Alfrescos - Tendring

Visited this café on August bank holiday weekend wish we hadn't bothered.Sat down with my wife for the best part of ten minutes waiting to be served despite two staff standing idle opposite.No one even acknowledged us despite being practically empty on a busy bank holiday only to be told to serve ourselves at the counter.Now we could see why.Needless to say we just walked out.Don't bother with this place.

This restaurant is right on the pavilion and as well as a spacious inside area, also has a covered, well sheltered outside terrace which is dog friendly. The portions were a good size, the staff were friendly and the food reasonably priced. Menu had a wide selection and made a change from the usual fish and chips that usually litter these sea side resorts. My mother in law had a huge baked potato with salad, my son chicken nuggets and chips. My partner and I had the cheese and broccoli bake with salad. Great for families enjoying a day out at the sea-side.

Really nice owner, great food at good prices. outside seating. Right on the childrens rides with great views of the sea. Enjoyed fish and chips but was tempted by the Ribs, Gammon, and other items on the board. Everyone enjoyed what they had and other groups that were there at the time were very complimentary. Recommended for families and couples.

I'm very surprised by the previous reviews. The man who I assume, was the owner was demanding to know as each person walked in whether they would be ordering FULL meals or not. If not, they were turned away. I found him to be rude, short and rather stroppy. Maybe he was stressed from standing over a hot microwave all day? We ordered three FULL meals (of course! and they were all poor. Lasagne was a luke warm, cheap microwaved, wobbly white and florecescent red bowl of slop (few lumps of gristle added for texture? The microwaved jacket potato was cold and hard in the middle, grey/black inside in places and served completely dry with no butter etc. Lettuce was decaying at the edges...should of been thrown away not served! Perhaps if the man was nicer and made an effort to create a good atmosphere, rather than make customers feel they are burdening him by paying good money to eat something they could pick up in Icelands for a pound, then I probably wouldn't have taken the time to write this review.

Had a simple meal here just egg and chips with a coffee. Sat in the outside area. Nothing wrong with the food and quite cheap. Some people came in on 'mobility scooters ' and the owner was somewhat patiently shifting tables around and helping them get seated. Looked like they were part of a larger group and had been equipped with them for the day without being used to them.