The Waterside in Wokingham

Disappointing. Expensive,limited menu Won't be rushing back.

I'm so pleased to have found this lovely place I'd been working nearby & after a long hard day myself & 4 team members decided to go for a well-earned drink on 3rd March The waterside is Beautiful inside & out very clean & a fantastic garden area with plenty of seating & great for families too. Dog-friendly as well. We had such a lovely warm welcome from the lady behind the bar. Apologies I've forgotten her name she had ( blonde hair ) We ordered some drinks & a couple of coffees & to save us standing waiting for coffees we were kindly told to go take a sit & they'd bring our drinks to us. Great customer service lovely staff, great garden & clean toilets 🤩 On this occasion, we only had time for drinks but I had a look at The Menu which sounds yummy & good prices I will be booking a table & coming in for lunch 100% Look forward to seeing you soon 5🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 from me ( Kelly)

As a group of 20 from a local club, we were very well cared for by Abbey and the staff who always offer us such good service. Food was excellent, considering our large number, with particular favourites the Crispy Beef Salad, Thai Green Chicken and Prawn Curry, Pork Schnitzel, and the Sticky Toffee and GF Chocolate desserts! Thanks so much, Abbey. You are, as always, much appreciated!

We went as the sun was shining and we had been told about the garden having outside screens. We intended just to drink, but seeing the food bought out made us decided to order. It was lovely. The staff in the garden worked exceptionally hard over a big space to ensure no build up of empties.

Staff are very rude, after waiting 45 minutes for our food I asked the waitress how long the wait was going to be, her reply was “ the kitchen is busy, it will be out when it’s ready”, all I wanted was to know how long

Lovely place to eat.Warm,friendly, helpful staff.Beautiful food. Child friendly

Food was served differently to what was ordered, and the plates of Sunday roast was,absolutely swimming with gravy when it turned up at the table rather than being served separately. Then, when my latte coffee came to the table, there was more in the saucer, then had to order more sugar as it was soaking wet, & couldn't be used. Attention to service and what customers order comes to mind when questioned about our meal the server said that's how we do Sunday roasts, so basically take it or leave type attitude which is not acceptable gravy should be served separately

Just had the best Sunday roast I've had for a while, lovely tender lamb and plenty of green veg with Yorkshire pud and roast veg. All for a very reasonable price. Definitely recommend and will come again soon.

Been eating in there for a few months but there staff are useless, if the food isn’t cold you pay twice for it! Good food spoilt by bad management of the staff. After returning it for being cold again it returned dried out I then told a staff member it was rank as it was, they did nothing I won’t be going back soon.

Stopped by for coffee and cake. GreT service and great food.

Really nice place. Great staff too. I bet this place is packed in the summer!

We were disappointed to find that the "carvery" does not exist, despite being mentioned twice on their website. Your choice of meat is served to you on a plate with some veg, roast potatoes and Yorkshire. Extra veg is served on a dish at the table. However, the quality of the food is very good and my husband enjoyed his lamb.

We went for dinner on the last day of 2024. We had to make a reservation for 7 people. Very good food. Excellent service. Very welcoming atmosphere. I highly recommend it

Had a lovely evening meeting with friends for Christmas drinks.

Great pub Friendly staff as always

Service was a bit slow this time around but very nice and professional as always. One of my top 3 restraunts to visit.

Me and my family dropped in for dinner for a quick pint and dinner. We were promptly seated with no booking straight away with excellent service. Not only was the food amazing with the service, we were given a 20% discount!. We only noticed after we left and didn’t get a chance to thank the serving team. Thanks guys we had an amazing time!

Lovely carvery, tender meat, loads of veg, huge yorkie, but the whole meal was not very hot and cold by the time we finished.

It was OK as a quick fix, but wouldn't rush back, sorry but it was not the best 'homemade' we have had.

Nice large restaurant which wasn't very busy on a Tuesday evening. Great friendly service. The food was very good and well kept ale. Nice surprise to get 25% off the food bill (current deal available all day from Monday to Thursday) making it very reasonably priced

First time there, friendly and attentive staff, very nice atmosphere as well as being located next to a lake. Food was amazing, especially with the 25% discount being offered Monday through Thursday on food, made it even more worth it! Highly recommend this place if in the area

Visited on a Saturday morning 1.00pm. Good location, atmosphere and plenty of parking. Drinks; one drink we wanted, they had run out, and this was just after opening on a Saturday! Poor choice of non-alcoholic drinks (for the designated driver!). Food; one dish very good, one too much fat in the meat; so between 4 star and 2 star. Service between 1 star and 3 star. For the prices charged therefore, for me, this restaurant is not value for money.

Nice walk round the lake to the rear after lunch. All 5 of us thought the food to be very good and nicely presented, such a good price too. Thai green curry, salmon, fish'n'chips, cumberland saus, fish pie. Decent portion sizes. Loos immaculate & nicely furnished, very up to date in this beautiful old thatched building. Everywhere kept very clean, no sticky tables etc. Numerous seating areas for personal choice. Music not too loud. TV screen outside & in bar for sports, not restaurant which is good. Dogs allowed in the bar area. Great parking. Excellent outdoor eating & garden for kids to run around. Will return.

We made a same day booking via the website and the staff clearly do not check the reservation system - when we arrived we waited at the check in desk - no one approached us I couldn’t see any staff at the bar so we continued to wait - when the staff popped up from the back I advised we had a reservation which I was informed sorry you where late the staff went home - I advised we had been stood waiting for staff although yes we were 5 mins late there’s a 15 min grace period - she marched to the desk and pointed and and showed me some one else’s booking and said your booking was at 5pm - I showed my booking which was at 5.30 she said oh well sorry staff has gone home coz the 5pm didn’t arrive 😂 rude and unbothered could have saved us a lot of time if some one checked the system and called us to cancel prior to us arriving

Had a booking here for 5.30pm with 4 adults & 2 grandchildren all very hungry, only to be served our food almost an hour later!! When questioning the waitress as to how much longer it would be before we got our food 'I haven't got a clue' was her answer!! 🤔 - besides that our food when it eventually turned up was delicious!!

Great typical food and good beer! Good atmosphere both on the terrace and inside. A 10/10

I visited The Waterside with some friends several months ago, on the final day of the Premiership season. The afternoon was pleasant, and everyone was enjoying the atmosphere in the garden. Unfortunately, I then became victim to some extremely rude, threatening, and verbally abusive customers, making me feel extremely intimidated and unhappy. Shortly after this, my friends and I chose to leave. I reported this to the manager, Albert, the following day, over the phone. Albert initially appeared concerned about what had happened in his pub, confirming that rude and abusive behaviour is not permitted under any circumstances. Albert agreed to look through CCTV, as I had decided to report this incident to the police. I subsequent reported this to Thames Valley Police, and offered to provide Albert with a crime reference number. However, despite numerous emails addressed to Albert, he subsequently did not reply to any of my emails, addressed to the email address given on the pub’s website. For information, I emailed the pub on the following dates, with no response received: 22 May, 24 May, 12 June, 28 July, 5 August. My final email to Albert confirmed that I would be writing a summary of my visit for Tripadvisor. Again, I received no response from the management. Without any cooperation from The Waterside Pub, TVP chose to close my complaint - understandably - as they have more serious crimes to be dealing with than rude customers in a pub. While the pub itself is beautiful, I am afraid that I have been left with an extremely bitter taste in my mouth. Not only for the manner in which I was bellowed at by some (drunk, I assume) customers, but also with how the manager of The Waterside, Albert, gave zero importance to my concerns. I will not be returning to The Waterside as I felt extremely unsafe there, and Albert’s lack of care continues to bother me very much.

Went today for Sunday lunch for my daughter’s birthday. Starters took ages to arrive even though we had a 2yr old waiting to be fed.. asked for more drinks .. the waitress forgot to bring them ..by the time the mains came out I’d gone past being hungry… I heard another lady from a big party complaining too and also a group of approx 6 complaining .. So disappointing as it looks so inviting from outside but no one appears to be in charge and there’s no organisation. Also seeing a waitress putting my Yorkshire pudding on my plate after she’d been handling god knows what, put me right off !! Wasn’t a great experience …

We were told when we asked for a table that they we’re running behind on the food .We said that’s fine.The manager sat us down and we gave her our drinks order.The staff are absolutely fantastic .It was busy but they kept smiling 😊 My husband had the Chicken Burger and I had the Caesar Salad.🥰It was worth the wait.

Last Saturday, we had my son’s 1st birthday party in their little marquee in the garden. It was the perfect venue for this as there was space to set up a play corner for the babies and there’s the play area for the older children. Staff were very friendly and accommodating. Food was delicious and all guests were happy with their meal. The girl who does the admin, is also working the bar so email responses can be slow but she does get back to you eventually, if not you can call. We will definitely booking other events here, thank you Waterside Team :)

The female manager (as of July 2024) was beyond incompetent, vacuous, dictatorial, and rude beyond belief. She cannot work in the hospitality industry. I feel very sorry for the waitresses that need to work for her, their individual competence is mountainous compared to this manager’s. She could not take our order correctly, lied to our face, and overcharged for what she finally sent us. This is after a 40 mins wait to make the order because the “kitchen had closed to cope with a larger order”.

A disappointment. 7 of us had to wait so long for food we only managed to eat one course in 2 hours. Just not enough staff serving or in the kitchen to provide a basic service level. Not all beers and food advertised was available. Will not be returning.

Very poor service and food was disappointing too. Overall, not a good customer experience and manger unapologetic too.

The food was lovely. When it finally turned up! Over 45 minutes late. The staff/manager was understandable about the lateness, and gave us a very nice 25% discount.

Great place to spend the afternoon/ evening

First class service and food was perfect. Staff were polite and so helpful. Will be back.

The Sunday roast was perfect and the pub is lovely. They have a bit garden as well

We had a family birthday with 80 people. The manager, maybe she should not work in hospitality , weirdly the bar was shut by 930! as the organisers of the party, we were so embarrassed.

We went for Sunday lunch with our family. Once again the service was efficient but friendly. The food delicious. The roasts are very good with beautifully cooked vegetables. The children's meals were also a goid size and were enjoyed. This is a very nice pub with good foid at sensible prices. We enjoy visiting when we come to visit family.

Kitchen couldn't cope with demand so had to leave without food

Poor service, asked about the wait for food and told it would be 40 minutes. 50 minutes later, on asking where our food was, was told that they actually didn’t have the meal we’d ordered. They did offer us the option to switch, but said it would be another long wait, so we got a refund and left. Every member of staff we spoke to was very standoffish and unapologetic - probably not paid enough to care about the poorly managed kitchen. Several other groups complained about the wait for food whilst we were there, and it wasn’t particularly busy. Won’t be going back.

Nice pub but poorly managed. Decided to close the kitchen mid way through taking our order, so couldnt order for everyone on the table? Very odd. Hopefully a new manager can come in and save this failing pub as it's a nice place. Albert just clearly has no idea how to run a pub.

Really good food. Nice variety to suit everyone. Service is amazing

Lovely place , good food and they show the games as well. -the guy who runs it is a awesome guy

Lovely meal for 2. Red Pepper soup for starters (really nice), mains were ribs for my wife and chicken for myself. A couple of drinks, decent service all for a reasonable price.

Nestled along the serene banks of the river, The Waterside Pub stands as a beacon of culinary excellence and warm hospitality. From the moment you step through its welcoming doors, you're transported into a realm where delicious flavours dance on your palate and every moment is infused with genuine care. During my recent visit, I had the pleasure of experiencing not just exceptional cuisine, but also the outstanding management prowess of Anna, the heart and soul behind this gastronomic oasis. Thank you Anna!

Always a treat to go to this local pub with family The service is alway A1 with staff always happy to help ie: sauce on side, just a small portion, beans in pot, No cheese etc etc When you go with all the family it can be a challenge with kids lol Waterside always come through with great service friendly staff and lovely atmosphere Food is alway full of flavour portions more than adequate Prices are more than fair Compared to say The Heron on the Ford another local pub to us

Lovely pub! Food was amazing, service was great. The large garden with ample seating is a really great selling point for the summer! Would definitely recommend a visit

Great experience. Staff are amazing.

I absolutely love visiting the Waterside Restaurant with my family! The staff is consistently polite and friendly, making every visit feel like a warm welcome. Our dog adores it too, adding to the cozy family atmosphere. On Fridays, it's our go-to spot, often choosing it over a trip into Reading. And let's talk about those halloumi fries - hands down the best I've ever had! Whether it's a special occasion or just a casual dinner, the Waterside never disappoints.

Great service, staff very helpful. Will come back soon

A lovely dining experience with excellent food. Our family always enjoy the wide variety of food on offer. A family friendly restaurant with friendly and helpful staff. Great value for money. Absolutely loved the pork schnitzel, recommend - a nice winter warmer in this dreary weather.

Always lovely food great place to go for Sunday lunch great service and atmosphere

Live sports 🏉 ⚽️🏈 and great service.

Great local pub, with excellent food, and drink selection. Awesome staff, also very kid and pet friendly… a must visit.

I visit the Waterside regularly with my family and friends, all the staff are so friendly and helpful and always go above and beyond. Food is great and the atmosphere is always warm and welcoming.

Would happily give 0 stars. Terrible pub. Various people including ourselves paying customers down here for the Arsenal Game only for it to be turned off 60 minutes in for the IRISH rugby…. In an English Pub… Other customers reserved tables for it to be turned off for a mid game rugby match. Shocking to say the least

Had a lovely meal with friendly service. A lovely venue and garden is great in the summer.

Thought id have a pint after work on the way home. Pub was quite busy but a very warm friendly atmosphere. Football was on the screen so a added bonus. Decided to have a meal and was one of the best steaks I've ever had. Staff were very attentive. Have been back a couple of times since and have not been disappointed. Highly recommend.

Excellent pint of London pride, good company and attentive service at the bar. Did not eat.

Reasonably priced food. Unfortunately our trip was let down by basics. Waitress/servers didn’t check in at any point to see how the food was, some one took my empty glass as we was eating and never asked if I would like a re-fil(I did want one but you lost a sale there), asked for our Childs meal to be boxed up, had a plastic container pretty much dumped on table. After paying, we walked past 4 members of the team at least (2 we had to step out of the way as they clearly wasn’t going to move for us) and not one of them a knowledges us/thanked us for our custom. Wasn’t overly busy so couldn’t use that as an excuse. Really nice venue, food would have scored higher if was hot and not warm, but massively let down by a lack of customer service basics

Friendly staff lovely food lovely place always made to feel welcome, beautiful place inside and outside is a nice garden with plenty of seating,undercover seating to enjoy outdoor dinning outdoor TV screens for watching sport and barbeque what more do you want. Highly recommend...

Go for a walk around the lake before you eat. (Beautiful) Wonderful roast dinner. Superbly cooked. Sadly the chef forgot to include crackling with the pork. Most important ingredient!!! Still was delicious. Great service from girls with receptionist theme! Unusual but entertaining. Great massive fireplace, but at -1 degrees and they hadn’t lit it. Shame as such a beautiful attraction. So a little chilly.

We met up with family on Saturday lunchtime, including the two grandchildren ages 2 and 6. The food was lovely and reasonably priced. The service was excellent throughout, from the warm welcome we received from Anna on arrival to the table service from Rosie and Isabella. They all looked after us so well, it really made our day special. Thank you so much.

Modern, clean pub with a restaurant feel

nice to see families enjoying themselves

Great Sunday lunch with family and friends

Lovely food, however it was a bit cold in the restaurant

The staff are super helpful and friendly. I went with group of people (charity for VI) and make us feel welcome and its wasn't crowded also the place is well lit for VI people

We met up with some friends for a lunch here on Sunday afternoon. The service was friendly and efficient. We were looked after so well, from the moment we arrived to the time we left. The food was really lovely too and the prices were very reasonable. I went for the Sunday roast lamb. I was very happy with the portion size and quality of food. The cricket World Cup final was on, and so we watched that too. All in all, a great afternoon and definitely worth a visit. The property is really well kept, clean, tidy and a large play area outside foe children.

I found it rather expensive, tbh The food was OK

The worst Sunday dinner it was cold brought family in was not Impressed I spent alot of money never again

Pros Good food Good service Good ambience Ample free parking Option of Outdoor indoor seatings Cons Limited veg options

The close their kitchen far earlier than is natural.

Food was good, staff polite Only problem was when we got bill ,items on it which we did not have( food and drinks) Got it correct which we thought was right but when we have got home notice it had three fish and chips when we had only one .I expect it to later now . Would have been nice if a little money nock off bill or a free bottle. Of wine for mistakes

Nice pub! Decent prices and amazing quality food! My local!!

Very dispointed .water side tsken over new management ? Items missing from menu , menu prices much higher , no atmosphere, very chilley . No fillet steaks ? Food ok nothing outstsnding ( we had visited earlier with family groups on s number of occasions, and found the food outstanding, with fillet steaks and keen prices ) so in all very disappointing will not return until food and prices have been improved .

The rost dinner was not up to standard it was rubber beef,not good old home cooked very DISSAPOINTING,

We booked a table for 5, and they wanted us to order immediately because the kitchen closed at 5... some of our party were late (only by 5-10 mins!) and several staff came over to tell us we were holding up the kitchen - not our fault really, why allow bookings for the same time that the kitchen closes?

Management rude and unresponsive to issues. Food average at best. Cheap ingredients, including orange juice at bar. Adequate parking facilities. Toilets below average.

Excellent ambient. Good food and drink at a reasonable price. Having to order everything at the bar for all extras was a VERY BAD idea. For that reason I will NOT go back..

Great relaxed vibe. Great garden for the summer nights

Clean, spacious and good food. Child and animal friendly

Food average. Poor organisation, one member of the group food was not brought out until everyone finished. Asked to take away the food not served. Provided inadequate box to takeaway to food (box to small). Common sense.

Had light lunch here with a couple of friends, food was fine if a bit pricey for what we had. Service was friendly and welcoming.

Lovely pub with great garden and fantastic friendly atmosphere 😀

Food was absolutely amazing love the new menu, beer garden was great in the sun the grass need a bit of seeding in patches and the staff were wonderful would definitely come again! Recommend anyone to give it a try!

We stopped here for Dinner on Father’s day, my beautiful wife and kids wanted to treat me with a nice meal, and this was highest rated pub with a garden in the area We arrived at 5.30 pm, the inside of the Pub was empty but outside was quite busy , there were only 3 tables empty from what we have occupied one, the staff was running quite busy but i felt that there was no sense of direction , it looked a bit chaotic, that was a bit concerning to start with I headed to the bar where i came across Lewis , a very nice young man with high hospitality standards , immediately my worries were put to rest , we have ordered quite a bit of everything to try, be aware that all ordered food comes at the same time so Lewis advised us to order desert after our meal , we had the starters and main coming at the same time but no bother , we loved it , we had a great variety to dig in, once i left the bar i nearly spilled the tray with drinks but only the Gin had to suffer , Lewis was amazing and replaced it instantly The food was delicious, credit to the chef and entire kitchen staff , we absolutely loved it , it was well presented as you can see from the photos and full of flavours. We have scored 3 as we were disappointed with the service provided by Ana the manager, she was very abrupt and aggressive the complete opposite character to Lewis, i went to the bar to order the dessert and she shouted at me while i was asking where can i place the order, she also turned her back while she answered so i had to ask another staff member that seen it all, this 2nd lady was too new so she ended up asking Ana who ignored her also , i had to look at her and raise my voice asking what is going on can she give me an answer? , Lewis stepped in and asked his colleague to help while Ana left the bar furious after she poured herself a drink ...appalling behaviour The kitchen and food quality keeps this place on a good position , the service is hit and miss. Don’t know if i will be back but for sure Ana needs a break and Lewis &Co a nice pat on the back!

Had the hot wings and Asian ribs. Were beautiful. Very well priced too. Need to start eating here now often. It's a delight.

We usually dine here, as it’s great for the children, but this evening has put us off from coming again. Service was poor and food wasn’t up to usual standards.

Have visited twice and even pleasantly surprised at the high level of service and food quality here. Situated in an idyllic location backing into a lake you can walk around, this pub/restaurant also has a large outside seating area with TV screens for sports and some kids’ play equipment. I’m honestly shocked the place isn’t heaving each time I go there because it’s among the very best in Reading.

Absolutely love going to The Waterside. Staff are attentive. Food is exceptional. Albert and Anna are like family away from home.

Very friendly and accommodating staff.

There is a review here from Emma that suggests the Waterside left them with no wedding reception. I'm a regular at this pub and was there when she and who I presume is her husband came in. The attitude of her husband was incredibly rude! He was immediately aggressive to the landlord, shouting and demanding, and said he had "emails" that the staff would decorate the room they were using (which is generally packed with diners). Turned out these emails didn't exist! I felt the landlord was incredibly calm and tried to accommodate the man and frankly, I would have told him to leave far sooner as I wouldn't have wanted staff-mostly female- to be shouted at by a belligerent person. I actually commented I felt sorry for his wife. Their attitude put them in that position! Sorry but don't leave a review of a great pub that tried it's best despite your husband's attitude problem. Manners cost nothing.

Waterside. “Let us down” On the day of our wedding! Left us with no reception venue! Toby’s Caversham saved the day on short notice. We had a fabulous reception at Toby’s .

Found staff rather starchy and regimented, was told no longer serving food at 8.30pm. Be careful of short pints, two inch heads not welcome.

The roast was awful not enough veg York pud so big .fish chip awful greasy and bones not worth the money Will not return

Service was quite slow. The staff seemed to be overworked.

Had a great catch up with a friend..this place is mahoosive the food was amazing the assistant manager was definitely on point looking after us. No points dropped because it is what it is..I would take a cardi or a shawl as it was a smidge parky.. as mentioned it is a huge place..it wouldn't put me off going again the food would bring me back😋

Usually this pub is lovely, I like the food and all the waitresses. Unfortunately the female manager has very poor social skills. Her manner would be better suited to an army camp. She is inflexible and abrupt and I often hear her reprimanding the young waitresses. Shame because one person is ruining a lovely pub which results in loss of business.