Boot Inn, Eskdale Valley — Restaurant in England

me and my partner spent the weekend in the lakes as we do most weekends in our camper. this particular weekend we spent in Eskdale and had a lovely weekend and visited some very friendly and lovely establishments for food and drinks over the weekend. On our final day after a long hike and a heavy downpour most of the day, we decided to go to the Boot inn for some drinks and food and relax for the last day of our trip. When we pulled into the car park the foreign hostess ( seemed to be a manager of some sort) came rushing out to tell us we cannot park there and to move our van into the camper van spot further down, absolutely made zero difference but we did it anyway to be polite. We went in and found a small table next to the fire (it could seat 4 if needed) however this pub isn’t set out with lots of seating everywhere to choose from in the first place. lovely cosey room in front of the bar and a cracking pint of Guinness FYI. we tucked into lots of snacks and i had about 4 pints and was very comfy as we were waiting for the 5pm evening menu to kick in as it was currently on the afternoon menu. safe to say we were settled in our seats and had been for some time and we planned to stay there for the night and enjoy more drinks into the evening. we asked about the evening menus at the bar the guy with the beard was a bit standoff ish and a bit arrogant but again we brushed it off. we were then approached by the foreign hostess once more and was “told” quite rudely that we are sat on a table for 4 and if we wanted food she would be moving us to the conservatory ( very cold , not a nice setting , quite like an retirement home with a funny musky smell and absolutely no atmosphere or cosy feel too it) . i explained that the pub was not busy and also we had been sat there for a few hours already , drinking and eating snacks etc. i asked if a table of 4 does not come in before we order food , was we ok to sit here still. no she replied i will be moving you either way regardless. i could not see the logic in this especially that the pub was not busy and she was extremely rude and bitchy in the way she addressed us. i thought it quite rude considering we had been in there a fair while spending money and also we asked about the menus as we walked in and sat down at the start with nobody questioning where we chosen to relax. after a few minutes, she brought over the evening menus and threw them down with attitude onto the table. that was it , my kindness had gone. i explained she could keep the menus as we were leaving for food elsewhere , and proceeded to book a table at the Bower house Inn, a lovely establishment i would point out , with very friendly and welcoming staff. i would highly recommend the brook , the bower house or the king george over the Boot Inn, purely on the basis of the rude staff. after a long day out in the mountains wet through you just want to relax with a pint and some good food in a friendly place. not be greeted by a rude, unpleasant and unprofessional staff member at a place you are wanting to spend your hard earned cash in. We travel the Lakes most weekends and have visited the lakes all year round for the last 20 years and i can honestly say this is one place i will not be returning too.

It takes nothing to be polite and make your customers comfy.

They lost a whole nights custom of food and drinks and whatever else because of her attitude.

EDIT to response below : *It was early afternoon at latest , not Evening. *It certainlywas not busy hence the fact we managed to sit where we wanted. Only 1 of us drank enough alcohol to not be able to drive, we both have the ability to drive, ill let you work that one out. And finally, the manager did not ask politely at all hence my need to waste my time writing a review.

But thank you all the same for trying to turn that around as we were in...

Turned up roughly 4.15pm and whilst ordering two drinks, asked if there was food being served. Was simply told "No". Man next to us was booking a table for 5pm. We had to delve further to ask if food was being served later to be told, "yes, at 5pm". We booked a table and sat outside with our drinks. We did clear the 6 or so empty glasses from the table we chose and took them to the bar to save the staff a job. We were one of seven parties in the beer garden Whilst waiting and enjoying the drink, behind us, and very loudly was a shout of "who owns the camper van". It was ours. We were told loudly and in front of the other guests that we had parked wrong. I explained that we had simply pulled in behind a BMW that was parked the same way, and there were no markings, to be told to move it as it gets busy. We did move it by leaving. It was humiliating to be singled out so loudly in a lovely and quiet pub garden in front of so many people. A better solution would have been to ask each table quietly if the van was theirs. Overall the two staff members we had dealings with were short to the point of rude so we took our business elsewhere. There are signs up intimating that there has been poor behaviour by customers, but I'm not sure whether the staff instigate some of this if today's behaviour was anything to go by. We were really disappointed as we had found the pub by accident earlier in the day and had been looking forward to eating there, and exploring Boot with a view to stay at the holiday cottages further up. Overall poor staff behaviour means we wont be contributing to the local economy...

Been here twice in a week, Sunday Lunch was very good and had everything you needed, the taste was good and my family decided to try one of their evening meals, booking a table was easy by phone and the pub was packed, plenty of space to walk around and your always greeted on entrance.

They have a specials board which my son chose the bhuna from, he enjoyed this and the rest of the family chose from the set menu, as we had a varied selection we were able to try each others and I can say without doubt, every one I tried was really tasty and all had good potion sizes, enough for all to eat. Whoever the Chef is at this place certainly knows their way around a kitchen and how to prepare food. Nothing was dry, overcooked or undercooked, and because as a party of 6 we didn’t order the same meal, it was good to see that when they came out it was as if they had been cooked simultaneously, that’s homage to the chef.

The decor is what’s expected of a village pub, welcoming with what looked like a good beer garden, unfortunately it was raining both times so we didn’t sit outside.

Staff were very nice, if your around this way I would highly recommended this as a stop off for a meal.

I’ve only marked the rooms as 3 as we don’t stay over and it wouldn’t be right to not score this and it harm the...