The Boat Inn — Restaurant in Doncaster

My son has recently moved into the area and as we were visiting his new house decided that we would eat out and he booked a table for 2pm. The Boat Inn is a large venue and in Nice surroundings with the canal nearby. We arrived on time and were promptly seated, drinks and food order taken. The drinks arrived but an hour later - no food. We saw on the table behind us that the people handed over a nearly full plate of food and left quite quickly. Then we overheard that there were "problems in the kitchen." Here is a tip for you - you are as well actually telling people that. Not everyone is having a lazy Sunday and we had a film booked in Sheffield at 4pm. It is not unreasonable to expect that on a Sunday there might be a reasonably quick turnaround of tables, that table would be needed anyway and therefore we would have begun eating within the first hour of being there. Pretending that nothing is wrong will not gain any respect. Some will kick off at having to wait but knowing would have impacted on our onward plans and not to be told was disrespectful. We have more respect and sympathy for honesty. The food did arrive but we were watching the clock at that point. Someone came over (bar manager we think, definitely not one of the waiting staff) and asked us if we wanted anything else and my wife ordered another drink and he said he would get someone to bring it. Why he didn't bring it himself, I have no idea but it did not arrive anyway and we had finished eating 15 minutes later so rather than wait for the waitress, my wife went to the bar to pay so that we could leave to try and make our film. The waitress did come and collect the plates and asked us if we wanted desert and it was horrible to say that my wife had gone to the bar to pay and that we didn't want anything else - it was hardly the waitresses fault. When my wife came back, she said that whoever took payment didn't even make eye contact so they had probably taken grief all afternoon. My son felt bad because he had booked the table and overall it wasn't a great experience. The meals and drinks were £75. With a cost of living crisis then people are going to be choosy where they spend their money and people being people, they are unlikely to go back if they are treated like mugs. The Boat Inn is local to my son and we may try again. Not communicating a problem may incur the wrath of some but we're reasonable people and would have been alright with it. I don't take a less than complimentary review lightly but then again, as a customer, I expect some decency and respect and if there are problems then they should be...

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I have never been so disappointed in a place that on initial sighting offered so much. Myself and family had decided to include this venue in our circular route walk one Sunday as it was around the midpoint. The original idea was just to have drinks but on viewing the courtyard setting and menu, and with the sun shining down on us we opted to order lunch as well, this is where it all went wrong! Two people ordered starters whilst 4 others just went for mains, some 15 minutes later the starters arrived, a little disappointing but no great alarm bells yet. We then waited, and waited, waited and waited, waited some more, before on the 1 hour and 10 mins point one of the party went to the bar to enquire of the delay, it was apparently coming in 10 mins, with no apology. We then heard a waiter advise a nearby table that the wait for food was about 40 minutes, and we corrected this, but again, this was not acknowledged by the waiter. 1 hour and 40 minutes our food still had not arrived, so two of our party went back to the bar again. What was annoying at this point was again no apology. The manager, who was behind the bar and in earshot, ignored us and left the bar staff to deal with us. During this conversation, our plated food came past us, so we cut short or complaints to go feed our ravenous bellies. Further horror came to light, the 'Medium' steak was well done/burnt, my Hunters Chicken was dry and looked like a small overcooked pizza on top of a chicken schnitzel other plates faired little better, only hunger drove me to eat the food, but not first without further complaint and this time securing a round of free drinks, these were given after the meal again with no apology. I have to blame the management for my poor experience, indeed the manager appeared to actively avoid us, at one point he came outside to a nearby table to pick up some glasses, glanced in our direction and then scurried off in the opposite. The staff need some direction and training, and the hiring of a chef wouldn't be a bad idea, as it was never a chef who served that food up, especially the cremated steak. There are many better places locally, so I'd avoid this place until it hopefully picks up.

Update - Oct 24. I visited again with 2 friends and the experience and food were both much improved. There was some confusion with the Sunday menus at the start, which meant disappointment for my friend on her first choice. However, this hardly detracted from what was a very happy experience. Well done to the new staff. I can now add the Boat Inn back onto my list of...

What you see below is the email.i sent the boat Inn on the night of our bad experience. They ask you contact them direct if you have an issue rather than tell the world, take my word for it, don't bother they don't get back to you. I've gave them 2 weeks and still no reply.

last night (8th December 2018) my wife and I visited your pub (our local) arriving at 8.30pm

I checked the website before we arrived and it would let me book a table until 21.30pm. However we chose not to book online as we couldn't guarantee the exact time we would arrive as we were walking in the rain and walked in instead.

when we arrived the Boat Inn we both commented on how unusually empty it was for the time of day and time of year.

we entered and looked around for somewhere to sit. we could see MANY empty tables for varying amounts of covers.

A young female member of staff then appeared and was quick to tell us in her own abrupt way that we couldn't just select a table as it was fully booked. Bizarre as it looked half empty.

Another female came along and a very quick conversation happened between them. We were then told that they were fully booked. when I challenged this due to what I could see (volume of empty tables) I was told that up in the top room was a party of 20 and if any more people dine it will put pressure on the kitchen.

So in summary: local people/regulars have walked to your venue on a wet winters night only to be turned away by rude staff. We were told you were fully booked yet I took pictures of empty tables throughout the venue and even 1 part of the pub with no diners at all. After we left, I once again attempted to book online and I was offered a table for 2130hours so clearly you weren't fully booked and someone is lying. I suspect your little conversation was to plot to tell me you were fully booked. Oh well, Otto at the top of the hill got the £75 of our money that should have entered your till that night. I'm sure the owners of the pub chain would rather the money been in their till.

Finally, pubs do not survive on Christmas parties alone. Turning regulars away today, will be to the detriment of the business tomorrow, when all the turkey and tinsel has gone.

I was going to put this straight on the internet for the world to see on the social media platforms that I use

However I see (tripadvisor) that you always ask for contact from the customer first, so I here I am.

I...