Located by the River Severn, this popular outdoor spot boasts extensive views across Shrewsbury’s lush Quarry Park, and is a perfect setting from which to watch the boats and ducks go by.
One of the town’s most historic pubs, The Boathouse is the go-to destination in the summer months, with its outdoor terrace the perfect place to soak up the sunshine while enjoying a G&T.
Serving pub classics with a twist, the venue also hosts its very own annual gin festival, which this year takes place on 26 August.
The Boathouse pub has been a firm favourite of mine since college (which was a long time ago!). Although boasting a stunning location, beautiful building and great outdoor area, it was never a place I’d contemplated visiting for a bite to eat. However, recent news of a change of hands and numerous reports of fantastic food gave it ‘number one’ status on my hitlist of new restaurants to try.
As soon as I walked in, I could tell the owners of another Shrewsbury venue, the Lion & Pheasant, had something to do with it! Classy, warm, rustic décor was very much in keeping with the family atmosphere. The main menu and the specials menu had some great choices at reasonable prices, catering for meat-eaters, veggies and children.
Being two pregnant ladies, myself and my dining companion were very hungry and very unwilling to settle for average nosh! Thankfully, The Boathouse did not disappoint.
To start, we had a selection of olives, stuffed bell peppers and warm mini-wholemeal loaves, along with salt-and-pepper squid with alioli and potted ham hock with red onion marmalade. Squid can often be chewy and over-battered, but this particular portion was fresh and soft in texture, with a light, dry batter. Perfect.
For mains, we had a ribeye steak with chunky chips, beef tomato, portobello mushrooms and peppercorn sauce (standard but essential pub grub). From the specials menu, we chose sea bream with sundried tomato tapenade on a bed of green beans,baby new potatoes and pine nuts. The steak was absolutely fantastic! It was very well seasoned and incredibly juicy, while the accompaniments were delicious. The peppercorn sauce was slightly more curry-tasting than peppercorn-tasting, but it was pleasant nonetheless. The fish dish, while a delicious combination of flavours, wasn’t quite as fresh-tasting as the squid. I would definitely like to go back to sample their other fish dishes, as many of my foodie friends who’ve sampled fish there have come back with excellent reports.
To finish off, we had apple and cinnamon crumble, and bread & butter pudding with crème anglais and honeycomb shavings. Topped off with a marvellous cup of tea, the afters were absolutely divine.
In a nutshell, if you haven’t already been to The Boathouse since it changed hands, then get along there asap. The food has a huge amount of potential, the presentation is fantastic, the service is excellent, and the atmosphere is everything you’d expect from a cosy pub - all of which is more than enough to make me want to return to the venue sooner rather than later. I’ve got my eye on the sharing platters, not to mention the entire wine list (once the baby is born, of course!). I’m also told on good authority that the Sunday Carvery is another reason why The Boathouse is well worth a visit - so what are you waiting for?!
Located by the River Severn, this popular outdoor spot boasts extensive views across Shrewsbury’s lush Quarry Park, and is a perfect setting from which to watch the boats and ducks go by.
One of the town’s most historic pubs, The Boathouse is the go-to destination in the summer months, with its outdoor terrace the perfect place to soak up the sunshine while enjoying a G&T.
Serving pub classics with a twist, the venue also hosts its very own annual gin festival, which this year takes place on 26 August.
The Boathouse,
New Street,
Shrewsbury
SY3 8JQ
boathouseshrewsbury.co.uk/
Telephone: 01743 231658
Email: info@boathouseshrewsbury.co.uk
The Boathouse pub has been a firm favourite of mine since college (which was a long time ago!). Although boasting a stunning location, beautiful building and great outdoor area, it was never a place I’d contemplated visiting for a bite to eat. However, recent news of a change of hands and numerous reports of fantastic food gave it ‘number one’ status on my hitlist of new restaurants to try.
As soon as I walked in, I could tell the owners of another Shrewsbury venue, the Lion & Pheasant, had something to do with it! Classy, warm, rustic décor was very much in keeping with the family atmosphere. The main menu and the specials menu had some great choices at reasonable prices, catering for meat-eaters, veggies and children.
Being two pregnant ladies, myself and my dining companion were very hungry and very unwilling to settle for average nosh! Thankfully, The Boathouse did not disappoint.
To start, we had a selection of olives, stuffed bell peppers and warm mini-wholemeal loaves, along with salt-and-pepper squid with alioli and potted ham hock with red onion marmalade. Squid can often be chewy and over-battered, but this particular portion was fresh and soft in texture, with a light, dry batter. Perfect.
For mains, we had a ribeye steak with chunky chips, beef tomato, portobello mushrooms and peppercorn sauce (standard but essential pub grub). From the specials menu, we chose sea bream with sundried tomato tapenade on a bed of green beans,baby new potatoes and pine nuts. The steak was absolutely fantastic! It was very well seasoned and incredibly juicy, while the accompaniments were delicious. The peppercorn sauce was slightly more curry-tasting than peppercorn-tasting, but it was pleasant nonetheless. The fish dish, while a delicious combination of flavours, wasn’t quite as fresh-tasting as the squid. I would definitely like to go back to sample their other fish dishes, as many of my foodie friends who’ve sampled fish there have come back with excellent reports.
To finish off, we had apple and cinnamon crumble, and bread & butter pudding with crème anglais and honeycomb shavings. Topped off with a marvellous cup of tea, the afters were absolutely divine.
In a nutshell, if you haven’t already been to The Boathouse since it changed hands, then get along there asap. The food has a huge amount of potential, the presentation is fantastic, the service is excellent, and the atmosphere is everything you’d expect from a cosy pub - all of which is more than enough to make me want to return to the venue sooner rather than later. I’ve got my eye on the sharing platters, not to mention the entire wine list (once the baby is born, of course!). I’m also told on good authority that the Sunday Carvery is another reason why The Boathouse is well worth a visit - so what are you waiting for?!
Reviewed by Jessica Aston
4 Stars on Wed, 09 Oct 2013