The Boat Inn, Stoke Bruerne - pub details
Address: Bridge Road, Stoke Bruerne, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 7SB [map] [gmap]
Tel: 0871 951 1000 (ref 25682) - calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras
Are you the Licensee? Click here. ** SPECIAL Royal Summer Sizzler offer! **
> Current user rating: 6.3/10 (rated by 18 users)
other pubs nearby:
Navigation, Stoke Bruerne (0.0 miles), Plough Inn, Shutlanger (0.7 miles), Old Crown, Ashton (1.3 miles)
user reviews of the Boat Inn, Stoke Bruerne
please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
5 most recent reviews of 17 shown - see all reviews
| Blackthorn's review is spot on - an excellent pub at the back (actually the front when approaching from the canal) and a fairly soulless room at the back. There is great canal memorabilia (as is fitting in such a toothsome location) and Northamptonshire skittles is a real curiosity - presumably designed for those without bad backs as the 'alley' is raised. Excellent ales although the food was a bit disappointing. Very friendly so overall a cracking pit stop before the 7 mile walk to Cosgrove. BoehmBawerk - 1 Apr 2013 11:01 |
| Like this pub a lot. Beer is always good & always a friendly welcome. Never eaten here so can't comment on the food, but the menu looks interesting. (I wonder who buys the expensive cigars behind the bar and if they go outside into the car park for a smoke?) Grumpy_Old_Man - 26 Jan 2012 19:29 |
| This seems to be very much a pub of two halves. At the back are a couple of great old snugs, with a frontage that is right on the canal. At the front is a much more open, contemporary lounge with perhaps slightly less appeal for the traditional pub aficionado. The entrance way from the front car park is unusual in that you first enter in to a sort of hallway with a couple of sofas, but little in the way of character. It�s difficult to imagine anybody sitting there and having a pint. To the left, is a large open room with a modern looking wood vaulted ceiling, a wood strip floor and a stone built bar counter that has a couple of large wooden ship�s keels built in to it. Decor wise there is wood panelling on the lower part of the walls with cream paintwork above, a few pictures of the canal and other nautical scenes and a mixture of tables, chairs and a few cosy looking low leather sofa�s. A fruit machine was in the corner and a plasma was stuck on the wall which perhaps seemed a little out of place, but the only thing that it was showing was a message saying �no input signal�. Beyond this is another room with exposed stone walls that looks as though it may be more geared up for dining, although there was another room beyond this again marked up as a restaurant. The real character of the pub is undoubtedly at the back. Besides the pleasant outlook on to the canal (as opposed to the car park) the popular and cosy snug was bursting at the seams on a recent early Wednesday evening, whereas the front bar was deserted. It has an old flagstone floor, real fire and wood backed pews around the perimeter. This is a really small room, and was full to capacity with only a dozen or so people in there. These were a mix of friendly locals and boaters who all seemed to mingling and chatting amiably. Beyond this is another small room with a red tiled floor and next to this something that I initially took to be a skittle alley, but then found that it was only about eight foot long. There was some sort of table skittles game at one end, and a sign saying something about under arm shots. Clearly skittles in these parts is very different to what I�m used to at home. Food was a bit of a mixed bag. The menu looked to be a decent enough selection of pub grub, with a good choice of burgers, as well as jackets and a (very) small specials board. Most of the mains were around the �8-�9 mark, and whilst my chicken breast with bacon, caramelised onions and goat�s cheese had some interesting flavours, the chicken was somewhat tough and stringy. Similarly, desert which was a concoction of ice cream, caramel sauce, mars bar pieces, chocolate buttons and cream was ok but had a somewhat artificial taste to it. There was a good selection of beers on tap with Banks Bitter, Pedigree, EPA, Frog Island, Marstons Old Empire, Hobgoblin and Jennings Cumberland. Ciders were also well represented with Scrumpy Jack, Strongbow and Thatcher�s Heritage. In spite of a slight disappointment on the food front, this is still a cracking pub and in a completely different league to the other one in the village and I would happily return. Blackthorn - 2 Nov 2011 21:27 |
| Would not go back. The menu was most misleading and we ended up paying far more than we thought we owed. brambleharris - 20 Sep 2010 14:46 |
| Further to my comments the Frog Island bitter was good well kept and not over priced. retiree - 10 Jun 2009 01:23 |
see more reviews |
