The Boathouse pub IOW - High Price Low service
I stopped in with the wife and kids after a lovely walk this Sunday afternoon as we were all a bit parched. Lockdown measures in place and well laid out, and we were greeted at the entrance by a middle aged lady who I informed we hadn't booked a table.
She seemed a little put out by the fact I dared to attend with no booking even though there was barely half a dozen tables currently in use and probably 20 tables free that I could see allowing plenty of social distancing space.
She told me I need to scan the QR code on the board which I tried but wouldn't scan, so clearly put out she strutted off stating "well I will have to get you a pen and paper then wont I".
We were seated and told self service so I went to the bar and ordered 1 and half pints of beer, 2 large soft drinks, 1 small soft drink and 3 portions of chips as the wife and kids were peckish after our long walk. The barman seemed distant and even after my attempt to make some small talk left me feeling I was "just a number" which was disappointing. I was then shocked to be charged almost £36!!
When the food arrived it was nothing more than 3 small bowls filled with barely a small potato worth of half cooked chips in each. At this point I checked the pricelist to find I had been charged £4.50 each for 2 of the bowls and £5 for the chips with cheese (£14 for 3 small bowls of chips!!! And £3.80 per large soft drink which was half filled with ice).
To top it off we were seated outside under a large umbrella which was badly rusted and thrashed around in the breeze seemingly as though it was going to drop onto us at any point. I was tempted to make a complaint but we had been having a lovely carefree day, the first for many months, and the wife encouraged me to "leave it".
I was very disappointed as my visit here was the 1 blight on an otherwise great day with my family. I wont be returning as there are so many other good pubs to choose from, and I was left feeling as though we were not welcome and ripped off!
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind paying a bit extra for a good location and service, but I don't like to feel ripped off. This was a prime example of squeezing every last penny from the customer with minimal effort. Overall; High end Prices with Low end service.
Location - Great
Food - OK
Service - Poor
Price - Expensive

