The Bank Restaurant, Leigh on Sea

After several recommendations from friends and family we finally decided to give this restaurant a try. (Previously we had been very disappointed with supposedly 'fine dining' experiences locally in the past so had all but given up).

From the moment we arrived we were not disappointed - the welcome was friendly, enthusiastic and sincere.

We had a drink in the bar area before being shown to our table, this gave us the chance to take in the surroundings. This restaurant has the WOW factor but is not stuffy or pretentious.

I understand the menu changes regularly using season produce and innovative recipes - there were many things I had not seen - the standard of the menu would rival many Michelin star eateries in London. Whilst it is not cheap, the quality of the ingedients & skills and artistry are well worth paying that extra for.

I chose the Goats Cheese & Wholegrain Mustard croquettes with Mango cream to start. - Not usually a fan of goats cheese (or even croquettes) I thought I'd give it a try. These were absolutely delicious, the goat’s cheese was not too overpowering or greasy, the subtleness of the mustard raised this to not any croquette, but a fine dining one. The mango cream was delicious and provided a balance to the cheese. Absolutely excellent. My husband had the Fruits of the Sea tart with a lemon & chive cream sauce. This he said was absolutely delicious, the pastry light as a feather and the taste of the seafood fresh & delicate. This was complemented by a lemon & chive sauce. - I had a taste and I can attest it was sublime. Both dishes were beautifully presented.

For our main courses I had the Stuffed Skate wing with lobster, crab & spring onion, this was served with a lemon & chive sauce, - the presentation again was excellent, and the taste was heavenly. I'd never had fresh skate, never mind stuffed, but it was really lovely. My husband had the Twice Cooked Pork Belly with an apple & calvados juis. This he said was melt in the mouth and absolutely full of flavour, the juis went perfectly giving the right balance - the calvados did not overpower at all. Again both dishes were beautifully presented - it was almost a shame to spoil the image - it could have come out of a high-class cookery book or Sunday supplement, or even once of the top chef's cookery shows.

The serve throughout the meal was excellent, attentive, but not intrusive. We waited a while to decide on dessert and revel and discuss the courses we'd just eaten - we both agreed - the best we'd eaten in many a year.

As the first 2 courses were so good, we both decided on a dessert. I opted for the Bailey's Crème Brule and my husband the Apple & Blackberry en croute - this was offered with ice cream but as it was a blustery day my husband was in two minds about having ice cream. The waitress suggested custard instead - even though it was not on the menu. She confirmed with the chef that it was no trouble at all to serve it with custard instead. When it arrived - the chef had gone to the trouble of making custard from scratch and not the 'birds' that he was anticipating. This was greatly appreciated and he said was probably the best custard he had ever had. The Apple & blackberry en croute was refined and delicate but bursting with flavour.

As for my Milk Chocolate and Bailey's Crème Brule - this was an absolute picture, it came with the expected glazed sugar topping and was melt in the mouth and silky smooth & sublime. It was beautifully presented with a spun sugar nest resting on top.

The whole event (calling it a meal does not do it justice) was an absolute joy. This will definitely be my restaurant of choice for any occasion - and can't wait to go back.

When I expressed to the waitress how beautifully presented every dish was and said I only wish I could achieve anything like it at home, she took the opportunity to tell me about the Cookery Classes that the restaurant offers - where anyone can learn the techniques used.

She explained that Matthew the owner & head chef demonstrates a couple of dishes a session to a small group in the private dining areas, you then get to eat both courses he has prepared and a third course, so you have a 3 course meal of the same standard as the restaurant after learning how to create the dishes yourself. The courses run for 4 weeks at fortnightly intervals on Tuesday's. Once you've completed the initial course you can progress to the next level if you wish. The cost of the course is very reasonable and I believe less that the cost of the 3-course meal you have each time. This will definitely be on my bithday/christmas wish list.

My mum and I went to 'The Sandbank' for lunch today and it was our first time there. I must say for a restaurant that is supposed to hold a Michelin star I was most unimpressed. The freshly baked bread we had was the best part of the meal. I ordered the pork spring rolls for my starter and the spring roll was soggy with far to much filling and it was garnished with rather strange tasting bamboo shoots which I could not eat. I noticed that my mum's plate had a couple of stains around the edge too. For our main I had sea bass which was ok, nothing special though, the whole meal had been covered in butter as a sauce though. The lamb main course was not in a 'jus' just a gravy and my mum said the lamb had no taste. We did not order a dessert, just tea and coffee and I noticed that the sugar pots looked like they hadn't been cleaned for a long time. In terms of value for money we had a fair amount to eat, however I felt disappointed with the standard of the food.

I went to this restautant on Monthering Sunday it was my First visit and it wont be my last the Staff were very friendly, the choices on the Menu was to suit all, i had the confit of duck for starter it was lovely had a nice crispy skin and the meat was very tender, then for main course i chose the medley of Sea Bass and Salmon which was very refreshing with the saffron hollandaise that accompanied it, and last but not least my dessert the toffee mousse it was packed with loads of flavour and light and fluffy, the decor of the retaurant was warming and inviting especially with the Fishtank set into the wall very calming indeed, my kids loved the tank and they were very welcome some places are a bit funny to having kids but not this place, will be looking forward to my next visit

Having eaten at The Bank on many occasions i was interested to see how it could have improved and boy was i surprised. The new relaxed style was so relaxing and warm. The home-made bread is still a lovely start to the meal and set standards that continued throughout our entire meal. I had the fillet bass and my partner chose the black bream. Cooked to perfection and not a bone anywhere. The waitress was attentive and paid us the right amount of service to make us feel well looked after. Cant wait to return a must for food lovers

A great place for lunch with a special two and three course menu. I was apprehensive about choosing the restaurant but it makes a welcome change from other restaurants in the area who serve a bland variety of mediocre food.The setting is calm and peaceful and the dishes were extremely well cooked- to the standard of a London restaurant. I will definately be going back.

The food tasted superb, was beautifully presented and freshly made,our experience at The Sandbank was faultless. All the staff were fiendly and helpful. Would thoroughly recommend this restaurant to anyone who wanted a special night out. We will definitely be going back and taking friends with us.

It's now called 'Sandbank' and we went to the restaurant last night. Despite just two of us in the place, the music was so loud it was ridiculous - I mean who wants to hear Elvis Presley singing about his Blue Suede Shoes at full volume. Asked to turn the music down, when 'Chef' came out he turned it up again!!! Food was pretty disgusting - for example, I had cod in filo pastry with veggies. The fish was about 3" square and was grey in colour, the veggies were obviously frozen and the sauce was obviously out of a big plastic bucket somewhere. I complained about the quality and 'Chef' took £2 off the bill - I am not one to usually write review but I've been on the loo all morning - the cod dish was nearly £19. It's cheaper to eat at one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants.

It was our first time visiting this restauant after seeing lots of ads in the local press for it my partners salad hadnt been washed properly and had to be returned to the kitchen only for it to be returned with no dressing and the excuse of it might be the cracked pepper please if a chef cant tell the difference god help him the mains were not much better bland and not a lot of it we were then charged £24 pound for two childrens meals which consisted of 8 potatoes and 6 chicken strips what a rip off london prices but not even close to the quality..

The restaurant was dead when we visited for sun lunch. Staff were polite & the decor was nice especially the salt water fish tank. Just had a main of venison with veg, my girlfriend had scotch beef. The venison was disappointing and tasted that it had been kept for a while. The veg was overdone and my girlfriends beef was average. However the desert was alot more lively and they did a good job of producing a apple crumble. Considering we were the only people in the restaurant I expected alot more from the food, something to encourage me to visit again. I would certainly recommend that the restaurant applies to go on kitchen nightmares as if they continue to serve mediocre food it will never be packed!

Maybe we chose badly but the food at the Bank Restaurant in my opinion failed to live up to its description. I felt it was mediocre starter of Lamb's Kidneys & Pidgeon Breast was not warm enough for me, and Main course which was Sirloin Steak with Wild Mushroom sauce seemed to contain button mushrooms which I don't believe to be wild. Although I know Quail to be small whilst tasty the quail wellington stater was a lot smaller than I expected. I think the Sea Bass was ok but nothing to write home about.

we were served by staff who managed half a dozen words between them and I felt they were scruffy and disinterested. Also, additional drinks were added to the bill. To be fair they recognised it was wrong.

Maybe I expected too much but this restaurant has just been awarded a Michelin star.