The Rowbarge — Restaurant in England

The staff were extremely rude. One girl In Particular. The new service was not shown or explained and then she rolled her eyes and loudly declared she had had enough and was not "dealing" with us. We had not been rude at all just politely asked her to show us how to order food. She have us the option to sit inside or outside, we said inside and she said , it's really busy inside later on there's lots of bookings, my dad had said we're not staying long just having a quick meal for (my) birthday . She rolled her eyes again so I said it's okay we'll sit outside . She said just take a photo of the code on your phone, we tried this and it didn't work. I went inside to use the loo and she looked at me as if I had done something really wrong do I explained in just using the loo. I then asked if she could help my dad order , she said just take a photo,I explained calmly that she had told us that before and we had tried but we're still having trouble. She then if ignored me and walked off to where other staff were gathered around talking . As I came back down she had said she's not dealing with us someone else can do it. Another woman had come out to take the order and said we had to order all our drinks at once. I told her her other staff was very rude but I understand we can all have bad days. The food came fast I had ordered a spinach and sweet potato curry , it had no spinach. My dad asked for pepper and it was empty. No one came to see if it was okay. Two girls carried on serving other customers and were incredibly rude to them also. A very old couple who didn't understand how to order either as it wasn't explained to them asked if they could have a drink they werent ordering food and the girl stormed off and said she's had enough and just wants to go home very loudly that we all heard it and the couple we sat left very shocked other tables commented on how rude she was. I will not be going back or recommending anyone to eat there. Over priced food. Small portion . My dads food had no gravy or anything with his soggy pie and one carrot. Rude service . Terrible atmosphere. If I could rate 0 out...

Walking the length of the Kennet and Avon canal I have been surprised by how few actual canal side pubs there are. So as I approached the Rowbarge after 8 miles in the hot sun this morning I was really glad at the prospect of a pint. When the pub came into view I could see they have a really large garden and it was busy. So as we have to do in these socially distanced times I joined the line waiting to be greeted. After 12 minutes of standing in the sun with my rucksack on I made it to the front of the line to be asked if I had a table booked. No I replied I'm on a walk, this is a pub and I'd like a pint. Sorry was the reply we have no tables, that's ok says I I'm really thirsty so I'll just buy a pint and stand over here on the grass away from everybody and drink it. The lad said can't do that I'm afraid you have to have a table, but this is a pub I replied can you not sell me a pint. Then the immortal line "I would if I could but it's the rules" So let me ask the owners and people in general, are we really in such a dangerous place that a hot thirsty walker can't be served a pint away from all the folks who had booked tables. If you think we are then I'd say life like that is not worth the living. Good news I walked another three miles to Aldermarston and found the Butt Inn where I was welcomed, had 2 pints, a fantastic plowmans lunch and gave the staff a sizeable tip as they had been so friendly. I'm sure the owners of the Rowbarge won't care about one unhappy person as they clearly did a lot of business but I know where I will go back to in future and recommend others...

Spectacular 10/10, precisely what a gastropub should be. The place itself is in such a great location, situated right on the canal with a huge carpark and plenty of accessible parking. Inside it is nicely decorated and well laid out with good space between tables so it does not feel cramped like some others in the area. I didn't really know what to expect from the food and was pleasantly surprised by the care and attention to detail in the presentation. The menu has some great vegetarian and vegan options, I had the steamed vegetable parcels (gyoza style parcels in a wonderful miso broth with heavy lemongrass notes) and the basil gnocchi both of which were absolutely superb, cooked perfectly and very rich which was a shame as I didn't have room for the vegan cheesecake recommended by our server! Speaking of service, from the moment we walked through the door we were well attended with all staff being professional, personable and polite. Our server (a tall chap with light hair and beard, apologies I didn't catch his name!) was an absolute delight, a real credit to the place. Value wise, a 2 course meal for the two of us, 2 soft drinks and 2 coffees with a roughly 10% tip came to £80 which is on the higher end of what I am normally prepared to pay for a lunch out but in this instance I really do think it represents excellent value given how good the experience and the food were. I will...