The Boat Inn in Doncaster

Lovely pub, great food and good service from Adrian.

Lovely food Good service A little chilly when eating but not untoward Very much enjoyed visiting and will return Thanks to Adrian for the service

Good food , good service especially from Arron and a nice atmosphere.

Beth & Lorna were wonderful excellent service and amazing food.

Called in for a breakfast on a Saturday morning. Excellent food.

Very nice food, nice place and lovely staff. They lose a point due to issues with card machines which meant paying was difficult, and one of our desserts was initially forgotten about so came when everyone else had finished.

I understand tables are reserved online WITHOUT a deposit. However, if you decide to ‘pop in’ and see numerous tables available and not reserved, one would assume you could sit down and order as we were told by staff that one couple could turn up in an hour or so. Empty tables are not profitable, so the only conclusion I can come to is that staff don’t give a flying fig about empty tables as they get paid anyway and it is obviously less work for them. I think the online booking system is ridiculous. Customers can book a table without leaving a deposit and just not turn up! Not good business sense and to turn customers away when there’s available tables doesn’t look good for management or your profit.

Just returned from having Christmas Day lunch and could not fault anything. This is the second time we’ve been and the food and service were excellent. Thanks to Adrian and Liv for serving us today, nothing was too much trouble. We are hoping to book again for next year!

The food was lovely and the staff were so attentive and made sure we were well looked after. Adrian was great too, looking festive in his Christmas shirt and making sure we were both okay. Will be definitely visiting after the new year.

Popped in here for lunch on route to County Durham as it's close to A1M. Really friendly service and dog friendly, Adrian made us feel most welcome. Menu was varied while food was prompt and tasty. Would definitely visit again, glad we booked ahead as looked popular on a Sunday.

We had Sunday lunch and it was lovely proper home cooked food and service from Adrian was very friendly and we loved his Christmas shirt and it was lovely in the dog friendly area with a beautiful log fire and fabulous atmosphere

Delicious food and charming service. Adrian was super welcoming and very kind with the kids, and he and the whole place were charmingly festive!

Had a great pre Christmas Sunday lunch at The Boat Inn. Very accommodating and friendly staff and the food was delicious and very well priced. Served by Adrian

Lovely pub for a Sunday lunch! Such a cosy spot with the fireplaces and Christmas decorations. Sunday roast was delicious and generous in size. Adrian was a great host, looking after us (including our dog!) really well! Would definitely recommend.

Really fab first time at the Boat Inn! Won't be out last! Sunday lunch was great and the service from Beth was fantastic! She was very sweet and attentive :) great job!

Lovely lunch just before Christmas for a family birthday. Great service from Tracy and delicious food and drinks!

Visited today and managed to secure a table. Food and service were brilliant. The beef brisket sandwich was gorgeous. They had a brass band playing, and it was so lovely. Really welcoming pub and lovely customers. There are lots of cute dogs, too.

Attentive waiter Adrian. Couldn’t fault our experience, the food was good , man sized portions and very nice.

We booked a table and preordered our food . Great service , friendly staff . A great cycle on The trans pennine trail too .

We love the food here and feel at home whilst having our Sunday Lunch

It was lovely. We were in the dog area and it was very nice indeed. Food was excellent but portion sizes very small fir the main meal. Prawn linguini is no better than a starter so if avoid. The desserts are good especially the crumble.

This restaurant is top notch pub dining. Haven’t enjoyed ourselves for a dinner out so much in ages. Really interesting menu and really good service. We ‘wildcamped’ nearby in our campervan and wanted somewhere for dinner and a breakfast. The Boat Inn ticked every single box. The staff couldn’t be more helpful on arrival and after perusing the menu over a well kept ale, we were shown to our table. We asked to move because it was cold and draughty and our request was granted with a smile and no hint of exasperation (previously experienced elsewhere). Starters were okay, nothing special (my wife ordered a fish cake and I had scallops and prawns in a cheese dressing which unfortunately overpowered the fish). However … main courses of barbecued skewers were superb. Beautifully cooked and well presented. Yum, yum. My dessert was the best I’ve ever eaten. A Caramac chocolate ball filled with ice cream on a (cold) strawberry and apple crumble. God, it was heaven on a plate. Breakfast the following morning was equally yummy - Eggs Benedict for me and a full English for Mrs D. Service by Abbie for dinner and breakfast was outstanding, truly, a flawless example of how to do the job. I highly recommend The Boat Inn, we will definitely return even though it’s 100 odd miles from home.

Had a lovely quiet meal in delightful surroundings. Log fire burning. Candle on table. Calm, cosy, delicious.

Thanks to Adrian and his team for a hearty lunch after a long walk. Muddy boots no problem. Great atmosphere and friendly welcome.

Thank you everybody for making the 100th birthday so special. The food was amazing thank you to everyone. A bloody massive well done!!!!!

Served by Adrian, Jade and Flick , Fish and chips Friday lunch was lovely

The Boat Inn is a lovely pub serving great food which is a beautiful setting for any event or celebration. We were celebrating a Thursday afternoon off work! The staff are friendly and accomodating, the drinks and food was excellent it's dog friendly and they have roaring log fires this time of year. Thanks to Adrian and Abbie who looked after us. We will be back, going for a lay down now...

Lovely meal and personal service from Abbie and Adrian (who has exemplary taste in shorts)

Lovely food, great service from Adrian and Abbie, will definitely be back ☺️

Food was excellent and the service provided by Adrian , Dani and Charlotte was first class. Would definitely recommend

Lovely place for food, super dog friendly and Adrian looked after us really well, even bringing the dog his own treat! Will defo come back again 🥰

Beautiful spot, great food! Awesome place like it a lot 😀👌

Fantastic service from Adrian feeling super Christmassy in his amazing Xmas shirt x Great food too

Very welcome lunch break whist driving on the A1 in horrific weather. Excellent food, good drink selection and Adrian looked after us a treat. Lovely cosy old fashioned pub feel to boot.

Lovely and cosy! Adrian was great, very kind and always checking we had everything we needed!

Great food and service with great friends. Dog friendly which is always a plus for me.

Charlotte is a great waitress and looked after us well!!! Great place great atmosphere great fire

Are Server Amelia was polite and friendly our four legged friend absolutely loved the free treats from Amelia. Food was fresh and cook to nicely. My only critique is for the burgers to have a cooking option of well done or medium rare etc, mine was well done but I prefer medium rare. overall a great experience.

A fantastic place for a romantic meal for two or a group of friends. Excellent food and quality service by Adrian and Abbie. A fantastic time of year to visit with a nice warm fire to sit beside

Great little pub at a nice location. Food is very nice but just a little on the pricey side.

Really nice and cosy atmosphere. Friendly and responsive service from staff. Really good food but not high end gastropub fare

Called for lunch last Friday ,served by Amelia and Tracey who were very friendly especially as we had a mobility scooter and a dog to contend with, the food was lovely and the atmosphere was excellent. As Arnie says "We'll be back "

A little bit pricey for pub food but a little above the average pub food too.

We went to meet a friend for lunch and really enjoyed our visit. The staff, although rushed off their feet, were helpful and very pleasant. The food was good too. I had the sea bass and it was beautifully cooked. My husband said the lasagne was great and our friend enjoyed his burger. The place is warm and welcoming and we'll be going again.

Lovely place to drop into for a quick drink after a walk as well as a meal with atmosphere if you want. A special place for me as it was the venue for my first date with my now wife.

Fast service, pleasant servers Adrian and Owen and food was fab, couldn’t fault anything!

Very nice meal after a day at the races. Very generous portions good value for money and a cracking pint of Timothy Taylors. The 2 lads who served us Adrian and Owen very polite and attentive. Highly recommend the boat Inn to anyone who hasn't tried it before.

Incredibly tasty food. Amazing selection. I loved it so much, I ate it twice!

Food good. Little overpriced. Lovely building. Nice outside area. Service needs training

Food excellent! Service very good! Thank you for a lovely evening

Wonderful food and atmosphere with the log burning fires, always a delight when we visit. Friendly and helpful staff would definitely recommend, Adrian was lovely to deal with.

I can honestly say it's a brilliant pub. We booked a table in the dog friendly area and they put us next to a lovely open fire. The food was absolutely lovely with big portions, I went for the Baked Camembert and then the signature burger. Adrian and the other staff were lovely, polite and friendly. This pub is honestly a gem! Amazing in summer as it's next to the water and equally as lovely in the winter as it's so cosy and traditional. We'll always come back.

Adrian and the rest of the team were absolutely fantastic. The food was gorgeous and plentiful and the fact it’s super dog friendly is the icing on the cake! Spotlessly clean and the roaring fire was tended to consistently!

Lovely meal (both vegetarian and meat). Old Peculiar was great. Excellent service from Tracy. Highly recommended.

Nice location by the river, making it easy to take a walk before you visit the pub. The food and service were excellent with a good choice. I could have even chlosen vegan and been happy. Dog friendly as well.

Sat outside and all tables covered in dirty plates, glasses and food , the place looked under staffed to cope

Lovely food and service from Abbie, would highly recommend and will be returning in future! Thanks guys!

Great breakfast and top service from Adrian. We’ll come back for breakfast again. Thanks!

Updated Scroll to the bottom. I have never been so disappointed in a place that on initial sighting offered so much. Myself and family had decided to include this venue in our circular route walk one Sunday as it was around the midpoint. The original idea was just to have drinks but on viewing the courtyard setting and menu, and with the sun shining down on us we opted to order lunch as well, this is where it all went wrong! Two people ordered starters whilst 4 others just went for mains, some 15 minutes later the starters arrived, a little disappointing but no great alarm bells yet. We then waited, and waited, waited and waited, waited some more, before on the 1 hour and 10 mins point one of the party went to the bar to enquire of the delay, it was apparently coming in 10 mins, with no apology. We then heard a waiter advise a nearby table that the wait for food was about 40 minutes, and we corrected this, but again, this was not acknowledged by the waiter. 1 hour and 40 minutes our food still had not arrived, so two of our party went back to the bar again. What was annoying at this point was again no apology. The manager, who was behind the bar and in earshot, ignored us and left the bar staff to deal with us. During this conversation, our plated food came past us, so we cut short or complaints to go feed our ravenous bellies. Further horror came to light, the 'Medium' steak was well done/burnt, my Hunters Chicken was dry and looked like a small overcooked pizza on top of a chicken schnitzel other plates faired little better, only hunger drove me to eat the food, but not first without further complaint and this time securing a round of free drinks, these were given after the meal again with no apology. I have to blame the management for my poor experience, indeed the manager appeared to actively avoid us, at one point he came outside to a nearby table to pick up some glasses, glanced in our direction and then scurried off in the opposite. The staff need some direction and training, and the hiring of a chef wouldn't be a bad idea, as it was never a chef who served that food up, especially the cremated steak. There are many better places locally, so I'd avoid this place until it hopefully picks up. Update - Oct 24. I visited again with 2 friends and the experience and food were both much improved. There was some confusion with the Sunday menus at the start, which meant disappointment for my friend on her first choice. However, this hardly detracted from what was a very happy experience. Well done to the new staff. I can now add the Boat Inn back onto my list of places to go.

We had a lovely family meeting today at the Boat. The food was lovely and the service was great especially Adrian who went above and beyond. This is our second visit and we will be visiting again.

We come here often, and always enjoy it (family of 4). Location, look and atmosphere of the pub are all amazing. Staff are so friendly. Only downside is the food and drink service is pretty slow. Just don't go if you're in a rush. Slow down and enjoy yourselves.

Probably our favourite Doncaster dining venue with historical dependability. However last nights experience will haunt future decisions, I know and appreciate everyone is allowed a bad day! Started off well, nice welcome, promptly directed to our reserved table with drinks delivered. First impression was optimistic seeing how busy the restaurant was, generally a good feeling we'd reserved a Friday tabe, but hold on, the pennies started to fall. Very few tables were actually eating, not many smiles, people sat in coats (October 7 degrees outside) and only a floor staff of three! Took around 15 minutes and several walk bys before our order was taken, there was confusion over the new menu (different to what we had read online). The restaurant was very cold, we sat beside a cold radiator. I asked if the heating could be checked, it was and I was assured it had been reset and would be appreciated shortly....the cold was something the waiter didn't have issues withhe told us he often sits around in shorts, even in the snow! Life stories not helping. The heating had only been repaired on Wednesday and I was the first to notice the cold I was told. HELLO, look around. Service on the starter was very slow, arriving warm but tasty. The heating never appeared so I raised the issue again with both waiter and bar staff, duty manager appears and is "unaware" of the issue! I politely suggested he take a look around and ask his staff for feedback which I duly note he does. Main course arrived HOT, very well presented though the table hadn't been cleared of starter plates. Really nice flavoursome food spoilt only be my now starting to shiver. An apology arrived for the lack of heating as the boiler had broken. I requested a level of compensation and was reassured the final bill would be addressed accordingly. If the heating had been sorted we'd have c stayed longer, spent more but decided it was time to leave. We were offered, and accepted a 20% discount. At this point it was explained that the legenday open fires were unlit as the pub had no logs. The fires are the heart of this 'Old Gal', a serious oversight or lack of appreciation somewhere. The Boat Inn is a fabulous place and this review is a one-off experience. I'd hope never to go through again. Staff levels were an issue, and in my opinion the dress code of staff should also be smartened up. I notice lots of guests trying to use Vintage Inn online vouchers, discounts 40% which were not valid on Friday, New member vouchers that were not valid as they'd been sought or registered on the day. I surmised these may be first time visitors to The Boat who were most likely not going to return as they'd sat waiting for slow service in cold restaurant On our part we will be beck, most likely next week to avail of the 40% "midweek" promotion. With anticipation of a warm welcome and warmer venue. I'll read the small-print on the promotion first of course?

Just had a coffee after a boat trip.

Super friendly staff, great menu and lovely sheltered courtyard. What more do you need.

Brilliant staff food was Brilliant, service and atmosphere , Abbie was excellent in particular but all staff was , definatley will come back do try it

We were blanked for the first 10 minutes waiting to book in which made us late. My partner found his main meal bland. Apart from that the other staff were great and the rest of the food was nice.

Reopened after flooding and is now on par with the old establishment. Today we were greeted by a very attentive lady who showed us to our table and served by a friendly gentleman. The food was lovely and well presented. Well worth the visit.

Great food and excellent service from Adrian and the team!

Really enjoyed our Sunday dinner here at the boat inn, great service by Adrian and the rest of the team

Lovely visit. Great food. Friendly staff. Walked round Spotborough nature reserve too. Brilliant combination 😁👍 Remember to sign in for car park, so no charge. Busy at peak times.

Nice tasty lunch. Highly recommended. 👍

Nice place located in a picturesque area with an easy-accessible car park. Quite busy, which gives a good recommendation as a place worth popping into. Decent meals indeed.

We were served by lovely Mark who was very attentive and friendly. The pub felt very welcoming both to us and our small dog. They had even put a bowl of water for him by the table we had booked. The location is beautiful, food delicious and staff friendly and efficient. Our first visit, but we liked it so much that we're going back for lunch on Wednesday!

Lovely place to visit especially when the sun is out 🌞😁👍

Had a lovely Sunday lunch with the family, excellent food, friendly service from Adrian, will definitely be back :)

Great food, excellent localization. Perfect place to rest and refuel after lovely walk.

We had a lovely time. I wish I could remember the name of the waitress as she was brilliant with us! Everyone in our party was very happy with her customer service! The food has been very nice, the atmosphere was lovely and chilled! It was our third time dining here and we will definitely come back!

Absolutely disgusting!!!!!! I visited this place a some time ago for a meeting and few weeks later I just got a letter through the door to pay parking notice for £85. God knows how it was marked that you have to pay for parking there cos I never saw any signs and also since when do you pay for parking in front of some pub in the middle of nowhere?! Absolute joke. Place also dirty and not professional, rude service.

Just wow! Food, location and service! Sadly didn’t get a photo of the pan roasted lamb main course as it was possibly the best lamb dish I’ve ever eaten in a pub, the tiny lamb pie that accompanied perfectly cooked lamb was a real treat. Roaring open fires on a rainy day was a real treat. Worth every penny !!

One of best Sunday dinners I’ve had and our waiter Adrian was amazing!

Always disappointed. We’ve tried here a few times because the venue is so idyllic but every time over the 3 years we’ve tried the service is always so poor- either never enough staff (ever!), constant long queues of frustrated customers at the bar or untrained staff (was charged double for drinks by accident and had to issue us a 24hr refund when we noticed). Final straw on a Wednesday evening we came for a drink which took 20 minutes for any service at the bar. Won’t be returning again- all other low star reviews have been saying the same about lack of staff yet they’re too ignorant to improve?!

Absolutely freezing inside, service so slow, short staffed, food arrived no cutlery, no staff to ask for more drinks or more condiments. No question through meal as to is everything ok. Gone downhill so sad. More staff needed to bring it back to what it used to be. Dissappointing visit not sure we will come again!

Lovely place to eat. Managed to get a table last minute for a Sunday dinner. Was lush. Honestly say it was one of the best Sunday dinners I've had in a long time. I had the lamb and my partner had the belly pork. Both cooked perfectly, compliments to the chef. Lovely place too. Served by Adrian who couldn't be more welcoming. Went for a walk by the river afterwards (Adrian recommended the way) when we came back enjoyed a nice drink in the beautiful courtyard. Definitely a 5 star rating from me. Hope to go back soon

Fantastic pub and location with excellent food and service quite simply a most enjoyable way to spend the afternoon

As always great food and service. Had the Slow roast belly pork for Sunday lunch option. Dog friendly area is a great idea. Large outdoor patio area. Free dog treats available and water bowls 😊

What a lovely little pub in a great location. The food is lovely with a great selection of drinks too.

Kelly is an excellent friendly member of staff. Nothing was too much trouble. Food was excellent and atmosphere was great.

Lovely place food wonderful bit expensive for pub food would happily go back when I've saved up.

Best experience ever, really lovely and delicious food and for a really nice price. Pet friendly. A nice guy named Adrian served us, really lovely. Totally recommend 10/10

Lovely place will be going again. The outdoor area is really relaxing great place to sit and have a drink

The boat inn has been a family favourote for some years now. The whimsical medevil charm and location are enough to ensure a wonderful experience, add to that the quality and choice of the food (for vegans/vegetarians alike) is exceptional. The care, pride and diligence demonstrated by all the serving staff is at a very high standard. The place caters for all your doggies needs, providing plenty of bowls of water, a basket of toys/blankets and jar of complimentary treats. Thank you Adrian and the team for another lovely brunch 😊

Absolutely lovely pub, located just off the river. The interior is quaint and picturesque and the food was lovely.

Lovely food and great service from Adrian. Thank you

Hosted fantastically by Adrian, we recently enjoyed a lovely family dinner at The Boat Inn, Sprotbrough. We all enjoyed hearty fayre accompanied by great wine (and soft drinks for Mum & the duty driver!). Sharing camambert, garlic mushrooms and calamari for starters followed by duck pizza, sea bass, fishcakes, lamb skewer and chicken skewer for mains....far too generous so gave desserts a miss. Excellent hospitality and a wonderful atmosphere. Bravo to Adrian and the team 👏🏻👏🏻

Fantastic food and friendly staff *****

Great place to chill with your dogs

Lovely evening with friends, great service and organisation by Charlotte, she looked after all the table great, everyone had a lovely time.

Amazingly friendly staff, delicious meals and at reasonable prices! What more could you want? Got the mushrooms on toast as a starter and vegetarian burger for a main as well as a creme brulé for dessert. Definitely a place to go again!

This is a fantastic pub and a wonderful hike from Doncaster minster to Sprotbrough falls .

Great friendly welcomeing place . Fod is fantstc served fresh and hot allso geat tsting ang good value . Great friendly staff that were on hand to help . Highly reccomend this place will come gain