This place was always where I came for food when I lived here, so thought I would take a stroll one…read moremorning to see if anything had changed. The place itself has been refurbished with a higher seating area, which I found uncomfy, so sat myself on the "normal" seat, My friend and I had chosen Scampi & Chips for tea, which we found to be as good as they once were. There is something relaxing about looking onto the sea when having your tea I think. I would recommend this place for a quick bite, if your ever in the area on the sea front of Southend. the staff are friendly, the place is clean, during the summer months though I think it would be packed out with children, so I would give it a miss then, but it's lovely when it's quiet.

love this pub, fab food (big portions) and the staff are excellent, this pub is the Best of British!read more

What a lovely place to enjoy a meal. Great atmosphere and good service. You pay for what you get,…read morehence the food being very nice. Book early as it gets very busy. If you have a party booking, you can reserve a seperate part of the restaurant which is ideal! Enjoy

Found this lovely little cafe where I had a fantastic meal. The steak and kidney pie was to die for…read moreand the apple pie and custard was great! All of the food was homemade and great value for money. Family friendly with excellent service. I would strongly recommend this place to everyone going to or is in Southend.

Always wanted to try this cafe/restaurant for years, and today was the day. Had Steak & Kidney Pie,…read moreNew Potato's Cabbage & Carrots & plenty of gravy. my desert was treacle sponge & custard really nice. All Home made excellent value They were queing outside the door when we arrived, the cafe is very basic with its decoration, and its like walking back into time when you step in side. Please do not let that put you off, the food was excellent. I thanked the owner and told her we had really enjoyed our meal. Yes we would go back again, but probably a bit later when the rush for lunch has died down.

Stayed next door and drank and ate at this pub/restaurant and had a great time…read more The place is huge, and there are plenty of seats and booths. Had the breakfast buffet and the carvary and all meals were absolutely great. Lots to choose from and really tasty. Staff were friendly, helpful and chatty.

Never again for me...... we were staying next door in the Premier Inn when we decided to try a…read morecarvery, being midweek it was very quiet so when we got there, we couldn't see any staff so we walked in and found a table, within minutes we were marched back out by a young waitress who explained very angrily that under no circumstances could we seat ourselves, we had to be seated by staff members, when we were out of the restaurant the young lady marched us back in again to the same table that we had already chosen!!!!!! After this the staff had a serious attitude especially the bar man when we were having a drink after our meal. I am NEVER going in here again

Smiley's is a family tradition, as I learned this weekend when we drove all the way out to…read moreWestcliff-on-Sea from the West End. Egg and chips. Why didn't I know this before? The egg and the other fixings were just average, but the chips were fantastic. Super hot and right out of the fryer, they were rather randomly cut skinned potatoes. Like snowflakes, no two were alike. A little salt, a little vinegar (the English way of course), the bowl was empty before I knew what happened. Great coffee too. Very smooth and delicious. We managed to get a parking space right out front (two hours free!) and then the table right on the pavement ("sidewalk" in American) opened up as we arrived. Front row! A great place to sit and watch the world go past, maybe watch a ship or two go up the Thames Estuary to London. A fantastic spot!

This is the best cafe down the sea front. For non locals…read morethe Palmeira Parade cafes are known as the Arches and this family owned and run business serves traditional, good quality food at affordable prices. No pomp or pretense the furnishings are basic, comfortable and clean and you can bring your own wine unlike many of the other cafes that have opted for a licence to sell alcohol, mostly cheap inferior quality at inflated prices. On a sunny weekend be sure to book a table in advance, the locals swam here and many tables are reserved.

Booked a table in advance. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Food was great. No pressure to…read morevacate table, which was nice. We are piggy's in the middle, between Toby Runwell and your good selves,I think Runwell is better from a few aspects, but that doesn't mean we have ruled you out completely. ******************************************** UPDATE. 13/10/23 12.30 Booking. First visit after the refurb, half price main meals which we availed ourselves of, but £3.10 for two small tumblers of tap water and weak lime is steep. Meal and an embarrassed staff member were fine, in fact we left a tip.

Left cold by the service. Large seating area broken into…read moresmaller sections in the Toby style with traditional carvery service. On arrival the host seemed determined to not acknowledge our presence until we were forced to greet him. With the joy of now getting to be seated we were then advised that we had an hour to eat as all the tables had been reserved - at 4pm on a Monday in a virtually empty restaurant it felt a little odd and uncomfortable. The glass for the bottomless drink was grimy and had to be replaced. The pepper shaker's for the most part were empty and warranted a degree of further fumbling before a serviceable one could be found. The food proved functional and enjoyable but the overall experience left a bad taste. And yes, on leaving approximately 90 minutes later there was no sign of tables being reserved or an influx of customers. A very odd and uncomfortable experience.

A shocking experience. Food was extremely greasy, stupidly over-priced condidering what you are…read moregetting and the coffee is terrible. I had a cappuccino froth on my mug of a double espresso.

We had a great lunch even tho we had to wait for over an hour for our starters would have been a…read morenice gesture if we had been given some bread or olives to keep us going !! Main course arrived shortly after which was lovely and waitress very nice we will be back thanks guys