The Rosebud Pub & Seafood Restaurant — Restaurant in Tendring

Resubmission through necessity

It was quite amusing, the barmaid treated me like an old friend, she was the highlight of my visit, calling me by my first name, but it seemed natural, so it felt OK, (I was asked if I had booked and I replied yes, she asked “are you Paul” and I replied “yes”, so the rest of the time she called me Paul). To be fair my experience was tainted slightly by a long and easily heard conversation how the owner was trying to sell the venue, not sure it was for public consumption, but that’s what I heard.

The venue is a pub and the menu isn't extensive but was quite nice. The portions are large and very good value price wise but to be honest I wasn't hugely wowed by the elements of the main though to be fait the starter portions were large and were exactly what I asked for. It’s seafood in a pub but the barmaid does make it a nicer experience.

I am resubmitting this review as the original one elicited the most bizarre response from the owner. I am accused of some sort of faux “Gordon Ramsey” aspirations. After over 1700 reviews on here, plus reviews submitted to Hardens, Google, Good Food guide and the Michelin website, as food is my passion, I spend my own money to experience restaurants. I am criticised for not trying everything on the menu. I am a retired nurse, not a professional reviewer I pay for my own food so I order what I like not a cross section of the menu. On here this is listed as a seafood restaurant, at the time of visiting in Nov 2022, I made my observation of the menu that was presented to me on the day a restaurant that includes seafood.

I am sorry if the owner isn’t wowed by my review, but, as it’s a review of my experience I can only review what I see. I am lucky enough to have experienced a good variety of Michelin starred venues as well as others so far, but each venue is reviewed on its individual status not compared with others in different categories.

I am replying only now as the owner only posted his feedback almost four months after I visited so as it’s didn’t reflect the reality of my review I felt I had to respond.

Ps the vast majority of my reviews are 4 and 5 star simply as I try to visit recommended places so as not to waste my money. The food was nice, that’s why I gave the venue the total rating I did. It was, overall, an average experience.

(Since my wife died from a brain tumour, I have used my time to do things I enjoy like visiting restaurants and enjoying the experiences. The trip advisor name is a joke name that my wife created so I use it in memory of her no attempt at covert reviewing, as my profile has a photo on it).

After a 45 year career caring for others, I decided to care for myself and have some fun. The reviews are an honest representation of my experiences. There may very well be items on the menu I didn’t try, maybe because they aren’t things I choose to spend my money on as I don’t like them?

The owner then responded…..

Tom Russell, Owner at The Rosebud Pub & Seafood Restaurant, responded to this review Responded today Dear 111 Michelin stars

I am as "wowed" by your review as you were by Scampi & Chips. I am glad we were lucky enough to have been graced with your presence.

Have a great day and thanks for coming……..

He then posted a sarcastic and defamatory reply here so another resubmission to counter misinformation.

I will leave you to decide on the tone of the response to my honest review. If the owner spent more time in customer care and less with vitriolic posturing he might have more than the four customers I encountered when I went for lunch. I have recently returned to reviewing after a break for radical cancer surgery myself, live life whilst you can is my motto so joined a cancer support group to help others.

His reply below sums up the arrogance and lack of customer care invested in his venue. Initially I was quite enthused with the general experience of pub food, sadly his supercilious posturing made me downgrade the review. I will leave it to others to decide if they want to engage with this...

My partner wanted to take me for a Father’s Day Sunday roast. We are stopping in the St Osyth area so checked out some reviews online . After reading a few good and not so good reviews online, we came across the reviews for the rosebud pub . The reviews on the rosebud pub all were positive and the pub even had a seafood menu,which we were hoping to try at a later date.We decided to book a table for two on Father’s Day and asked for a table with view in an area where you didn’t have people walking past every minute.We were expecting good things due to the reviews so looked forward to going.We turned up at the pub at the time booked and were shown to a table for two .Unfortunately the table was in a position that wasn’t what we asked for when booked.We spoke to the staff who said due to being busy that’s all they had. We did say when they confirmed the booking they should have let us know. We reluctantly sat down at the table then after a short while a member of staff come and moved us to a lovely table with a beautiful view. We both thought no more of it, it was Father’s Day after all . Sadly that wasn’t the end for us. We ordered our roasts and drinks and waited for what we were hoping would make our day. I had roast beef and my partner had belly of pork. All we can say is how disappointed we were once we received our roast dinners. There wasn’t anything on that plate that was any good or cooked to a standard that we except or have enjoyed elsewhere . To top that we were not even offered any gravy to go with it which we thought was a bit odd. Yes we could of spoken to the team about the quality of the roast but by then the whole experience had caused us some upset so decided to just pay up and get the hell out of there. We have been to many pubs and restaurants over the years and understand reviews can do more harm than good but thought we had to pass on our experience. We will not be returning to the rosebud and will not recommend it to friends or family who might be visiting the area. Our experience at the rosebud unfortunately was a complete disappointment from start to finish and something we will never go through again. We do wish the team well and fingers crossed this experience that we went through is just a one off and something the rosebud team...

What a gem! Check opening hours, as closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Don't be deceived by appearances! I chose to visit here with two of my friends, who were travelling a couple of hours to visit me. From the outside, it just looks a quaint old pub, with similar interior. The outside space for dining is great when the weather good, as the views across the field to the river, boats and sea are lovely. The food was an amazing experience, which we all really enjoyed. My friend's partner had Blackened Cajun Spiced Salmon Fillet, dressed Summer Salad, Skinny Fries & Chipotle Mayo, my friend had Whole Dressed Cromer Crab, Summer Salad, Skinny Fries, Mayonnaise, Bread and Butter, and I had Classic Gratinated Mac & Cheese, Roquette, Tenderstem Broccoli and Herb Emulsion. We were all really so pleasantly surprised at how different and so very good the food and portion sizes were. Chef here has added some lovely twists and flavours. Finished off with Lotus Biscoff Cheesecake x2, and I had a scoop each of rum & raisin and salted caramel ice-cream. Unfortunately we all dived in too quickly to take any photos of our lovely meals! I briefly visited prior, planning ahead, to book a table, so I could choose where we could sit for view and air-flow re temperature, as the weather has been such an amazing hot summer! Helen is very helpful and friendly, and suggested where. The day of our visit Helen served us, as did another lady - thank you. The food is cooked and prepared fresh to order so you may wait a little while, all depending. There were only a few other diners when we were there, which was later lunchtime. We didn't wait very long for our meals. The table was in the perfect place in the conservatory, with good air-flow. We all had such a good meal and experience, thank you very much :) Definitely will...