Verified Company
Le Paragon – Leigh On Sea.
Summary: Avoid Le Paragon, website uses fake photos to deliberately mislead you into thinking you’ll be dining in a fine dining establishment, it isn’t.
If you want a casual café/bar type place, this may suit you, if you want something more sophisticated, look elsewhere.
Read on if you want the full story…
Booked a meal for two based on the photos of a sophisticated dining room on the Le Paragon restaurant’s website. We specifically wanted a Christmas roast turkey dinner and the website boasted of a great Xmas menu being available. Clicked the link to book and was pleased to see the option to specify whether we wanted the Christmas menu (available from 21st November, we went there on the 29th November over a week after the start date) – see photo of booking screen.
Was asked to reconfirm the booking twice, once by email and once by SMS which I duly did.
Arrived at the restaurant on a cold Saturday evening, to be offered a small table for two wedged between a busy bar area and the front door.
This dining area looked nothing like the photo on their website (see their website photo I have uploaded with this review), more like a casual café style place than anything remotely fine dining.
Since it was cold and draughty near the door the waiter offered us a table upstairs, so we followed him past the kitchens and up a flight of stairs. This room had a table for two and a table for 6 set, lots of other tables just bare and neglected, and felt unheated. There were some unused high tables being stored in there along with a large toolbox and various other bits and pieces which you would not expect to be sitting amongst in a restaurant.
The waiter was very pleasant and said the table for 6 would be coming up later (odd given that there was a free table for 6 downstairs). He brought us some water and the menus, and I checked with him that we had selected the Christmas menu, but he said that they didn’t have the ingredients to make Christmas dinners which I found odd given they are advertising them on their website and when I booked I was asked to select if we wanted the Christmas menu!
The waiter said that management knew we had booked the Christmas menu and he offered other non-Christmas menu options.
Since we had specifically booked here for two reasons:
1) The photo of the dining room on the website shows a fine dining establishment.
2) We wanted a Christmas dinner with roast turkey etc.
We decided to cut our losses and leave, as we didn’t want to sit on our own in what felt like a storage room for tools and disused tables, and also not get the meal we wanted.
I asked the waiter why they had not called me during the day to advise of their error, he had no answer. I don’t blame the waiter in any way, he was perfectly polite and did his best, the management of this place have to take responsibly for a website using faked photos (I checked one or two, they were stock photos) and poor management
Leigh on Sea is packed with many restaurants and bars, so we didn’t have trouble finding somewhere much better to spend our evening and money.
Reply from Le-paragon
2025.12.01
Dear Dave,
Thank you for taking the time to provide such a thorough account of your experience. I would like to extend our sincere apologies for the disappointment and inconvenience you encountered during your visit to Le Paragon.
It is clear from your feedback that we fell significantly short of the standards we strive to maintain. We are truly sorry for the disparity between the photographs displayed on our website and the dining areas you were shown on arrival. We understand how misleading and frustrating this must have felt, particularly as you selected our restaurant specifically for a more refined dining environment.
We also deeply regret the miscommunication . This lapse in communication was unacceptable, and we recognise that it undermined the purpose of your visit. Additionally, the standard of the upstairs room and the overall presentation you described do not reflect the level of care and professionalism our guests rightfully expect.
Please be assured that we are taking immediate steps to address these issues. This includes reviewing our website content, strengthening internal communication procedures, and ensuring that all dining areas are properly prepared and maintained at all times.
We truly appreciate you bringing these concerns to our attention. While we recognise that this experience left a negative impression, we hope you might consider giving us an opportunity to restore your confidence in the future.
Thank you again for your honest feedback.
Thank you for taking the time to provide such a thorough account of your experience. I would like to extend our sincere apologies for the disappointment and inconvenience you encountered during your visit to Le Paragon.
It is clear from your feedback that we fell significantly short of the standards we strive to maintain. We are truly sorry for the disparity between the photographs displayed on our website and the dining areas you were shown on arrival. We understand how misleading and frustrating this must have felt, particularly as you selected our restaurant specifically for a more refined dining environment.
We also deeply regret the miscommunication . This lapse in communication was unacceptable, and we recognise that it undermined the purpose of your visit. Additionally, the standard of the upstairs room and the overall presentation you described do not reflect the level of care and professionalism our guests rightfully expect.
Please be assured that we are taking immediate steps to address these issues. This includes reviewing our website content, strengthening internal communication procedures, and ensuring that all dining areas are properly prepared and maintained at all times.
We truly appreciate you bringing these concerns to our attention. While we recognise that this experience left a negative impression, we hope you might consider giving us an opportunity to restore your confidence in the future.
Thank you again for your honest feedback.
