/free dessert or any offer of compensation and, to be quite honest, it was a pretty pathetic 'apology'!! There was a very distinct lack of customer service! Almost like us being there was more of an inconvenience! I would like to think I would go back, to give them a second chance, but if I did, it would only because of the lovely setting! I would be very dubious that the 'service' would be any better and that does put me off going back. The 3 starts a purely for the scenery, not...

Group Christmas meal with 19 people. Initially it was nice, pub has been redone so it looks lovely. As with all group meals you have the list of who has what. Our server/front of house didn’t have a list which is unusual and despite confirming who was having what things arrived not on the list. We were initially asked to pay for them as they weren’t told otherwise but the meals weren’t on our list. No problem, initially it was only 1 extra but then 2 extra deserts arrived so the maths doesn’t add up there. We explained we had come in with an updated list in advance and everything had been organised and was written down (Christmas meals with lots of people are often a nightmare). Our server said she wasn’t told this so essentially it wasn’t her problem and we needed to pay. Finally it was agreed we didn’t as I pointed out that a lack of communication between staff isn’t our fault. This whole thing would have been absolutely fine and I would’ve been grateful for fast service and nice food especially with a noisy work meal. However some things ruined it completely: both staff rolling their eyes when people didn’t answer quick enough for what they ordered, “if you won’t answer I’ll just leave it” (genuinely 5 seconds and people were working it out with the list), slinging plates on the table, comments between both servers. Sadly everyone noticed and because of this we didn’t leave a tip. Patience and a smile doesn’t cost anything especially if you’re...