Waterfront Place, Chelmsford

Sad Sad Times. I have just found out that Waterfront PLace willbe closing for good as of the 4th JUne. I have dined at theis restaurant since it opened back in 1999 and it brings back so many good and fond memories. I will be sad to see this halowed place close its doors for good. I have booked my table for the 4th June and i suggest that everyone does the same! lets see such a wonderful restaurant out with a bang!

We had recently heard bad reviews of The Waterfront and went reluctantly because we have been given gift vouchers but when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised. Our visit was for Sunday lunch and we found the staff friendly and efficient, the restaurant spotlessly clean and the roast dinner excellent. We were given a window seat with aview of the canal and would say our experience of this restaurant overall was very pleasant.

Unfortunatly this review makes you rate one star and the atmosphere, Waterfront Place is not worthy of one star nor does it have an atmosphere!

Good Points were that the weather was nice, that was pretty much it!

My napkin was given to me with some stains on it, the table had bits of paper pushed in the gaps! Then there was the service, or lack of it! Our mistake was staying! Well prawns were bland, pasta stogy, thick and crammed into a bowl with hardly any sauce! Barnsley lamb chop, fatty, tough and hardly any meat, strangly this was served with a summer vegetable salad (a mix of over and under cooked veg) with sunblushed tomatoes which didnt suit the dish atall. Nicely sat underneath the 'salad' is what looked like a muddy puddle, yum! We didnt stay for desert and had two soft drinks, the bill was £40.40 frankly we would have had far more enjoyment from Macdonalds, but atleast it gave us something to laugh about!

The Waterfront place used to be our favourite restaurant it was very special to us as it was where we went on our first date - we had been to many functions their i.e. comedy nights to New year eve nights. I also have worked their when it was under different management many many years ago.

The night we had was shocking - there was no one on front desk when we arrived. (since been informed the girl went home sick) is this my problem? No. Some one should be able to stand in! Also I thought the front desk looked a mess with folders every where, it generally looked a mess and not presentable.

No one offered to take coat had to ask if some one could. Waiter then informed us there was a very long wait on food and after waiting at the bar for what seemed a very long while he found us our table - as it was booked I would have assumed it should have been ready! Never the less we where shown to our seats and informed just look for me when you are ready to order - now I expect to be waited on not be a waiter on an evening out.

Could we find him? No. So we sat and talked and spent some quality time without children, all seemed bliss but we were getting hungry and we kept looking for our waiter! Now you might be wondering why we didn't get another waiter or ask for one, this is because we could not find anyone. We thought about leaving and going somewhere else but then realised they had my coat and couldn't believe it would be that much longer - and as my partner said at the time it might pick up maybe they are just having a mad hour!

A table sat down behind us, they were served before us, had their food before us, by this point we managed to get their waiter who promptly did respond and we got some service!

The chicken salad was cold when it was meant to be a contrast between hot and cold but mine was fine

Mine course was average it was pasta for both of us nothing amazing

Desert standard

I thought the food seemed very middle of the road and if I wanted to go to pizza express I would - I like the old menu where upstairs had an air of something special and if you wanted you could eat down stairs and be more relaxed.

When we went to leave no one offered to get my coat, paying the bill took an age and asked to speak to management but there was apparently no one about.

There was a busy function going on which we found off putting and it seemed as though they were trying to pack every one in. In the past it had an air of quality but I feel it doesn't have that now.

I rang to give them a chance to redeem themselves and to be honest if they had I wouldn't be writing on here as I don't think this helps them in the slightest and I think that's a shame as what once I thought was a good restaurant is no longer, and that saddens me as like I said it was dear to us.

When I rang I felt I was just given lots of excuse i.e. it's hard to keep food warm in such a big place - the girl on front desk was ill - and sorry it was a busy night. I was then asked what do you want me to do about it - and I just thought you know what I'm not going to tell you because you should want to make it correct and make amends for the bad time we had and if you aren't going to offer to do that I'm not going to ask - But I wont be coming back and will be going elsewhere.

I would not suggest that any one goes here.

A group of eight of us visited Waterfront Place. We tried to get a drink downstairs before going up to eat. We were not served for 10 minutes! There did not seem to be enough staff, we received no welcome, no 'won't keep you waiting', no nothing so gave up and went up to our table. It looked about three quarters full in the restaurant.

Helpful waiter/ress.

The menu was great, loads of variety.

My rib eye steak was about half gristle, and what was left was tough even though it was cooked at medium.

A couple ordered the 'Angus Steak' Burgers. Thought the presentation was disappointing - no garnish, not even a piece of lettuce! Just a very plain burger with a small portion of chips. The burger was tasty, but seemed too plain for the price.

Another friend had the Mushroom Risotto. They found it way too salty and undercooked!

The Pizza was stodgy and tasted like it had just come out of the box!

The trio of chocolate dessert was small and served as 3 layers of ? mousse in a small glass. It was rubbery!

The cheesecake was nice.

Why didn't we complain? It was a special meal for a friend so none of us wanted to spoil the evening for them.

Will not return, even though it was a favourite of ours back in the old days!

Waterfront Place, Chelmsford - We ordered Croque de beuof which was described as succulent daubes of beef in red wine and mushroom jus. Well, we were presented with what looked like a hollowed out cottage loaf filled with dry meat with no gravy or mushrooms. It looked ridiculous and was stringy and very dry - completely inedible and the french beans tasted raw to me. My daughter had to send her salmon back to the kitchen as it was raw in the middle. We complained and were not charged for our unsatisfactory meal. I felt that the ambience at lunchtime was like a kindergarten, we couldn't hear conversation above the squeals of hungry babies. A big disappointment!

We will never go to this restaurant again, we were very disappointed with the food.

We used to love the Waterfront Place, could be relied upon to deliver a special evening. Now the portions seem smaller, the menu seems boring and it's just not special. I'd see this quality in a pub at a fraction of the cost. It's nothing like the outstanding meals they used to serve.

Something has happened in the past year and it's sad to see this restaurant go downhill so quickly!

This place has had a change in management recently and it has really come on leaps and bounds. The staff seems so much happier and the whole atmosphere is superb. The portions are good value for money and the place is clean and very tidy in appearance. It is definitely a credit to Chelmsford to have such a great restaurant on our doorstep. Its going to be my regular haunt from now on. Well worth a repeat visit!!

This restaurant comes well recommended. It seems the people that recommended this place have it all wrong. I shall make sure that all those wanting an honest opinion will get the truth from me.

I used to rate The Waterfront Place as the best restaurant in Chelmsford, however my last visit was very disappointing and I doubt I will return. The new split of the menu between upstairs and downstairs is really annoying, and when I requested an item from the downstairs menu the waitress had to get agreement from the chef!!!! The place was unusally empty, the service I felt was poor and the restaurant had an air of arrogance about it, which did not use to be there.

A real shame as it used to be an enjoyable place to go.