The Boathouse in Isle of Wight

Hoping for a light lunch and a pint, not a Sunday roast, went in at about 1215 today. We seemed to be invisible to the two men behind the bar for about ten minutes. Eventually asking if they did sandwiches the (I thought) senior of the two said he would find out. After some time he returned to say they were fully booked. I commented on the many empty tables in the garden, and was told "We're not taking walk-ins". Fair enough, until passing the place an hour later, to see many empty outside tables and people quaffing "casual" drinks. I remember when 40 years ago this was a proper pub called The Battery. Even in those days my late father was concerned about the place becoming overrun by "The Rodneys", but even they weren't there. Dreadful non-experience. Won't be back in a hurry

Had an excellent breakfast today. The lady who served us was so lovely, very efficient and nothing was to much trouble but unfortunately we didn't get her name. Would definitely recommend 🙂

Really friendly service and welcome Nice food at sensible prices We were greeted well and it is in good location with views of sea - although when we went the weather meant no view!

Avoid this pub, The Old Fort in Seaview is a million times better. Poor service, we did not even get off the starting blocks - walked out and went somewhere else.

We revisited tonight as had a lovely meal last week!! It was like walking into a completely different pub. Service was beyond slow, and when provided with menus advised that they were sorry, but, there was a lack of items!! We ordered drinks first, 20mins and watched them sat on bar for 10 of those, in the end had to ask the young girl who was stood doing nothin, could we perhaps have them to drink, rather than just look at them. We then asked if we could order and she advised she wasn't doing the ordering so had to wait for the young man to arrive. When he did we checked about the lobster as was having our last meal of our holidays and he had previously advised what wasn't in the menu. Advised yes, they had this - 20mins after ordering was advised that actually, they didn't have it and something similar they could offer was a monkfish...... (no words to that really). Left us with the menu again and just kept walking past us despite trying to get his attention so we could reorder the missing lobster meal. He just kept sodding about on his iPad thingy and ticking of the tables. During this time also, a gentlemen walked up to the bar to say he was extremely concerned about his groups meal as it was now over an hour since they ordered and no starters had even been served. He proceeded to cancel his starters as they were fed up with the ridiculous delay and lack of any service. With that, we echoed his sentiments and advised we were actually leaving as not prepared hand over our well earned money to an establishment who had got it completely wrong tonight and they weren't even busy. In fact I'd say they weren't even a quarter full. Menu is very expensive and although the food we ate last week was good, it wasn't fantastic. But the 3 ladies who served us were really lovely which was why we had decided to revisit tonight on our last night. Big mistake on our part and extremely disappointing for us as ruined our last evening.

Dinning out with a group with allergy considerations can be challenging. However, the waiting staff and kitchen were so helpful and accommodating, the freshness and quality of the food is outstanding. All in a friendly and relaxing environment. I will definitely be returning, love this place.

Amazing food, staff and atmosphere, views across the solent to portsmouth are beautiful especially at night. Dog friendly.

not sure if this is correct way , not a tech sav we a table of five , served by lovely young chap with the tash , not often we feel so welcom in a restaurant chap made us feel at ease , very attentive answered all our questions with a smile enjoyed mussels fish and chips the most real fresh tasting food will be booking again

Wonderful afternoon with friends, food delicious good quality produce cooked to profection, friendly staff felt very welcomed, good customer service. Beautiful location, big improvement from our previous visit last summer. Would highly recommend.

Lovely restaurant to end the day on. Often walked past on an evening stroll and never ventured in, what a pleasant evening it was for us. Enjoyed an array of different food items, all of which very enjoyable. Customer service faultless, efficient and attentive. Atmosphere with live music was good. Will definitely reroute our walks more often to enjoy an evening meal.

Great customer service, incredible food, we recommend the line caught bass, and the hey Chcken!! Good value for money we will be back.

This is a lovely looking pub in a great location but our experience was a bit disappointing. Some dishes were better than others - for example the pork fillet was far better than the duck salad. Service was a bit erratic. We felt at times that we had been forgotten: others who arrived after us ate and left before we had received our main courses.

Great location, terrible, terrible service, small portions. It was a quiet night.. there were 3 staff who could see us from the bar at all times. After being told it was full table service I had to go to the bar 3 times to get them to take our order for drinks, food etc. I don’t think the staff have the slightest idea what customer service is! It took 30 minutes to get our first drink and an hour for food… they gave me the wrong burger ( don’t go there if you’ve got an allergy!) properly disappointing experience… such a shame as it used to be so good. ☹️ Needless to say, I refused to pay service charge… we won’t be going back. Go to The Old Fort down the road… much better!

Excellent cooked breakfast - good quality local food, nicely presented and hot! One of my favourite places to eat on the islands! Even the soap and hand lotion in the toilets were lovely.

Stopped off after work. Had the Mermaid Gin & tonic battered fish and the Isle of Wight burger with cheese and Dijon mustard. Absolutely delicious flaky cod, batter crisp with a slight sharp flavour from gin and tonic. Burger thick, juicy, full of flavour and cooked to perfection. Both meals served with thick chips, fluffy centres with lovely crisp outside. Helpful friendly service.

2nd visit here is a matter of months we went back as we enjoyed the food so much last time and decent size portions. We saw another couple having the sandwiches and chips which looked amazing and very generous then ours arrived (not sandwiches) and it was starter size!! I had the pork and black pudding very tasty and my other half had the monkfish again very tasty and well presented approx £17 -£20 a dish. I was still hungry afterwards and we both laughed about the portion size. So if you do visit get a sandwich unless you want to be hungry

Small portion but absolutely delicious roast . Beef melted in mouth. Staff very polite and efficient. Will be returning.

Lovely friendly staff. Tables were sticky. Front Door was filthy. Meal was tasteless. Cauliflower cheese was burnt. Stuffing tastless. Main meal was tasteless. Best bit was the mustard. I think it might have been Colemans. Service was extremely slow. Seems a cutting review but all true. Hope you can improve and posper. BW

Awful! Tiny portions! My roast consisted of 2 potatoes, one slice of meat and a handful of veg! Me and my partner left hungry! My 1 years olds (3) chicken dippers and chips was £11! Over priced! Will not be returning!

Very disappointed, we got a price is Wight voucher for Sunday lunch, very small 2 potatoes and you had to pay extra for veg , a child’s lunch (under 2 was £11. Pint coke £5 and beer 6/7 pounds Don’t go here

Very expensive lunch in a very cold restaurant. Just fancied a light lunch in our lunch hour so popped in as only live locally . Limited two course table service lunch menu average starter price around £10 mains around £13-17 . Place was freezing with no heating on although there’s a nice open fire that could have easily been on to create a bit of heat ! There was no draught beer available at all apart from Guinness was told been shut for 4 days and was awaiting delivery which I find hard to believe that all draught beer ran out completely before closing for the early part of the week . Decided on a mushroom bruschetta starter for £10 which was not very nice mushrooms tasted like they had been deep fried ( trust me I’m a chef ) and the sourdough was rock hard no seasoning and very small . For an establishment that is supposed to pride itself on food quality and service “ inns of distinction” come on guys raise the bar because your charging top money and falling short of the mark on all levels. Tried so many times to support this local business over the years but i will just simply not go back again as been let down so many times . Shame really as it could be amazing!!!

Absolutely awful- we all purchased a price of wight voucher due to visiting before and having a good meal around 6-9 months ago however after this visit we will not be returning. We were initially greeted an asked what we would like to drink which was great, told it was table service to never see them again! Once our food came out, it was cold and 50% of our party found LARGE pieces of tin foil in the food! The meat (beef) was all fat, the pork was Chinese spiced, Yorkshire puddings were flat or very dry and crispy and the rest very bland. One of our party wanted tomato sauce with their meal, so I went to the bar to ask for some for it to arrive after the meal had finished! Once the plates were collected, around 15 minutes after we had all finished- we alerted them about the tin foil in the food to be told ‘oh I’m sorry’. Absolutely awful service, unfortunately bad food and definitely will not be returning and definitely won’t be recommending!

We spent a lovely Valentines evening here last night, with an excellent menu and wine pairing with each course. Staff were very efficient and friendly Stayed over in one of their 4 rooms which was special and had a great Seaview. Good breakfast to finish our stay.

We thought as a treat we would visit a restaurant new-to-us on the island for a roast lunch. We had a table booked. On arrival informed there is only roast pork. Although disappointed, we decided to eat as we had driven quite a distance. We ordered drinks (very expensive) and awaited a nice roast dinner. Roast pork dinners were served, no apply sauce available as they had run out. Each dinner was quite small, topped with only one thick slice of very fatty belly pork. We politely requested the meat to be changed as it was inedible. The dinners were returned with two slices of the same fat meat. We explained it really was unacceptable and it was taken away. We were able to order from a short bar menu (we had gone out to eat!) two fish, chips and mushy peas thinking this should be a safe option. The fish was nice although small, but the “chips” were deep fried quartered new potatoes, and the peas not hot. The potatoes were somewhat uncooked in the middle but dark brown on the outside. Even frozen chips would have been better! We politely paid up and left, never to return. Very unhappy, and we live on the island.

Pub was a bit cold, food was extremely salty and limited menu and small bottle of Prosecco £9.50, £16.00 with a pint of Guinness we didn’t have a second drink, it may well be a consequence of the cost of living crisis, we would normally not be bothered as we don’t venture out much, but we were shocked.

To be fair, I was greeted by a lovely chap that welcomed me on a dark and windy Monday evening. He showed me to my room which at first glance looked ok - how wrong was i, more to follow... Upon the gentleman leaving i asked what time the bar and restaurant opened upon which equipped 'we are not open for food or beverages until Wednesday now' meaning in essence that due to the location of the hotel, i was 30 minutes walk away from anywhere that served food and as alway with these case to put the icing on the cake - could i get a taxi! After unpacking, I decided to have a quick shower and freshen up and thats when my initial reaction of the room being 'ok' started to fade, and it was then i started to dig a little deeper... 1. hand marks all over shower head and dried shampoo 2. tiles at the bottom of the shower full of mould, 3. pubic hairs on radiators 4. windows cracked and rickerty 5. windows mould and mildew 5.cobweb in each corner of first bay window. 6.The side board table pitted and marked with damp bubbles. As you can imagine i was eager to speak to the kind chap who greeted me, but inconveniently he had left, i then tried to call the 'emergency number' and again inconveniently for myself this number did not even ring, i ended up finding one number and got through, which was the account office number for the hotel, and left a voicemail, so i'm sure that a poor office working will be receiving my rant on the voicemail, my apologies in advance . As reluctant as i was i decided to stay that evening as circumstance i.e stranded and i thought the next day would bring better things and i could address my issues. Unfortunately due to a family issues i had to leave the hotel early in the morning for a family emergency ( visiting my family was the reason for my visit) I returned back to the hotel hoping to speak to someone around 4pm, again no one was here and again the emergency number did not work and to make things even better and put a fancy bow on things the heating was off and it was - 5, and just my luck it felt like the coldest day of the year (January by the sea!) . The room with all of its faults became unbearable and i ended up, wait for it... sleeping in the hall way (as it was the warmest place) and wrapping myself in blankets that i had borrowed from a family member as i did not want to use the linen provided. It is now 6:11am and have taken the steps to move myself to a fantastic hotel up the road called The Seaview Hotel, they are serving me breakfast at 7am and I'm very much looking forward to it. as you can imagine with all of the above, it has come with great stress and cost and am very much hoping the nice chap (Mr Elusive) will be kind enough as he was in the first instance to reimburse fro the five days i have paid for including the two god awful nights that i have had to stay here. I will be phoning him to make him aware of the above - however i cant seem to contact them, funny that, can anyone help? Ps. they did have a nice radio in the room.

We went looking forward to Sunday lunch. Table booked online for 2pm and a Price is Wight voucher. Lovely to see the pub so full, but they had already run out of chicken. We got the last 2 portions of beef, leaving only pork for...

Place looks nice and menu sounded good..... so we booked for dinner......BIG MISTAKE.....all the mains were so salty we couldn't eat them. We would not recommend this place at all. There was no discount or apology from the chef

Uncooked food, Rude waitress, manic bartender, All this when the bar was no busier than a normal Sunday afternoon. Our reordered food was left sitting under the hot plate, a cold sandwich served hot?? The staff obviously had no interest in being there. Very much...

A fantastic Sunday lunch ...food very tasty and hot. I had the beautiful beef and my husband had the half roast chicken , which was ideal for the larger appetite. service was excellent ... Rob and his team are an absolute credit to the boathouse....welcoming...

We were staying at the Seaview hotel. The Boathouse is a short stroll around the corner. Informal, friendly and fun. Good menu. Food well cooked and nicely served.

We attended the 2nd Taster menu evening at The Boathouse and once again the food, presentation and wine flight were excellent. We enjoyed the french touches/inspiration in the cooking and were reminded of times abroad. It was evident from speaking to other couples after the...

The only lasting impression of this meal was bad indigestion. Such a pity because the last tasting menu in September was sensational, innovative and balanced - we were thrilled that such a talent had some to our village! When we heard last minute about the...

After such a long wait ( and the place was virtually empty) our sandwiches were the worst we've ever had anywhere. Chunky dry bread, tasteless cheese and the toasted sandwich was mainly fried onions and was cold. We shall never return.

The wife and I have eaten here on and off for the last 8 years and have never had a bad meal. A recent menu change has added some exciting and tasty fish dishes which I think is a surefire move stating their intentions. You...

Lovely pub with nice views towards Portsmouth. Cool terrace. Comfortable relaxed atmosphere. Nice sitting on the terrace with cool view.

Just had Afternoon tea, excellent presentation, different sandwich fillings from the norm, delicious scones and very attractive and tasty cakes, would recommend it.

Yes the tables are sticky, it must be something they clean the table with, that said the food was amazing, I reviewed their sister resteraunt and there is no comparison. The food and service was good at the Boathouse. 5 dishes all served hot all...

We should have realised what was in store for our lunch when we sat down to a very sticky table. Our drinks arrived and each time I picked up my glass of wine I had to prise it off the table. The food followed almost...

Excellent food - roasts amazing - desserts incredible- lovely service eventually- slow start with drinks but improved after first drinks - only complaint from our group was roast potatoes in garlic and rosemary- sorry doesn’t work for me - overall good meal and would recommend

Just read the reviews after dinning here twice this week. Yes the table seems sticky but saw the wateress clean it before we sat down. Seem with all these comments to the deterement of the restaurant about time it's changes the chemical used. Our meal...

We arrived and were shown to our sticky table! Apparently it was the chemical reaction of the cleaner,so why not get new tables or tablecloths. The place itself was so lacking in character and ambiance. The waiter was lovely, but that’s as far as it...

Tonight we had the 7 course tasting menu special with a wine pairing for each dish, and it was simply flawless from start to finish. Wine, food, service, lovely staff, ambiance - all 10/10. I have been several times before for drinks and lunch, and...

View is nice. Lots of plates and glasses left on tables when we visited. Shabby round the edges eg 2 out of 6 taps not working in the ladies toilets.

Had full English breakfast this morning which is the best breakfast we’ve had in a long time (we are local so try lots of places) and Rob was so polite and gave great customer service even though he was really busy. He really is a...

Booked for lunchtime 'Lightbite' which came through on line. Was told it is all the same menu. Then was told someone was talking to the chef to see what this menu was. This turned out to be two starters for £14.00. the choice being very...

Such a great find discovered in the Isle of Wight brochure. So glad we decided to book from the advert. Really attentive managers such a good team and we learned an excellent Italian chef. We had to ask for extra time to consider the menu...

Lovely spot wonderful lunch good quality food helpful and friendly staff good view from garden of Portsmouth across the water

I had mermaid fish and chips, husband had burger. The fish was delicate and the batter made with mermaid gin was amazing. Burger was hand made and massive. Beautiful food.

We went on the off chance of a table on a Friday night. Made to feel very welcome, a member of staff delivered colouring pencils and a colouring book to my little one as soon as we were settled. Fish and chips were the best....

Visited for lunch and were not disappointed with our Lunchtime Sandwiches which were both well presented and extremely tasty. A limited choice of real ales but well kept.

Great food (our party had both the vegan and the regular fish and chips). The local Goddards bitter was very tasty. Service was friendly and prompt. All in all we had a lovely evening.

The buzzer system to alerts you when your food is ready didn’t work. Went in after waiting 30mins for a basket of chips to inquire where the order was. The staff member looked around, found it sat on the counter and just said oh yeah...

I have tried to contact the management privately, via their email but no acknowledgement. Vastly overpriced (£11 for desserts) and my £16 crab sandwich had no crab, just a spicy, artificial-tasting slightly fishy sauce. Our one dessert and two ice creams did not arrive, so...

I read previous reviews but thought I’d find out for myself. I wish I’d taken heed as I paid £30 for a plate of fish and chips and one glass of white wine. I was really shocked that a glass of wine was £13!! I...

AVOID, AVOID, AVOID!! Rude, miserable staff, London prices, 2am burger van quality food, war time portion sizes, sticky tables and tired decor. My nan said she ate better in the war. Just wish we'd read the reviews beforehand.

Very pleasant and accommodating staff. Our order arrived in good time. The quality of the food was good. I would definitely recommend the Boat House to friends

The place makes a lot of itself - “best pub”, “best fish and chips” … our advice is don’t be fooled. It’s ok, but nothing special. When we went, it was largely empty, we asked for a table near the window but we’re told we...

The service was reasonable and the food quite mixed. We booked a table, were shown to it, and asked for our drink order before sitting down and being able to see the menu. I ordered fish and chips that was obviously burnt as it arrived...

Lovely evening meal. Two of us had Sunday roast and two others had fish. Thought the meals were expensive but very nice

Venue is well presented, interesting range on the menu particularly if you like fish. I had the seared tuna burger which was tasty. The gentleman behind the bar was very professional and helpful and is a credit to the establishment. The man who appeared to...

We visited twice during our weeks stay in June both times for lunch. Both times we sat outside and had a great view of the mainland across to Portsmouth. The young lady who served us was very nice and helpful couldn’t do enough for you....

There are two good things about this pub - the location, and the cider was nice. Unfortunately that’s where it ends. I realised that my cardigan was sticking to the table, and had to use my napkin to stop myself sticking to it. We had...

Flint pous the best cider, he's a keeper. Lovely place with sea view. Food menu looks lovely so might come back another day and sample the menu.

My partner and I came across this lovely place whilst walking along the seaside with our 7 week daughter. We initially stopped for a drink but decided to have some dinner, I had the slow roasted belly pork with black pudding croquette and creamed mash...

Really great staff who were very welcoming, and friendly. Lots of fish choices on the menu which suited us. We had snacks on arrival with drinks, lovely starters followed by fishy main courses. Like many restaurants the prices have gone up, but on this occasion...

Terrible service, very expensive, even managed to get the order wrong, food was average wouldn’t recommend

Felt really welcomed and comfortable. I was hiking and working and this placed allowed me to have a good food and sea view and lovely atmosphere, with space and peace to concentrate on work.

Rob was attentive and very helpful. Makes a mean G&T! The food was delicious and served swiftly after ordering. Comfortable surroundings with a perfect view. Go there!

Sadly this was a bad experience at a much hyped establishment. Firstly shown to a wobbly table which was so sticky my clothes stuck to the table. Asked to move for these reasons and the waitress said the table was sticky as that’s the cleaner...

Weekend stay - perfect location to explore the island! Room clean ,warm and comfortable . Breakfast excellent - good choice of hot and cold meals . Had dinner in the restaurant both evenings during our stay - Rob is an excellent host and a great...

Don't mind paying over the top for food but they cannot even cooke chips rock hard need to bring your pricing down to match quality of food

Don't bother, diabolical, the worst I have ever had, drinks served an hour before tea was served, an hour later than booked!, Not enough to share x 4, when we asked for extra drinks, were told had to pay extra, as only one drink included...

Visited for an ening meal as have had good previous times. Kitchen and front of house so disjointed starter forgotten, meal was a joke, chipolata sausages passed off as buthers best. An inn of distinction, more like an inn if disaster. If not sorted soon...

Stayed here midweek overnight and had an evening meal which was well presented. Waitress was very attentive. Room was spacious and comfortable. Good breakfast. Have seen the previous reviews but can say we enjoyed the stay and the food

We came as a family for dinner as a treat. Having loved the pub in previous years despite the higher price tag, we felt it would be a great location to revisit for a special occasion. Wow were we in for the biggest disappointment. Food-...

What a great shame about the food, if I had read the reviews first we would not have gone, it certainly lived up to them. The only reasonable or good reviews seem to be about the Sunday lunch and the outside views. Arrived look at...

This pub is in a great location if holidaying in area between Seaview and Ryde. Nice outside seating area to relax and drink/eat if weather allows. Had the Sunday roast dinner and it was average at best so in the future would stick to drinks...

Fantastic staff, great service even when they're busy. Fantastic food and brilliant specials, absolutely loved the beef short rib! Lovely location right by the sea with a nice beer garden too!

Sunday lunch overlooking the sea was lovely and the best roast beef we have had in a long time. Friendly staff and great service. 3 choices of meal size - what a great idea, snd all very reasonably priced

Staying at Seaview this pub was in walking distance. Service friendly, nice relaxing seating, beer good, food was nice typical pub food.. Worth a visit if in area

Have been before and food was good, but on this time , it was really bad. Sunday roast was all over cooked bar the meat, the other dish was pork belly with noodles, meat was about 2" long in a bed of very wet noodles....

Staff and food were lovely and helpful but didn’t feel as though you got your moneys worth, you paid a lot for your meal but got quite a small portion and a pint of coke was 5 pound! Other then that everything else was okay.

Visited the Boathouse on 28 August and had a beautifully cooked Sunday Lunch overlooking The Solent in the sunshine, listening to live music. The meal was excellent and the staff were very attentive. Drinks a little pricey, but only to be expected these days and...

Lovely meal, we all really enjoyed our food! Thank you to Catherine for sorting out our booking mishap and being an attentive! Great service!

We live in the area and had family visiting so went to the Boathouse for dinner. We booked a table but still waited a long time to be served. The food took ages to arrive and was lukewarm. The steak was £28 and was the...

Sandwich menu sounded interesting but we waited 45 minutes for a soggy bacon and Brie sandwich x 2 (not the delicious sounding crispy maple glazed pancetta!), and another underwhelming’’Marie Rose Prawn’ sandwich - we were told after 35 minutes that they didn’t have the rye...

We enjoyed our meal. The main cousre Fish & Chips -Haddock was very good - freh and well cooked. My starter Moules Mariniers was OK but I have had better in the past at the Boathouse. Scallps served as a starter were disappointing. We did...

Last few times have been terrible . Last time this was served up as a Bao bun. High prices and bad food

If you look at the menu with all the fancy ingredients you would think you were in for a 5 star experience, this was not the case. Waiting ages for the main courses to be prepared. Fish and chips delivered but then waiting for all...

Would be nice for a drink by the sea but the food lets it down. The chicken wings on the starters had way too much dry rub on them and just weren’t edible. The garlic crevettes lacked flavour. The monkfish skewers special came out missing...

On holiday in Caravan at Roman Bank, Having drink at The Boathouse lovely lady serving us nothing too much trouble for her. While have a drink the couple next to us said food lovely so thought would try the carvery.WELL what a disappointment, pork, Turkey,...

Dinner booked at 7.45 no one bothered to take drinks orders, further order of drinks whilst waiting left on bar. Food ordered at 7.55, 1 plate arrived 8.40, with lukewarm food. After waiting for the other meal for 5 mins with no cutlery (no-one wants...

Super friendly staff, great food, perfect location. Extensive menu at breakfast, the usual stuff to help yourself to like pastries and cereal then you could order from the kitchen a variety of breakfasts. The roast on Sunday was delicious. The view from the bedroom was...

Excellent service throughout our visit. The food was good, the ambiance was great. We will definitely revisit, next time we are in the area. Thanks to everyone, for making us welcome as part of the family.

My husband and I ate at The Boathouse on 21st June 2022 and we really enjoyed the food. The staff were very attentive and friendly. My husband and I both had the burger and brownie for dessert which we both enjoyed - we will be...

After having had a very good experience at dining at The Boatman in October we decided to eat there again. Upon arriving we asked what the pie of the day was and were told beef and mushroom. We ordered three which came with mashed potato...

Lovely seafront location and friendly staff. Food a bit disappointing. Small battered fish, oven chips and frozen peas £16. Would suggest visit for a drink but get fish and chips from one of the local chippies which are all pretty good.

We stayed in a room overlooking the Solent, easy access to many places to visit. Room, restaurant and breakfast was fabulous with amazing and friendly staff. Food highly recommended and breakfast to keep your boots filled for the day Would absolutely recommend and we will...

We visited the island last October and had an amazing 3 course Sunday lunch. So disappointed that on our return visit yesterday we found the food portions to be much smaller in size with a much smaller selection of vegetables and the prices to have...