Boatyard in Hastings

Fantastic food, great atmosphere, very enjoyable evening

Ordered a range of small plates to share with my partner and every dish was a hit. Would come regularly if I lived in St Leonard's

Food was very mediocre, could have cooked better at home IMO. We had fish, lack of flavour, potatoes were not bbq as stated and some green stuff on peas. The food took a long time to arrive. Pretty empty and the other diners also did not seem impressed. Love Heist and all of the other food concessions, but it’s very disappointing to be served such a meal for such a big cost! Please improve Boat Yard.

It was hands down one of the best seafood we've had (and I've grown up in Hong Kong where there's really good seafood). We had beetroot smoked trout, tempura oysters, shell-on crevettes, salmon tartare, creamy mussels and broccoli, with vinho Verde and an IPA from the local Three Legs Brewery. Everything was delicious, and the salmon tartare, creamy mussels and crevettes were absolutely amazing! The service was really good too - the staffwere really lovely and super accommodating, especially as we had our (sometimes quite demanding) 1 year old son with us. Would 100% recommend!! (Sorry forgot to take photos, we were quite hungry and got straight down to business 😂)

Very nice wine selection and staff 👌 highly recommended

What a superb find. Recommended by a friend and I can see why. Very funky environment within Heist Street food market. Ryan the head chef delivers fabulous food including some very fine oysters in a variety of delicious sauces (try them all!). Sunday brunch is a feast whatever you order. Alison greeted and served us brilliantly despite having a full restaurant to look after. Try the wine. It is exceptional. Now plan your visit. You won’t regret it.

Great Maldon rock oysters, sensational mackerel boquerones, plump mussels in a rich creamy sauce and two glasses of a delicious Sicilian white wine, plus charming service made for a perfect afternoon at the seaside.

Fantastic food, service and chefs. Sat at the high tables next to the chefs who are a friendly bunch with great insight to their food.

Wow, what a find. I came down here from London to visit my partner and stumbled across this place when looking for somewhere to book. So glad I did. I was unsure as only had seats at the counter but that actually added to the experience. From the moment arriving, the staff were immense, all the waiting staff were so friendly and accommodating. The chefs were so engaging when sat at the counter, they seemed so cool and relaxed while sending out amazing food. All the dishes were top class, seasoned, right heat and so tasty as was the wine. I was surprised with bill as this meal would have been more than double in London with a less engaging service and to be honest this food beat anything I have had in London for a long time. Thanks for an amazing anniversary exorrience, we will be back and I will definitely be trying the steak next time. Though all the dishes and especially the fish was so fresh so.

In the car for an hour to get there, and popped in around 1pm. Always a risk, I understand, but only half tables full. We only wanted nibbles or oysters and a drink. We were passing through... But after 5 min wait at entrance the chef came out to say he is understaffed and he can't do anything... I explained we can sit at the bar and don't want a big meal, just nibbles with a drink, but he said again, he can't do anything, and walked off. Rather dissapointing how they deal with customers... Normally I'd have expected them explain they are understaffed, but if we don't mind waiting we can get a drink at the bar, but nothing. After poor service like this I wouldn't think about going back. Manners cost nothing.

While staying in Hastings, we were looking for a seafood restaurant and saw the Boat Yard. After reading the reviews we decided to give it a go. Absolutely 1st class food and the staff are all fantastic. We had a great evening and would definitely go back if in the area. Highly recommended.

Absolutely delectable seafood, extensive wine selection and knowledgeable, friendly staff - a winning combination! Perfect oysters, the sriracha tempura oyster is definitely worth a try too. The fried sea bass fillet (with peas and grilled baby potatoes) were faultless, as were the plump crevettes in garlic herby oil mopped up with malted sourdough. Exactly what you want from moules marinière. Tastefully decorated and super relaxed atmosphere. Altogether on the pricier side, but worth it for the quality!

Very nice seafood and fish dishes. Great choices and fresh food

Flawless food (fish, mussels, prawns), superb service (courtesy of Charlotte), easy-going ambience (music not too loud). All round excellence. Thank you.

Food well prepared and super tasty.

Great coffee, staff went out of their way to bring it too me outside!

So good we ate here twice in a week on a recent visit to St Leonard’s. Seafood/fish dishes all excellent. So tasty and inventive. Lovely service and staff.

Excellent meal, beautiful fresh fish. Well presented and served. Worth a visit.

St Leonard's has plenty of places where you can get a fine meal but this place is beyond good. Beautiful ingredients creatively cooked and served, impeccable front of house service, an amazing wine list, and great surroundings. Always order the fish, that's my advice, it's as well cooked and prepared as you could ever wish for. Tempura oysters? Out of this world. I'd eat here every day if I could.

Great place serving lovely seafood, small menu (which is a good thing) of freshly cooked food. Great atmosphere in the hear of the Heist food court, just wish it catered for coeliacs (gluten free) a bit more, however appreciate this is difficult in a small place with few covers.

What a great place… had an amazing meal last night and they were so helpful with my shellfish allergy, nothing was too much trouble for them, Ryan the head chef and his colleagues couldn’t have been more helpful and accommodating. Defo want to go back

Really lovely time here on Saturday. I am coeliac and right from the beginning the hostest was so aware of the menu choices I could and could not have and how the kitchen is able to prepare my dishes safely. Both the chefs were incredibly knowledgeable and amended the dishes to suit. I had REAL chips for the first time in a really long time! All the dishes were fresh and tasty and my 'normie' friends loved all their options too! There was a great orange wine- can we know the name please!??! That went down very well along with another bottle of local white! Great find and would highly recommend- fantastic service and food!!

Exquisite food. Excellent service, amazing chefs. Highly recommended.

Lovely place with lots of food options 👍🏼

We visited Boatyard for lunch with our baby. There was a great selection of modern and classic seafood dishes and sides which were all exceptionally cooked by the chef. Ordered a number of dishes to share such as the curried gurnard, trout tartare, barbequed crevettes, and the lemon sole. Great wine and warm service too. We'd love to come back again!

This is a really cool place with amazing food and a really interesting (good) wine list. Definitely worth checking it out. We had a lovely lunch, we picked and mixed from across the whole menu and it was all outstanding. The service was great, thoughtful and helpful.

We visit Boatyards at Heist Market a few times a year. It is our go to place for a guaranteed lovely meal and great evening. We've only ever had amazing meals, wonderful service and there's always something new for us to try. All washed down with a glass of Pet Nat 😁

Place was nice food was over priced and mediocre three people for brunch nearly £100 had eggs royale quite bland. Probably will not go back.

A very good valentines lunch was had. Service and food were excellent

Spectacular. Beautiful food, friendly, enthusiastic service, Lovely craft beer selection. They looked after our big group really well making a great evening.

Can’t praise it enough Everything was lovely.

Great smoked trout starter and perfect ribeye with crunchy chips

Great food, great wine, felt a bit over full, very busy and loud. Staff member did her best, but was a bit overwhelmed. Will definitely try again, possibly at a less busy time.

Was very nicely surprised by this place. The food was outstanding and the waitress just lovely.

Excellent visit, friendly service etc.

The food at The Boatyard is a-ma-zing! We had fish as main course and both (pollack and sole) were cooked really really well. Dessert (a special with chocolate, and whiskey icecream) was the best we've ever had! The atmosphere was very nice and was completed with fresh flowers on the table.

Lovely place, oysters were good and menu is unusual and varied. I thought the portion for the main was a tad small. I’ll definitely be going back.

The Boatyard and The Farmyard are hands down the best restaurants in town. Absolutely delicious food and flexible for vegans.

Ordered a sparkling wine and it was served in awkward very small glass, previously it was served to the brim but today different staff member served it 3/4 full I asked if she could serve it to top like her colleague, she refused and said that her GUESTAMATE was accurate even though there was no measure on the glass, how petty she was but sadly she seemed to enjoy it!! Needless to say I won’t be back and certainly NOT when she’s serving, so UNNECESSARY!!! I do hope The Boatyard is a separate business in THE HEIST as I have no issues at all with The Heist

We went for lunch and, once again, good food, good service, good atmosphere. Ever had a bad meal here, it’s now my go-to whenever I have visitors

Really nice place, food was great and service was excellent

Had a really lovely meal at Boatyard last night and the service was fabulous despite it being a very busy night for them. The butter that comes with the bread was a particular highlight! Only downside was there being just one toilet in there serving the whole of Heist because other out of order, apart from that it was perfect and look forward to going back!

I have eaten here twice, the second time reluctantly, but my son wanted to try it. I had eaten at their previous location and was served warm white wine - we returned the wine, the waitress told us she had only recently put it in the fridge - and yet she served it! I tried them again with hope, unfortunately the experience was worse than the first visit. We waited 30 minutes for room temperature oysters to be served. After eating them and after another fifteen minute wait for our starters, I politely requested the food without further delay, five minutes later we were offered bread, we refused the bread, asking for what we had ordered. At this point, the owner/senior staff member intervened, asked what time we had arrived and what time we ordered, she claimed it had been 22 minutes from arrival to our order being taken, that they were busy - it is a small restaurant, restaurants serve food, it is what they do. It is 100% their fault they took 22 minutes to take our order, not ours. To then take nearly an hour to get to any substantive food is extremely poor and came with some of the worst attitude I have ever experienced at a restaurant. The food is good, but it depends on what you like as a dining experience...if you like a ridiculous argument with a side order of unwanted bread and a reasonably big bill, this is the place for you. They have a sister restaurant, Farm Yard, I went there once for Sunday lunch, I had very poor service there as well, two tables were served before our table of three diners; the waitress blamed the kitchen, I swiftly discovered it was untrue when I spoke to the chef, the waitress didn't put the order through to the kitchen. All this points to bad management, sloppy training and a disdain for ones own customers...never again will I waste my money there...EVER

A constantly changing menu, with flavoursome, well-presented food. A bit expensive for where it is, but worth it.

Delicious food, do yourself a favour and try it

First time visiting and was very impressed food excellent ftresh and very flavoursome. Service was excellent too a busy place with a good vibe

Another superb set of taste sensations! Tonight's swordfish with chicken butter sauce was divine! A thoroughly decent evening, thank you.

Had a seat at the bar/kitchen. Lovely seeing the chefs at work and they were so friendly despite having a busy restaurant. The waitress was fantastic and as for the food...delicious... thank you for making our evening 💕

Skip the tables and sit at the counter. Talk to the chefs and watch them work. My 11 year old and I had a fantastic time with Chefs Edward and Alfie guiding us through the menu and specials. The food is spectacular, innovative and expertly executed; the vibe is energetic. We will certainly be back👍🏻

THANK YOU, ALFIE AND JUNIOR- The food was utterly astounding. Spectacularly presented and those layers and flavours, honestly, truly exceptional! These 5 stars are for those gents, topped with their genuine demeanour, it was really appreciated. Other than that, we were underwhelmed. We found the place pretentious, overpriced, and had sadly attracted some questionable punters.

Excellent food, lovely decor and vibe.

Brilliant little fish counter / restaurant in a buzzy open space little market. Tasty nibbles and small dishes, decent wine list, and attentive service. The staff really did the extra mile to accommodate a special bottle picked from their sister restaurants list Farmyard. We will be back

Great food, good sizes for sharing plates. The staff were absolutely lovely.

Loved it. Oyster, champagne, Dover Sole, posset. And delightful service.

We visited Hastings yesterday, and popped into Heist to grab a bite to eat. The place was really busy with a great vibe, but we struggled to find a table. I noticed the boatyard area had some free tables so asked if we could sit and eat. We were told that all the tables were booked, but we could sit at the bar. We feel very lucky to have done so, as we could watch the team of 3 chefs prepare the food. Immediately on sitting down we knew we in for a treat. We ordered mussels and crispy Panchetta from the specials board, fillet steak tataki, crispy hispe cabbage and some parmesan truffle fries. Even though we ordered 4 courses together, as we were sat at the bar, each course was delivered individually, and we realised the chef was curating our dining experience by choosing which courses to send in which order. Every course we ordered was amazing, lovingly prepared in front of us, with amazing flavours... All washed down with a lovely sancerre. We will definitely be going back

We had a really lovely meal here on Saturday. The choice of fish available is excellent. Husband had lemon sole and son had cod,both were cooked to perfection. I am not a big fish fan do they went to the trouble of making me a lovely pork belly stir fry,so good. Lovely selection of wine too. The waitress was lovely, the chef and the second chef were very skilled and so friendly. Great little place and good atmosphere, would highly recommend. We liked that you can watch your food being cooked too.

We had an absolutely delicious lunch today - honestly some of the best food we have eaten in a long time. We had a selection of all the small plates on offer, each one was amazing - especially the courgette with peanuts. The house wine chosen to pair with the dishes was also lovely. Would highly recommend and will be returning again. Thank you so much.

Lovely place with a nice atmosphere, really tasty food but a bit expensive considering the portions size.

Had dinner here with family on 23rd December. The food wad delicious 😋 I had Halibut best fish I've tasted in a long time fresh and beautifully presented. The staff were very helpful and friendly the atmosphere in the restaurant is very relaxed. I would highly recommend.

Really good food, freshly cooked on front of you, nicely paired with wine, great experience. Octopus is above and beyond!

Great place to eat, staff very friendly, amazing choice of wines, food is imaginative and very tasty. One of the top places to eat in St Leonards

First time I went to this place I thought the food was delicious, although the overall experience seemed ludicrously expensive for the location / a grotty side street in st Leonard's. So I went back with my partner. I had 3 oysters for £10.. no objection to the price but the oysters were tiny. We had to pay for bread, which was only ok. SeAweed butter is delicious. Olives at £4 ok. Then I had clam chowder at £24 .., all the mains are around that mark. It was mostly shells .. delicious but the size of a starter. No bread..I feel that a small bowl of soupy stuff st £24 should come with bread???? Yeah.. won't go back

Delicious food, great service, fun atmosphere, but a little pricey

3 modest, varied dishes and a glass of wine for about £16.50 was good value. The artichoke leaves in a creamy sauce was lovely.

Lovely relaxed atmosphere with fantastic food. Recommend the smoked anchovies as a starter, then the monk fish with beurre blanc sauce (out of this world) and artichokes. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. Highly recommend.

We enjoyed such a delicious dinner at Boatyard. I could not fault the food, the service nor the style of the place. It was such a refreshing dining experience - generous portions of lip-smackingly delicious and fresh small plates we shared to start. We ate juicy panfried king prawns, scallops with creamy cabbage, a potato salad fresh and crunchy, we shared a coconut dahl with red onion and prawns. I loved the simplicity of the main fish menu, all locally sourced: we chose monkfish, tender and juicy, and a perfectly panfried flaky piece of cod. My absolute favourite part of the menu was the side dish combinations that come with the fish, you can choose from options such as Jersey royals, asparagus and salsa verde. Or tenderstem brocoli, with peanuts Asian style. Or héritage tomato salad- a panzanella with chunks of tasty sourdough. The service was friendly and personal- we felt looked after. We were allowed to try some wine before choosing. The chefs pass is right there infront of you - fabulous. Great to be able to have a chat with the delightful talent that cooked our dinner. I just loved everything about this place.

Came on a bank holiday and had three small dishes from the a la carte menu. Everything was very fresh and tasty.

After a good first impression and a raving review we returned later to re-experience the quality that had impressed us the first time. Sadly, the young waitress' very poor performance totally destroyed our interest in this place. Maybe it was hubristic arrogance, maybe it was discrimination, we will never know, nor return.

We were disappointed to find out that even though we'd booked in for the Sunday brunch, that they didn't serve it at the time we'd booked for (3.45pm). There's nothing on their website to indicate this, so we turned up expecting 2 hours of free-flowing fizz and the food from the brunch menu they have on their website. We'd planned the meal to be a mothers day treat but ordered from the normal menu instead- which was very limited. The food was nice enough, but the cocktails were poor. You can get the same for less elsewhere. Just a heads up in case you're expecting brunch!

Above average food for the area but service far from satisfactory. Not a good idea to serve people who just arrived at the next table before customers who have already waited 1/2 hour for the same dish. And instead of apologising when asked for the reason, do not make a bad excuse about the meat, especially not when the asked-for medium steak finally arrived well-done. Not coming back.

the wine was nice, the service is non existent and the food is overpriced and mediocre at best 10 quid for a small octopus tentacle on a cold bit of cabbage. Really not impressed maybe we caught them on a bad day other people seem to like the food. I found it disappointing. The 8£ cockle and shrimp popcorn fits on a table spoon what a joke.

Best restaurant in St Leonards.

Delicious. A selection of seafood meals and snacks. Superb service with mouthwatering food. A must if you are in town.

Had been coming to the Heist since they opened and always felt very welcome until today, my daughter and I decided to have a drink whilst we decided if we would have lunch. The women serving our wine was so unwelcoming and was more interested in her mobile ‘phone. When we eventually got her full attention I asked if we could take a more comfortable seat as the coffee shop area was rather full, she said no without an explanation, then sat down with her friend for some time. The dining area was completely empty the whole time we were there, not surprisingly, needless to say we decided not to eat.one would hope that with this new variant and the coffee shop packed this women would have felt a duty of care to let us drink the wine served (YES) from same venue in this empty restaurant whilst deciding if we liked anything on the menu, needless to say we left THE MARY CELESTE 😂

Beautiful venue. Best eggs royale of my life, local eggs and local smoked salmon. Friendly staff, chic interior, swinging Christmas tunes- loved it here ❤️