Martello Lounge — Restaurant in Tendring

I went to the Martello lounge in clacton on Friday night with my work colleagues. There was 10 in our party so we rang up and booked a table a few weeks before Friday. When we arrived we sat downstairs for a few drinks whilst we waited for colleagues to arrive. You have to go to the bar to order food and drinks. I waited at the bar behind 4 other ladies to be served. There was only one young lady behind the bar serving for both drinks and taking food orders. I waited to be served for about 10 minutes whilst chatting with a colleague. I asked for a coconut and pineapple punch £5.95 alcohol free. The young girl was learning the ingredients for the cocktails and mock tails that was fine. I got a glass full of ice with the mix poured over it and got myself a straw. If I had not wanted ice (wasn’t asked) half the pint glass would be empty. It was a lovely mock-tail. I wouldn’t order again one because of the price - it’s a mock-tail and two for the amount of ice. The rest of our colleagues were running late so we went upstairs to find our table and another party (of 4 people) was sitting on our table laid for 10. We spoke to a staff member (young girl) and she did not want to confront the other party and said to us to move all the furniture around to make a huge enough table. We had to move lit candles and tables and chairs with no assistance from the staff. When everyone had arrived we went to the upstairs bar to order our food one at a time on the same table number. This took ages as two people behind the bar, one taking orders and one making the drinks. Everyone in the queue for the bar ordering food or drinks or both. One of my colleagues paid extra for sweet potato fries - extra £1. One of my colleagues asked for a burger with no tomato, no bacon and no burger sauce. Anyways all ordered and sat back down. Then the burgers started arriving one at a time. The staff were unsure what was in the burgers a colleague was given an avocado burger and told it was a cheeseburger. The colleague that ordered sweet potato fries didn’t get them, she had to ask for them to be changed. The colleague who ordered a burger with no bacon got a burger with bacon and then everyone at the table was questioned if they had bacon in their burger and had to show the bacon before the waitress would remove the bacon. This colleague got her burger when everyone else had pretty much finished their dinner. I went to the bar to order a dessert and they were out of 4 of the menu desserts. So i didn’t have a dessert. I won’t be in a rush to return. I won’t be recommending until maybe later in the year when the initial teething problems maybe be sorted. Ideally they need an app to order the food on or they need waitresses to take the order at the table. Or they need one person taking the drink orders and one person taking the food orders.

Paying beforehand means you are paying before you know the service / food you are going to get.

My advice get a receipt to prove what you paid for.

Order a couple of drinks at the same time as your food to ensure you don’t spend half you night waiting to be served at the bar.

The food was very nice and was delivered quickly after ordering. I had chicken and chips.

I can’t comment on the toilets as I didn’t use. The music was loud and I was struggling to hear some of my quieter colleagues on the table. The decor is lovely and the decorator has done a lovely job. The management and service needs a...

UPDATE after a further visit...

Please, please, please can you do something about the dreadful ongoing experiences for customers at Martello Lounge in Clacton.

The staff are not trained properly, there is a feeling of chaotic apathy when it gets busy from the team members. Dress staff so people know they are staff - we can't tell who works there !

Stop lying about the Wifi - 9 months and you still don't have it ? Someone should be fired for that !

Tell people when they arrive how the ordering process works and that they need to order at the bar - people are not psychic !

Allow people to eat and drink food together - if you don't have an ordering system that allows you to order food and drink together how do you expect the food and drink to arrive at the same time ? Well. newsflash.....the majority of the time it doesn't. So food with no drinks or you have to queue for 20 mins for drinks whilst your food goes cold. Seriously.... ?!

It is simply not good enough - given the amount of money you have spent refurbishing the premises to have such a shocking level of operational incompetence is just a travesty.

The people of Clacton deserve better - sort yourselves out ! Or at least put someone in charge of the place that knows what they are doing. Please, please, please....!

Really not very good but could be great

5 of us arrived at about 2pm on Sunday 5/2/23

No one to greet us so grabbed a table ourselves. Waited for someone to talk to us/give us menus but in the end, after 10 mins or so, asked a passing staff member how to order, and was told all orders need to be placed at the bar.

Long queues so a 30 minute wait at the bar to order. All a bit chaotic no signage on where/what/how to order.

45 further minutes waiting for food to arrive. A quarter of the food order did not arrive at all and half the drinks order arrived after we had finished our meals.

Food was tasty but Tapas portions really quite small. Burger was OK.

Complained about missing food items and after a further 20 minutes they arrived with a free donut dessert. By now we'd finished our drinks but couldn't face the wait required to order some more.

All in all really disappointing but could, with a greater attention to detail, and better staff training, be excellent.

No Wifi either which probably expalins why the App ordering isnt working - that would help a lot !

I think the place will be hugely popular and a gold mine for the owners, but there's a lot they need to do a lot better in order for it to realise...

The restaurant itself is stunning, it knows what it is and is decorated in such a way. The interior colours feel inviting and relaxing, while the decor itself is a mix of maximalism and regal. Of an evening the tables are candlelit which make for a great date night atmosphere.

The interior theme is carried into the bathrooms which are clean and well maintained.

The restaurant is also dog friendly both inside and out, as well as offering a doggy station where you can get water and treats for your furry friends.

The food quality and presentation mirrors that of the restaurant. Every bite is flavourful and leaves you wanting for more. The portion sizes are generous and prices are fair.

While the drinks are satisfactory I’d have to say it is the area of service I have been let down on in my visits. Our table ordered drinks while we were still deciding on what food we wanted to get, only two came out of four after about 15 minutes of waiting. We then ordered our food via the online menu ordering offered at the QR codes at the tables. The food was fast and by the time we had finished our meals the two missing drinks still weren’t delivered. It took walking up to a staff member for them to finally complete the order. The cocktails themselves also vary on taste dependant on who makes them which can mean it’s a 50/50 chance on what kind of quality of drink you’ll receive.

In spite of the service mentioned above, the staff have always been helpful, friendly, and extremely professional.

The venue also offers live music nights, get togethers, and seasonal menus.

Off-peak times are great for being able to walk in and get a table without an issue, however during peak times I’d recommend making reservations where needed just to guarantee a table as it can become extremely busy.

Overall, it is one of my go to recommendations for a meal out with family or friends as the menu offers a variety of choices for all as well as an atmosphere that rivals surrounding...