The Boathouse, Yalding — Restaurant in Maidstone

I work for a charity we support carers and people living with dementia.We came here as part of a boat trip This day trip could be the only day trip the carers get this year and it was ruined by lack of communication and the attitude of the manager It was not overly busy but the attitude of the manager was appalling she was very unhelpful It was one excuse after another I understand things don’t always go to plan but if someone had come out and explained that it was a training day we would of expected it to be a bit disjointed but no one said anything When we arrived I was told we weren’t on the system yet I had rung the day before to book I was told by the manager that she had taken the call and wrote it down on a piece of paper and forgot to put it on system as it had been busy the day before she said she knew we were coming but obviously the other staff didn’t so it was lucky it was a Monday and not busy if it had been the weekend it could’ve of been a different story We ordered our food one couples food came out straight away then the last person to get there food one hour later was the person having a cesura salad People who had ordered the same food later were getting their food before us We was told it was because we were a group and ordered separately it came out that way but we ordered one after the other and couples who had paid together still weren’t getting there food out at the same time We was also told it was because it was a training day some of the dishes got burnt some of the orders got swapped round as people were learning That’s all very good but we paid for a proper service each couples bill was at least £50 with drinks so we paid full price for being genni pigs The boat trip we was on was cut short because it took so long to be fed The whole experience was shocking if we hadn’t paid up front I would of with held the payment when I said this I was told by the manager well you eat the food yes we did we was hungry and there wasn’t anywhere else to get food and we had already paid for it so she gave everyone a tea, coffee or soft drink I do want to say the food was good and the staff on the floor were nice but the management needs some improvement I am not going to let this drop I will be taking...

First time coming here, very clean nice atmosphere and view. Starters were nice. The main took a little longer to come than expected, and we did have to ask when it was going to come. For the main, I ordered the king prawns withTagliatelle, I asked for chilli to be added, which they did. When my main came I was disappointed the pasta was boarding stodgy and it was just normal prawns. When the waitress came back, before I had really eaten any of it, myself and friend brought her attention to this. Now if she had said, “Let me speak to the kitchen to find out why they are not king prawns or sorry we are out of king prawns or sorry about that, would you like something else”, I wouldn’t have minded, but she said “ We call these king prawns here”( I’m not stupid and know what a king prawn looks like). We later brought this to the attention of another waitress who was taking the plates away, when we had finished, she agreed they are not king prawns and would pass the message onto the kitchen, also with the fact the roast beef was very dry that my husband and friend had. We didn’t make more of a fuss than we would have as we hadn’t seen each other for 10 years. Lastly with the dessert my husband and friends wife ordered the cherry crumble and what came was a dry slice of cake with what looked like tinned cherry on the side. We paid £190 for 4 people, we all had starters, main and dessert. I had one large glass of wine and between everyone else roughly about 6 soft drinks and 2 coffees. The main point is, the price wouldn’t have mattered if the menu matched the food. If anything has changed on the menu because you have run out or have to use a substitution, please inform the customer so they can choose something else, if they want to. This is meant as constructive criticism, regards the above, especially when the location and...

Such a lovely settling, the restaurant is light and airy, super clean and very inviting. Waiting staff were friendly and food, (when it finally arrived) was mostly very good. Not a big menu but a good variety and prices are reasonable. The food I ate was delicious, well cooked and nicely presented. However, we had booked a table nice and early for a family dinner, 10 of us including 2 children, intending to leave at around the kid's bedtime but after an hour and a half, we had only been served starters (which some of our party didn't have). We enquired after the mains several times and waitress was very apologetic, however, other guests who had arrived after us were getting their meals and were on dessert or leaving, which was hard to fathom. By the time the food arrived, 2 hours after ordering, the children were ravenous and we had all reached our limits of alcohol, so we didn't enjoy it as much as we might have. One person felt their meal had been rushed and was under cooked and another had a very dry, tough piece of chicken with her salad. To be fair, the under cooked meal was replaced very quickly (so quickly, in fact, that the recipient still felt it to be undercooked and didn't eat it!!) and we were given an apology for the wait with a discount, which was a nice gesture, but honestly, I would have much preferred the meals to have arrived earlier or if there was a problem, to have been offered something to at least keep the kids happy - they were well behaved but the little one was crying as he was so hungry! In hindsight we should have asked for the children's meals to be brought with the starters. I'd go back but for dinner a deux or a very small group of people, but I doubt if my...