The Boat Inn — Restaurant in England

It is not my way to leave bad reviews. This is the first. I do leave good reviews for good service and food. And just don't revisit if I have not been happy. We visited The Boat Inn on St George's day for early lunch because we were going on to a funeral that afternoon. We arrived 12.15. Wasn't full by any means but the nicest tables by the windows were reserved. Not a problem, we had just "dropped in" as invited on Google Maps entry. Our table for four was dingy for a lunchtime but the weather wasn't warm enough for outside. We ordered at the bar and sat down. Drinks were served in a timely manner, but we were given a white coffee instead of black and brown sugar instead of white. We didn't complain because it was not a big problem. MIL couldn't resist a bit of cheesy garlic bread which comes as 4 slices so we all had a piece each. Tasty, but disappointly tiny pieces (compared to pictures on reviews) and a bit soggy. We were really looking forward to our meals but an hour later they still weren't ready. We were told it was because we had had a starter. Poor excuse, but we also could not be given an expected time for serving our main. People who arrived after us had been served their main meals. We waited for a while longer but, due to having to go on to a very special service, the only reason we were in Stoke Bruerne, we decided we had to leave. We would not have been able, nor did we want to wolf down our meals in fifteen minutes, that's assuming they would have arrived in time to allow us 15 minutes. They did refund our main course money after the person at the bar went to see the dining room staff, but it was not done with any kind of an apology, nor grace, but only to reiterate that it was because we had had a starter! We did pay for our drinks and starter. Most definitely could have been handled better, even the barman couldn't get an expected time of arrival for our meal from the kitchen. I hate wasting food so I do hope they hadn't actually started cooking it (which is what we suspected). So, we can't really review the food, but the service should have been much better and the excuses made should not have been. It was not a good excuse, nor reason. So, if you want to "drop in" for a delicious lunch, in a reasonable lunch hour, I would suggest you try elsewhere. But if you want chips by the canal on a nice day give The Boat Inn a try. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" To answer your response: I thought I had been very fair What you are saying is that my review is a lie. I didn't write a review in trip advisor, only on Google so you may have another disgruntled customer. Had we been told at the table, when we asked, that it would be five minutes for our mains to arrive we would have stayed. But staff were unable or unwilling  to give us an eta. I have not found it normal for food establishments to only start cooking main when starter is finished. You don't mention how long it took to clear away the starter plate. It was not particularly busy. We found a parking space in the small car park. We certainly arrived with enough time for lunch without having to tell you we needed to leave at a certain time. I'm afraid it was your lack of  communication that caused us to leave. Your final comment was just rude which makes me feel justified in leaving my review. This is what we found at The Boat Inn on the day we visited.

You were obviously having a bad day at the office if your other reviews are anything to go by.  Perhaps you should just take it on board and do...

Lovely location and a cosy pub. We have eaten here a number of times and enjoyed the food enormously. So we decided to book Christmas day luncheon. The starters was delicious, mains more than enough although the roast potatoes a let down, just not crispy. We were looking forward to dessert, Christmas pudding/custard lacked the alcohol. I know that is a personal thing, but do feel a more boozy one for the adults. Only 3 cream crackers between two people. Plenty of cheese, but there really should have been enough cream crackers on the plate to begin with without having to ask for more. Disappointing mince pies, these really should have been home made and not shop bought. It was a lovely touch to have a little box of party poppers etc and a gift for each of us at the end. Over all it was a nice day. Service was top notch. It did lack atmosphere, no christmas music nor fairy lights in the dining room or the reception area upstairs. Can I also say, jeans? really. A dress code would be nice...

Visited The Boat Inn over the course of 2 days whilst moored on the canal at Stoke Bruerne, was greeted at the door by really friendly staff, covid rules were in place, covid app scan etc. The meal was cooked perfectly and piping hot the steak and ale pie was so good, there was a selection of ales available and my wife was made up with the choices of gin available (she recommends the raspberry one), we sampled the breakfasts available the next morning also and found them to be equally as good. Amazingly The Boat has a small shop for essential items (milk, bread etc) available so any passing boaters or anyone I guess can pop by to stock up for essentials, such a great service, overall its probably one of the best pubs in the area I have visited so far and would highly recommend stopping by to sample the friendly welcome. Hats off to the proprietor for running such a great establishment and having such great staff. We throughly enjoyed our visit and will certainly be stopping by...