The Coast Inn, West Mersea, Colchester

The Coast Inn is another food orientated bar restaurant wonderfully situated opposite the Marina at West Mersey with great views from the outside patio area across the Blackwater. It is rightly popular for its food, especially the fish. The raised patio garden area sits on the quay road and this is an excellent place on a fine day for a pint whilst taking in the sea air. The pub restaurant itself is then some way back off the road, on the other side of the fairly small car park. Some additional outside tables with umbrellas in front of the pub, you then enter into the main wooden floor, fairly plain bar, which is one square space with the smallish serving bar at the back with a few bar stools and then wooden tables and chairs around the sides and in the middle. Then behind the bar is the much more sizeable silver service restaurant which stretches round the back and to the side Of the three pubs in West Mersey village the Coast Inn offers the most interesting beer choice. There are three ales on tap, including a choice from the Mersea's own microbrewery. One pump was dispensing GK IPA, but this can be easily ignored as the other two were Mersey Island Brewery Yo Boy and Captain Bob from the Mighty Oak brewery, and these two were well kept pints. I would have liked to have rated The Coast Inn higher, but there is one major flaw that I experienced when visiting. Perhaps a bank holiday Monday is not representative of the norm, but due to its popularity for food the main bar area had more the feeling of an overspill from the restaurant and all tables were taken by people eating, and people who only wanted a beer were largely forced outside, which actually wasn’t that pleasant given the traditionally grim bank holiday weather. Fortunately we managed to get a table by the window to enjoy the ales, and I can imagine this would be a decent bar for a beer in winter when the place is not overrun by the day tripping hoards. But its big plus would be on a fine summer’s day, when the patio area by the quay road is a fine spot.