Woodmans Arms benfleet essex restaurant

We love this restaurant, and have been a few times now in 2009, with many more to come hopefully!

The restaurant area is small, cosy and comfortable, with well placed tables and chairs, so you are not on top of your dining neighbours.

I would say it is a little overpriced, but the food is so good, that we could not complain at all. Everything from fish and

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chips to belly of pork and Morrocon tagines is on the menu and it changes all the time, as the chef uses the fresh ingredients of the season, so if you are a regular you do not get bored.

The service is good and the wine list has plenty to choose from, as well as a full bar. The bar area has a couple of sofas, so if you are lucky, you can get cosy on those or just sit up the bar whilst you wait for your table.

The menu changes regularly but our favourites dishes have been:

Soups

Bang bang chicken

Sardines

Fish and chips

Morrocon Tagine

Pork belly

Restaurant name

Woodmans Arms

Date of visit

15/09/2009 and various

Website address

http://www.thewoodmansarms.co.uk

Restaurant telephone

01268 775 799

Restaurant address

Rayleigh Road, Benfleet, Essex SS7 3TA

Service Charge included?

No

Average price per person for 3 course meal, excluding drinks

moderate (£20-£30)

How many dined?

2

Value for money rating?

7/10

Atmosphere Quality rating?

8/10

Service Quality rating?

7/10

Food Quality rating

8/10

The Dining Room prawn cocktail

The interior of the Dining Room is modern, contemporary and comfortable. We liked the layout and were seated at a nice table near the bar. The Manager was very friendly and took time to chat and the service was very good – they serve wine and food in a professional manner which we like.

The menu was inspiring enough and I opted for a Prawn & Crayfish with Mixed Salad & Mary Rose Sauce to start, which was a huge portion, but with a light and delicious dressing, so I managed to polish most of it off! For main, I had the sea bass fillets (Fillet of Sea Bass with Grilled Courgettes & Olive Oil Dressing) which were cooked beautifully with the creamiest mash I have had in a long time.

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Michael’s choices were not quite as successful, but not bad either. He had the Chargrilled Vegetable with Ciabatta Bread & Balsamic Reduction vegetables to start. They were really good – just perhaps lacking something….. His main of Lobster Linguini, Chilli & Sun Blushed Tomato Sauce, unfortunately, didn’t have much lobster in it, so he was disappointed, but the flavour was good.

We shared an Eton Mess to finish as we were quite full, and that is worth having if you have a sweet tooth!

I like a restaurant that does champagne by the glass, as Michael doesn’t always want champagne, and we prefer wine with our meal, so I was pleased to find they had Paul Herard Brut Champagne NV by the glass – £7. Very nice!

I wish I could remember the wine we had, but I will update this review when I go back again and get the name as it was really good!

I would recommend this restaurant!

Restaurant name

The Dining Room

Date of visit

30/07/2009

Website address

www.thediningroomsouthend.co.uk

Restaurant telephone

01702 477499

Restaurant address

1356 London Road Leigh-On-Sea SS9 2UH

Service Charge included?

No

Average price per person for 3 course meal, excluding drinks

moderate (£20-£30)

How many dined?

2

Value for money rating?

7/10

Atmosphere Quality rating?

8/10

Service Quality rating?

8/10

Food Quality rating

7/10

If you like chicken, salad, chips, rice and various peri peri sauces then you will like it. I have not been to many other Nando’s in other places, apart from Basildon, so I cannot compare them, but the service is average in Southend on Sea and I prefer Basildon for service.

It is a little overpriced in a way since it is counter ordering, but there isn’t anywhere else around that does this type of food.

We love the chicken, side salad, corn on the cob, coleslaw, fries and the spicy rice, as well as the red pepper and houmous starters.

Ocean Beach Southend on sea

Ocean Beach is set out on one floor, with views across the beach and the Estuary from both the interior restaurant area and the external, covered bar/restaurant area. It is comfortable enough, but not in accordance with it’s prices, so it does disappoint in that respect.

Staff are polite enough, but the food has been inconsistent on both occasions we went there. The first time, over a year ago, I had a wonderful seabass dish and Michael had a very mediocre pie, and the second time, I had a very mediocre steak and he had a pie.

The wine list was fine without being something to write home about. All in all, I would say that the interior and food are not up to the standards of the prices, but we may try it again, as staff/chefs may well change.

Restaurant name

Ocean Beach

Date of visit

March 2009

Website address

www.ocean-beach.co.uk

Restaurant telephone

01702 611363

Restaurant address

Esplanade Court, Eastern Esplanade, Southend-on-Sea, SS1

Value for money rating?

4/10

Atmosphere Quality rating?

7/10

Service Quality rating?

5/10

Food Quality rating

5/10