The Bell - SouthendonSea

I thought the Toby at the seafront was bad but The Bell is worse. Food absolutely awful, vegetables were dry and the soft and soggy. Everything tasted weird. Disgusted and wont be going back.

First visit back to The Bell in ages. Didn't disappoint. Carvery selection (we went for Sunday Lunch) continues to be HUGE and at a really reasonable price. We counted 11 different vegetable choices including different Potato options! Well organised, great food and our super friendly and helpful Server Katie was brilliant. Definitely worth a visit.

Christmas Day Lunch We had booked a 2:45pm slot months in advance. On arrival we were told that our table wasn't ready. We finally sat down at 3:30pm. Not good when I have to take medication 20 minutes before I eat. We received a text message to say that our table was no longer reserved during our wait for our table which wasn't good. The waitress was attentive throughout our stay. The starters were small. The main course meat was plentiful but vegetables were dry. The desserts were also small. One of our group is a vegetarian. Her starter, soup, had a strange aftertaste and the main course, cheese melt tasted like processed cheese. At the end of our meal we were handed a bill. We had already fully paid at the beginning of December, which was a requirement. It seemed that they had overcharged us for one main course meal. Overall, not a great Christmas Day meal and we won't be returning to celebrate Christmas there again sadly.

Remember that old line "excuse me there 's a fly in my soup? Well going to the Bell on a cold December night I saw flies,dirty cutlery and frankly average food. I thought eating at wetherspoons was bad but dear me..I suppose the only thing you could say is you get free flies with your food !

My husband, 15 year old son and myself booked The Bell Toby Carvery on a Monday evening for dinner. We were greeted warmly and promptly and shown to our table. Jo, our waitress, was very polite and took our order for drinks. She returned promptly and took our order for food (carvery for all of us). We went up for our food. The meat portions were of good size. The variety of vegetables could have been better but they had everything that I would've chosen. Jo was very attentive throughout our stay. Couldn't have asked for any better. Many thanks!