The Navigation Inn — Restaurant in England

I'm a little torn writing this review, as there was so much good and bad at the same time.

Let me start by saying the person that mainly served us (Charlotte) was absolutely superb and an amazing asset to this establishment.

The location is top notch, the décor, furnishings, drinks (including a superb Negroni and top notch Gavi de Gavi) and overall ambience was on point, but...

We were told that it wasn't possible to reserve on the terrace, that it is was first come, first serve. Upon arriving there was at least one table on the upper terrace with a reserved placard on it. We asked for a table there, but was told there was no availability, but we could have a garden table with a limited menu (basically Pizza's and Burger's). Luckily a table cleared as I was deciding to go elsewhere and we could in fact have a table there.

There were no full menus available for a while as they seemed to be downstairs at the garden tables where apparently it was a limited menu? (I still don't quite understand this).

We weren't told about any specials or anything that had been 86'd from the menu. So when I ordered the Chorizo Scotch Egg followed by Fried Salmon Caesar, I was told there was no Scotch Eggs or Salmon available.

Changed the order to Shell on Prawns followed by a Chicken Caesar. The starters came out in a timely manner, but unfortunately had to ask about the wine and cocktails (surely basic bar/restaurant 1-0-1 is to make sure the drinks come before the food?).

The prawns were acceptable for "coal" grilled prawns, but again, wasn't told that they hadn't been deveined or purged before cooking, so it was only after the third one where I found it a bit gritty I discovered the lovely sandy poop-pipe was still in place. Again, this isn't a big thing, and certainly not a health issue, but I expect that if I'm paying £14 for 5 prawns, to be informed of the fact when they're served, rather than having an unpleasant surprise.

The Caesar initially looked okay (£17.50 when you added Chicken) but there were next to no croutons I could find, the soft boiled egg was stone cold (surely you keep them in a temperature controlled water bath? The cheapest sous-vide wand to manage this is only about £40) but it was the first time that I can recall where I had to try and discretely spit my food back out on to the plate. The best way I could describe it to my lunch partner is that it was "saltier than the sea". Fine for pasta, not for a salad.

I will say, although I didn't try them, the Pizza's looked superb. A perfect bubbled blackened crust, crispy base and fully melted on-top, and by all accounts, what I saw of the Sunday Lunch and Fish & Chips were on form.

For me, if I'm going to pay in excess of £120 for lunch for two with a bottle of wine, I expect it to be better than I can cook myself, and certainly not require me to abandon my main...

RUINED 30th surprise birthday party!!

After heading to the navigation inn for my surprise 30th birthday party, we was in for a shock (some guests traveling 20miles).

2 hours prior to arrival, we had a missed call and voice mail left. The manager who left the voicemail stated there was some shortages but pizza and pasta was completely unaffected. We called back and was told that mushroom and muscles were removed from the menu so we thought this wouldnt be an issue and decided to make our way to the navigation inn.

Upon arrival we asked if we could sit outside in a booth as the pub was very quiet and only one of the outside booths were in use. This was arranged and we headed down. Around 15 minutes later our server came to take a drink order.

After another 15 minutes we managed to get our drinks and asked if we could order our food.

To my suprise I tried to order a ribeye steak but was told that there was no steak on the menu due to Christmas delivery shortages. After trying to then order a burger, There was no burgers also. No chicken, The list of missing items was endless considering a very small 5 page menu. After we had tried to order unfortunately it was apparent they had no food other than pizza and pasta.

The biggest thing here is poor communication theanager who called should of said we have only pasta and pizza so are effectively running an Italian only service tonight! The manager also said when we called back it must of gone through to head office who miss informed us! Again absolutely poor communication between both the restaurant and the head office (worrying)...

We spoke to the manager to try to resolve this as this scenario wasn’t our fault as the customer that the whole evening was a shambles. This was down to the lack of communication. Nonetheless we left with no resolution due to the manager not being amicable and looking out for the customers best interest. All our guests were polite and well manored and there was no conflict but the manager was very stand off/confrontational there was no empathy and it was very poorly handled. The manager needs some customer service training as I wouldn't score the customer service 2 out of 10.

We will never be back and I would advise you to avoid the navigation inn unless you want to be extremely disappointed.

They need to train their staff better.

It’s such a shame as this is a lovely waterside...

I was invited to join a my son, his wife and their two grown up children for dinner. Table booked we arrived on time but had to wait for over 20 minutes spending money in the bar before being shown to a poorly located and cramped table. Service was, in my opinion, good from the waiting staff but not backed up by the kitchen and food delivery not timely at all. Presentation of food on the plate was not particularly attractive if indeed it had actually been given any thought at all - as opposed to 'slapped on the plate'. Quality of food was mediocre at best considering their pricing. It's a popular venue and was busy that night but there is no excuse for mis-management and anything less than a 'great night out' feeling when paying and leaving - I didn't have the feeling that The Navigation Inn added anything to the pleasure of being with my family group. Greeting 5/10 Waiting at bar 5/10 Table 4/10 Table servers 7/10 Kitchen 4/10 Food visual presentation 3/10 Value for money 5/10 Overall experience 4/10 I clearly did not feel my son and his wife got what they were paying for and the whole experience suggested that the management couldn't care less because they are generally very busy and if you don't come back we won't miss you. Some very big names in catering have paid the price of that kind of thinking. If you visit this place I genuinely hope you have a better experience or lower expectations than I. By the way, this review is not based upon just one visit. They've failed before but it is local to where my son lives and they may have lower expectations than I do - I know they are more tolerant than I am - this review is simply my...