The Boat Inn in South Northamptonshire

Its a couple of months since we last popped in and it's still one of the best full english breakfasts and great value. Full means double.

Friendly staff, lovely food, will presented.

Four of us arrived together and we were shown to a table where we chose our meal, the two guys went to order together and paid separately. After 20 minutes two meals came and we didn't know whether to start or not as we waited 15 minutes for the next two meals. I went up to ask where they were and the Manager was very rude. saying they were treated as two separate orders even though we were all sitting together at one table and would like to have eaten together! We all agreed the food was undercooked and bland and the beer tasted like vinegar. (Do they clean the pipes out daily)?? My partner went to the Gents and the Chef was there and didn't wash his hands afterwards and went straight back to the kitchen!?! We won't be coming back!

Another great lunch where the food is fabulous, hot and tasty , and well-presented. The staff were attentive, quick, very obliging allowing me and my grandsons to ice the birthday cake on a spare table. We love the interesting canal views and the environment is very cosy. Highly recommend 👌

Service was friendly and attentive, making the experience even better. Whether you’re stopping by for a quick drink or a full meal, this place is a gem. Can’t wait to visit again!

Not been here before, but we were out and about and popped in, very friendly staff. We were handed menus and found seating. Order placed at the bar. Steak Pie,Veg & Chips, Sausage Baguette, Chips & Vegetarian Burger & Chips, couple drinks, very happy with food, clean plates handed back. If you’re in the area pop in and check it out.

We had our staff Christmas meal at The Boat Inn, dining upstairs in the Woodwards restaurant, and it was a fantastic experience! The food was absolutely excellent – beautifully presented and full of flavour. The staff were attentive and made sure everything ran smoothly, which added to the warm, festive atmosphere. If we were to make any suggestions, it would be to have water provided on the table, especially for larger bookings, and to include a chutney or relish with the cheese board to elevate it even further. Overall, it was a wonderful evening, and we'd highly recommend The Boat Inn for a memorable dining experience. Thank you for hosting us so brilliantly!

A nice cosy atmosphere, good food and fantastic location

Lovely staff and premium real ale. It was getting cold inside so we asked at the bar if we could reload the fire. Visit then absolutely ruined by the manager/owner who appeared and told us it was rude to Stoke another man's fire despite obtaining permission. Then continued to ignore our defense. What a horrible man, who knew he was out of order but his ego failed to let him apologize.

Excellent service. Good food well cooked and well presented. Great atmosphere.

Excellent food and lovely atmosphere at a good price. If you are coming here to eat, you may wish to check what else is on that evening, such as open mic nights and so on.

Always enjoy the calm and serenity of this place.

A brilliant traditional pub (in the original side), a very good pint & I was advised, a tasty sausage roll. Complete with an open fire.

Little bit tied inside for a premier site. Food lacked a certain finesse even for a pub restaurant.

Fantastic lunch very pleasant staff and good location

A lovely venue, excellent, fairly priced food and friendly staff. An extensive menu and food served quickly in spite of being busy.

We really like this pub; a great atmosphere and delicious, simple food. And the position, right on the canal, is perfect. This was one of a few visits whilst we were in the area, and each time it was equally good. The chips are divine! And for lunch, the BLT is spot on

Excellent pub food, good service and friendly customers. Skittles & board games available. Groceries can be purchased at the bar, so handy for boaters. Great Bacon butties & plenty of canalside seating.

Good quality food and lots of it. Service was a little slow for what we ordered though. Quite expensive for what it is too.

Quality place: Always stop here on the boat. Fantastic staff.

Very friendly staff and food was great,family run pub not a chain,which is well run.

We had the 2 course dinner and I can honestly say it was probably the best Sunday dinner I have ever had. The food was so nice, plenty of it and so tasty. The lamb was so succulent and tender, didn’t really need to chew it. The staff that served us were really pleasant, attentive and had a good sense of humour. Well worth the 20mile journey and will certainly come back again. Thank you to all at the boat Inn.

Had a very welcome cup of tea here a week ago - had a short canal trip whilst on a Bayliss Executive Coach today in Northampton. Beautiful location and pleasant way to spend an hour.

This is a can do pub, the staff are very friendly and helpful. They went out of their way to accommodate our requests and assist us during our visit. We visited several times over a two day visit to Stoke Bruerne.

Excellent canalside pub with a wide ranging bar menu as well as more formal dining. Large portions. Fantastic location on a lock and opposite the Canal Museum. Plenty of outdoor seating when the weather allows. Staff very welcoming and efficient. Well worth a visit. Yet another visit. Same comments apply. We were there again this weekend. Lovely lunchtime snacks overlooking the canal. Formal dinner in the evening - excellent

Booked a table at the Boat Inn after cancelling our booking at The Navigator due to quite a few recent bad reviews. Very glad I did! We came here for lunch as a company when hiring a river boat for the day. Our table was right next to the door so we had a view of the canal. All of the food was very good, I thoroughly enjoyed my Burger of the Month Service was spot on, would definitely go again.

Lovely food and fantastic place to sit right next to the water.

A great place for a Sunday lunch.

Lovely spot great food and staff very helpful.

A lovely pub with beautiful views of the canal. Dog friendly. Friendly staff. Food was good and had plenty of vegetarian and vegan options which is great to see! There’s games to play and pictures of canal and pub history. The chef sells homemade cake to take away and it is amazing, the chocolate or the coffee and walnut are both my favourite!

Have been there a couple of times, very nice place

Lovely pub and restaurant. Staff are super helpful and polite. Wonderful location overlooking the cabal locks of The Grand Union. Food is very good. Well priced too. Outdoor seating is plentiful, indoors the pub is quite large and traditional style too. Dog friendly which is really important. They even have doggie goody bags and treats as well as bowls of water dotted around the place. Opening hours are 09:30h daily. Close by is the Blisworth Tunnel which is worth a visit.

Best service for private function in upstairs room, Andrew and his team excellant as usual.

The most amazing breakfast this morning - big thank you. Staff were lovely and very hardworking. Great to see everyone enjoying the morning sunshine. Was going to take a photo of the breakfast but totally forgot when it arrived … so all I can say is Thank you!

Lovely pub, good food and service, parking a bit iffy at the back, very tight !

As an Italian who lives in the UK, this is one of the best restaurants that I tried! Just in front of the canal, in a wonderful place. The food is amazing, and the service is fantastic even when the place is busy like in the summertime. The bathroom is clean and everything is automatic, the soap, the water sink and the hand dryer! Highly recommend!! I will definitely visit again with some Italian friends.

A lovely place with friendly and helpful staff. Food was excellent and service pretty prompt. A few drinks and very full tummies and we picked up two homemade loaf cakes for takeaway and only £4 each. We only had a main course and we're stuffed so unless you have a pretty big appetite I'd advise against having a starter.

Even though we waited over 45 minutes, which we were informed would be the case when we ordered, it was absolutely worth the wait!! Whilst we were waiting, we overheard a couple of other tables complimenting the food and hoped we would be saying the same.....and we were not let down! We both ordered the Sunday Roast and both agreed it was delicious!!! The puddings were great too. Value for money = fantastic. Overall 10/10- A lovely meal to end a lovely day, thank you. Our first time eating here and we will definitely be back!

We ordered our meals but they didn’t tell us ,there would be up to an 45 minute wait for the meal ,it was nice could have been a warmer the food when it came up ,instead of being just warm ,after such a long wait for the meals ,it wasn’t busy it’s been busier in the past ,but much quicker service for the food ,plus it was much warmer the food ,

Waited over an hour for food .Am diabetic .so had to emergency eat!,meat fatty and jus on red cabbage upset my diverticulitis . Won’t be going there again !

Fabulous Inn on the banks of the canal. Great service, fabulous breakfast and good ales. Dogs and muddy walkers always welcome.

Great traditional pub right on a canal. Good food, generous portions, fair prices and friendly staff. I would happily come again next time Im in the area.

Beautiful old inn on the canal next to the lock. Has been in the same family for 300+ years. Serving varied, quality meals at reasonable prices. Has limited number of tables outside on the towpath for summer dining. Wonderful historic setting.

Sunday roast Excellent value, well presented, small plate option. Good choice of beers..Staff friendly. Just book for Sunday roast

The vegetarian breakfast was very good. You could tell they have fresh ingredients and didnt favour processed vegetarian food over quality ingredients. Also very filling.

Excellent meal, highly recommend.

Food great staff friendly. A really great place

We had our annual 50+ Club Summer Lunch this afternoon at The Boat Inn. Such a lovely location, the dining room windows overlooking the canal. Our meals were served piping hot and absolutely delicious. The cauliflower cheese was the best I’ve ever had. The service was great and very friendly. Looking forward to my next visit.

Just popped in for breakfast, lovely ingredients and very tasty. And beautiful setting by the canal. Will be back when next in area.

Very good.. lovely pub to spend some time in... just try it for yourselves..

Visited today as the weather was great. Very friendly staff. We sat outside next to the canal, which was great as the seating was in the shade of the building. The food service was quick, and the portion size great. I would definitely recommend this great pub.

We usually love this place and come here a lot. Sadly the Father’s Day meal did not live up expectations. I had my favourite roast pork, only to find the crackling inedible ( hard) and pork not browned. Not many people in I hope it’s not going downhill.

Have previously praised lunch in Woodwards. We go quite often weekday lunch and have a sandwich in the Bar. Always well prepared and my wife's King Prawn overflows with prawns. Always greeted by Management and Staff alike, making us feel very welcome.

A party of 8 visited for Sunday lunch. It was excellent. Friendly staff super choice of food. served piping hot and good portion sizes. Not a frozen vegetable in sight. We all enjoyed everything we had, a first visit but it wont be our last. We asked for a window seat , which we got and it was lovely watching the boats on the canal. The only small criticism is that 2 of the 3 windows had blown obscuring the view a little. Thank you all at the boat for a lovely meal,

The canals take you back to a calm and peacefu timel

Great canal side pub. Landlord Andrew is extremely charming....handy CL at Home Farm for overnighting and having a proper drink. Mixed grill is massive

Proper canal side pub with good selection of Marstons sourced real ales and excellent value pub food. Small car park and you may get blocked in if it gets busy otherwise highly recommended

Sunday lunch. Waited half an hour. Beef with loads of fat needed cutting off. Roast potatoes over cooked almost burnt. Red cabbage soaked in something, I don't know what, I like cabbage normally but this tasted awful. All for £16.00, not nice. Worst Sunday lunch I have ever had. Had better elsewhere and cheaper. Management just offered a free ice-cream or coffee. Declined, just wanted to get out.

Nice traditional pub and restaurant (but with up dates). Best Steak & Ale pie I have had in decades. Generous portions in that and the Ham & Cheddar Ploughman's.

Really nice pub lovely food and good 🍺

Great winter or summer. Next to canal and boat trips from here on so.e days .

Lovley old pub just nice too be in old public house for a pint and a bit if grub 👍👍

24 of us had lunch followed by a trip up the Canal and through the Blisworth Tunnel. A fantastic day. Lunch of high quality was laid out in an upstairs private dinning facility, with excellent service and around a big square table, perfect. Lunch was followed by an informative and enjoyable cruise on the canal through the tunnel in a special purpose covered narrow boat, which we all enjoyed. A great club day out that we would recommend. Thank you Market Deeping Probus Club

Booked as a party of eleven and ended up as a table of twenty one. They coped admirably with the additional people . The food was delicious I had salmon and it was cooked spot on. The staff were friendly and unfazed by the increase in numbers . The pub was very busy in the bar area for about half an hour with a party waiting to go to the restaurant, but it still retained a welcoming atmosphere . Every one enjoyed the meals they had chosen.

Some of the food was disgusting very fatty. The staff never came to ask if everything was okay. A party of men came from a meeting so we had to move. Then when they went back the wives sat down and we had to move again. We were supposed to get 10percent off our meal as we are on a boat that they give to boaters. We will be letting the hire company know that it was disgraceful.

Such a great pub. Has a really nice relaxed atmosphere. Staff really friendly and knowledgeable about the canal history. Food was really nice and the chips are amazing. Good size portions. Will recommend

I've spent many afternoons here. The staff is super friendly, and the scenery is beautiful.

Met up with friends and had a really lovely meal. The Steak and Ale pie was delicious came with chunky chips and fresh veg broccoli, swede and peas. Highly recommend. ( We ate at the other pub in the village the night before and The Boat Inn was far superior 👏 highly recommend) Thankyou for our lovely meal

Loved it had been looking for this place for the last 5yrs We didn't stop for food on this occasion as we had a little one who was getting tired. But will be back as the food looked and smelt delicious. Very friendly staff lovely atmosphere. 🙂🙃👌👍

Was my second time here. First time was around 4-5 years ago. That visit was very good. And now (May 24)back again on a narrowboat and we had to visit them 😀. Service is still very good and friendly. Also the food is still very good. For the boaters: they offer grocery service, not a big list, but all things you can use daily. Check their website for what they can get you. There is no shop in the neighbourhood

What a lovely discovery. Staff welcoming, food amazing home cooked fayre. Great atmosphere with children and dogs allowed.

Thank you all so much all staff friendly helpful 😊 and the meal was absolutely beautifully cooked we will certainly return 😋

Great food and drinks at a lovely price :)

A great range of beers. Recently renovated.

Lovely old pub, didn't eat but menu looked good, dog friendly, locals very welcoming 😀 beer good too!

Had a lovely meal yesterday with my family. Great food that was great value and the service was friendly.

Nice atmosphere and great service

Just popped in with my wife as we were out for a drive. We were greeted by a very nice young man behind the bar, very polite, nice and welcoming, and no fuss. I had two pints of San Miguel, they were lovely pints, nice head all the way to the finish. Definitely coming back in the summer.

Just popped in with my wife as we were out for a drive. We were greeted by a very nice young man behind the bar, very polite, nice and welcoming, and no fuss. I had two pints of San Miguel, they were lovely pints, with a nice head all the way to the bottom of the glass. Definitely coming back in the summer.

Family owned pub, canalside with outdoor seating and offering boat trips. We had very tasty burgers and good pub menu with usual selection of drinks. Friendly service. Very small car park and gets extremely busy when the weather is good. Recommended if you are in the area. Opposite is the canal museum and always fun to watch the boats going through the locks (under repair at the moment).

First ever canal holiday in the 1970's stopped at the boat inn. It was great then and it still is. Warm welcome great food and excellent beer. Just like all pubs should be. Packed in the summer but peaceful this time of year. Well worth the diversion into the Northants countryside to step back in time. Long may it continue

I come here every so often and have never had a bad meal or bad service. Today was of no exception to the norm. We had bar meals and there was a great choice of beer and cider to wash them down. One had the salmon fillet with new potatoes and salad whilst the other had Hunters Chicken. The portions were of a good size and really tasty and fresh. We even found room for a home made desert. Bread pudding and ice cream and a mixed Berry crumble and custard and both were truly awesome. Not perhaps what you call healthy but they tasted great and put a smile on our faces so good hearty winter food which made us feel good and ready for a wander along the canal. Note to self:Must come here more often, well worth the 40 mile drive from Warwickshire.

Many changes to most places after the pandemic, but the boat remains our favorite watering hoie. Fiendly staff, good choice of beer and the Food is nice. Also a warm fire in the winter and dog friendly. Great place to be.

Highly recommend. Food, service and place are very worth going to for a meal.

Lovely pub, and the best breakfast. We always stop for breakfast here, when on a day out. Staff really friendly. We did not realise that they opened at 10am on weekdays, in January. But despite this, we were welcomed in, just after 9.30am to sit in the warm pub with a coffee, until we could order breakfast at 10. This was most welcome on a cold January morning, after an early tow path walk. Thank you to the staff for your warm and friendly welcome. And for a really tasty cooked breakfast. Would highly recommend. Also a relaxing location by the canal. Thank you so much.

A lovely canal side restaurant/pub. Enjoyed by local boaters and visitors alike. Sausage and mash was delicious. Perfectly large but not wasteful portions. Proper homely belly warming food. And very reasonable on pricing for what you get in my opinion. Thank you Boat Inn! 🛥️

An amazing place. Truly the hart of the community. Its a nice pub with great sausage rolls but that's just the start. It's also a mini food shop. Proper Restaurant upstairs as well as pub food downstairs. Sells take takeaway wine. Has a chancery (boat shop). Does cash back for small amounts. The list goes on.. Staff are helpful and pleasant.

Beautiful old inn right by the canal and across from the Canal Museum and close to the Blisworth Tunnel. A glorious January morning walk along the canal and a visit to the museum topped off with lunch here. Perfectly kept Old Empire IPA and a lovely blue cheese burger (my default food) all in the perfect surroundings of a country inn with roaring fires. My idea of heaven!!

Great pub with lovely food and friendly staff

We visited with friends for Sunday lunch and it was excellent. Staff were all very friendly and efficient and being set beside the canal it is a very scenic setting. We arrived early to see England playing as they have a tv showing sports (only occasionally I believe and it is a small tv but good for us).

Lovely location and a cosy pub. We have eaten here a number of times and enjoyed the food enormously. So we decided to book Christmas day luncheon. The starters was delicious, mains more than enough although the roast potatoes a let down, just not crispy. We were looking forward to dessert, Christmas pudding/custard lacked the alcohol. I know that is a personal thing, but do feel a more boozy one for the adults. Only 3 cream crackers between two people. Plenty of cheese, but there really should have been enough cream crackers on the plate to begin with without having to ask for more. Disappointing mince pies, these really should have been home made and not shop bought. It was a lovely touch to have a little box of party poppers etc and a gift for each of us at the end. Over all it was a nice day. Service was top notch. It did lack atmosphere, no christmas music nor fairy lights in the dining room or the reception area upstairs. Can I also say, jeans? really. A dress code would be nice on such a day.

The Fillet Steak is to die for! This is our 3rd time returning for this dish (incidentally, we've also had breakfasts, and other dishes off the menu - delicious... but we happen to favour Steak).. Staff and atmosphere are wonderful. A ten out of five for us xxx

Busy restaurant overlooking the canal. Good choice of beer and good gastro style food. Small car park.

Great service, fabulous food. A bit quiet, but to be expected in the winter on a Monday night. Definitely recommend and would love to go back in the Summer ☀ 😁

Christmas lunch with 17 friends really good

We held a club dinner for about 60 people. Good range of menu options, and catered well for special diets. Friendly staff, good service, and in summer a canal-side area.

Great business meeting. Breakfast, lunch and a drink in front of the open fire 🤗 Friendly team, great quality.

Freezing, used to be a lovely pub with real fire and warm comfortable surroundings. Moved 3 times trying to get warm, my 89-year-old father had to keep his coat on most of the time, as did my wife. No fires lit and heating not sufficient. Shame liked going here summertime.

Popped in for some lunch, service was so good , they could not do enough. All the staff are very friendly and go out of there way to make you feel so welcome. Lunch was cooked to perfection and just the right amount. Will make this a place of MUST GO AGAIN.

Nice food but better atmosphere before the big refurbishment.