The Old Boathouse — Restaurant in Cotswold District

Just got back from the Boathouse where I had the worst meal I will ever have in 2019 (and it's only May), I would like to know who told the clown in the kitchen that he could cook? Because he doesn't have the slightest clue about cooking! I have been a proper chef for the last 34 years and even as a trainee Commis Chef, I was a much better Chef than Sideshow Bob at the Boathouse. I had the Goats Cheese Terrine as a starter and this set the standard for the whole meal, everybody in catering knows that Cheese dishes should be served at room temperature to allow the fullest flavour of the Cheese to come through, not the case here. The mains were served with rock hard raw vegetables, namely = 2 tiny pieces of unsalted bland Kale not even a whole fork full, 3 minute pieces of raw Parsnip and a big blob of disgustingly vile raw Onion marmalade which was overly sweetened and highly over cooked so much so that you could taste that the sugar in it had actually burnt whilst cooking, and was far too sweet to be on a savoury plate, The Pork Chop I had was extremely salty, and it didn't even come served with any type of Potatoes, I followed that with a Sorbet for dessert as my mouth need refreshing from the extremely salty Pork Chop. My father and younger brother had Soup as their starter which was ok'ish a tad on the bland side, my father followed with the Roast Pork which was as tuff as old shoe leather and totally inedible, I would imagine it must be virtually impossible to over cook an Aunt Bessie's Yorkshire Pudding but somehow Sideshow Bob in the kitchen managed it all by himself, and next to nothing in the way of vegetables again all of which were raw aswell he had Bakewell Tart and Vanilla Sauce for dessert the Tart was stone cold and the "sauce" was extremely watery, my younger brother had the Pork Chop as did my older brother, who had the Pate as his starter which he said he liked both he and our younger brother followed their mains with Sticky Toffee Pudding, the only downside to their desserts was that they received a tiny little piece roughly 2 inches square x 1 inch deep (approx two and a bit mouthfuls) and about a dessertspoonful of Toffee Sauce, this place has drastically gone downhill for some reason and I don't think I'd be far out if I said it was solely down to the incompetent idiot they've got in the kitchen, just as we were about to leave a couple that heard me complain stopped at our table to confirm that they too opted for the Roast Pork and agreed with my father that theirs was like trying eat a piece of shoe leather too, and they chose to eat here as it was their Ruby Wedding Anniversary. my father does not normally complain when we go out for lunch, but he did today, needles to say having spent £125 not including drinks we will never be going back there ever! When you get 4 people comment about how appalling the food is that is when it's time for the Chef to leave the kitchen and go and apologise to them, sadly not here! It's a shame they can't arrest people for impersonating a Chef! Now I know exactly why their menu is so limited... My conscience as a Chef forbids me from recommending this hovel...

The best bit about this was the beer... Once I finally got it!

Absolutely shocking service.

Not my first time visiting the restaurant, but this week has certainly made it my last...

Where to start... Day one of what should have been 5 visiting the restaurant and it was clear that the staff either didn't care, didn't understand what they were doing, or were sadly not being led properly.

I chose to sit outside, came to the bar to order and stood there for a good 5 minutes with absolutely no acknowledgement I even existed. Despite two members of staff walking back and forth behind the bar not one even said "I'll be with you in a second".

I finally ordered, got myself a beer and requested the bill be added to my room... The response I got was "we cannot charge your room as we have technical issues".

Reluctantly I paid, but given this was a business trip it should have been charged to my room... If they had told me they couldn't charge the room I most likely would have gone to the bar, but I had ordered by this point and had my beer in my hand.

When I eventually got my food, it was ok, warm, but nothing to write home about given when I expected.

I didn't go the second night as I just could not be bothered with the hassles.

Night three... Chose to go back, different staff present so I entered in hope. Again, I stood at the bar, two chaps behind the bar, neither interested in talking to me. I stood for a good 5 mins before a lady came up with an empty glass to put on the bar and suddenly got a response "would you like another"... Annoyed by this point I chose to say something...

"Would it be possible to order something to drink"... "Erm, yeah, give me a minute, I'm just sorting this drink out".

I waited again, finally ordering I chose my food and ordered, requesting the bill to be added to my room... This time I got "we cannot do that as there is no card pre-authorised to your room". I knew this wasn't the case, so challenged and again got told there was nothing they could do.

I ended up paying... Again!

Let's just say regarding the food... Don't waste your money on a good steak here... It's not worth the £35 and as a mediocre chef I manage to make my own steak a medium steak happily at home.

I spoke to reception later to check my room had pre-authorised card on it and was told it certainly does. Informed them what I had been told at the bar and got told it must be a training issue as it's quite clearly got pre-authorised on the system.

I cannot fault the hotel, or the breakfast menu, but the Brasserie was closed all week due to conferences and this left just the Boathouse.

I wouldn't bother going there again. If you want some excellent food however try the waterside kitchen & bar 3 minutes drive down the road.... absolutely delicious and well...

Were currently staying at the Devere hotel and have visited this restaurant on two occasions. Unfortunately we won't be back. First visit - service was exceptionally slow. We had booked but requested to sit outside, which was fine. Told we had to order at the bar. Ordered drinks, very slow. Ordered food, came relatively quick however, we had no cutlery. Asked for some and the waiter said he'd be back with some. Unfortunately he didn't bother. No one checked to see if our food was ok etc. After about 5 mins, I went inside and took cutlery off another table that was already laid. About 20 mins after we had received our food, the waiter came out with cutlery however upon seeing the fact that we had finished, turned around and walked off. No apology. I had the hot smoked salmon pasta and my colleague had the braised lamb shank. Both ok.

Anyway, decided to return for another night in the hope that the service received on the Monday was a one off. Unfortunately it was worse. Shown to a table outside and told someone would be over to take our drinks order. No-one came. I went in to order my drinks, one of which consisted of a Christmas cocktail. I was told it would be brought over. However, it would appear that none of the staff knew how to make the cocktails. My colleague who turned up after me and was at the bar while they were trying to make said drink overhead the staff they would tell me one of the ingredients was out of stock so they didn't have to make it. Anyway, the drink did turn up about 15 mins later. We ordered. All had steak (there were 4 of us this time). I asked for mine to be rare but it came out grey in the middle. Absolutely no blood either which I would expect for a rare steak. Or at least some red colour. Sent the steak back and who i assume to be the manager came out to tell me that the steak looked pink under the heat lamp in the kitchen but she would do me another if I wanted. I asked for another but it came out the same. Really poor presentation. Not what I would expect for a £35 meal. Again, service terrible although this time we did at least get cutlery. Wouldn't recommend this restaurant...