The Boat House

We were here for our wedding lunch in May, and despite having specifically asked for a table for five by the window - months in advance - when we arrived on time, our table had been given to another party. The waitress didn't apology, or explain what had happened, and we were given the option of taking a table at the back of the restauant (ie, no view), or leaving. No option at all in other words as it was our wedding day! We stayed, spent c£250 on OK food and lots of wine, but when I complained by e-mail afterwards, I was treated as though we had been in the wrong and virtually called a liar by the person replying. We will NEVER step foot in this restaurant again.

If you are looking for a restaurant with over priced microwaved food and shocking service, then look no further. Truly shocking, seriously, go to Orocco Pier for a decent meal, good service and more honest food. Perhaps the management should treat themselves to a trip to Orocco Pier to see how its done.

Great View. Food is poor value for price as many of the meals appear to be microwaved previously frozen packaged food rather than the high quality home cooked fare it pretends to be on the menu and reflected in the prices. There are a lot of restaurants with a view of the bridge. Even a takeaway fish supper enjoyed on the sea wall would be a better option than this overpriced snotty restaurant. Save your money and your taste buds!

"In for a surprise"? We certainly were, but not a good one. Walked out even before seated.

Went weekday lunch at noon in February. After carrying down baby in buggy down all those steps then bumping buggy up steps to door made our own way inside and stood waiting to be seated. There was no-one else in there apart from manager in corner doing paperwork. There were plenty tables and space to accommodate us with small baby in buggy.

Waitress asked if we wanted a table then pointed to the worst table beside the bar against a radiator and TOLD us to put the buggy behind 1 of the chairs. I asked for 1 of the other tables as I wanted to have our baby beside us not behind my back and was offered a high chair. I said the baby was too young to sit in a highchair and I pointed to 1 of the tables by the window and asked if we could not have 1 of those. I was told "there is no room for us to get past so no", I disagreed and said there would be plenty room and I was told there wasn't. So despite the fact we had made an effort to carry the buggy down to the restaurant, wanted a table to have the baby beside us (not an unreasonable request), there was plenty room to do so (other restaurants with less space between tables have been happy to let us do so) and there was nobody else in, we had no option but to leave. What is more disappointing is that the manager in the corner clearly overheard the discussion and thought it perfectly acceptable to be spoken to so rudely and unfriendly. Or maybe he chose the venue deliberately as access is difficult with those with small children and would minimise families in his restaurant????

Went along to Orocco Pier, received warm welcome there and were told could sit anywhere and no problem to keep buggy beside us!

This is the second time we have visited the Boasthouse and it will definatley be the last! The soup starter was tasteless and the mussels over salted. Moving onto the main course, the heat coming from the food was volcanic (had it been microwaved?), the presentation was poor and there was too liitle sauce. I would suggest that they concerntrate on either being a restauarant or a bistro because at the moment they are neither - why try to copy your competitor two doors down the road?

I have to disagree re. the service and the food at the Boathouse. I probably eat there every couple of months, both in the Bistro and the restaurant and find both the service and food excellent. Most recently I dropped in to eat on a Saturday night and it was full but was assured there would be a free table within 40 minutes and my party and I had a couple of drinks in the lovely cocktail bar upstairs before getting our table (35 minutes) and having a superb meal with pretty fast service considering how busy it was. Wine was well chilled, food cooked and presented beautifully and staff were attentive and smiley. They get 10/10 from my friends and I.

as above.

This stands out as one of our family's worst dining experiences ever. We are all vegetarian so when we phoned up a couple of weeks beforehand I made sure to enquire if we would be catered for & was assured the menu had imaginative vegetarian options. I also let them know it was for a special occasion. You can imagine our disappointment when we learned the main course vegetarian option was macaroni cheese. One of our party politely asked if perhaps the vegetarian starter could be made into a main course. She chose Nachos. What arrived was unbelievable; a scattering of nacho chips with a spoonful of cream, liquid cheese & a chopped up chilli. No guacamole or anything which could pass for protein. And this was being presented as a main course.
We asked to speak to the chef & asked him if he really thinks this is an acceptable standard. He blamed us for being vegetarian & told us we should only go to specialist vegetarian restaurants. I pointed out to him that before I made the booking I specifically asked if they catered for vegetarians & was assured they did. He obviously just wanted the booking & our money but is not prepared to provide edible food.

I've had two experiences of the Boathouse - each at either end of the dining experience spectrum which makes the place impossible to rate! Firstly, my partner and I treated ourselves to the restaurant on my last night as a Queensfery resident, which was one of the best evenings I've ever spent in a restaurant. Sublime food served beautifully by attentive staff. The atmosphere was nicely upmarket without feeling stuffy. The highlight of our meal was the cullen skink served with fresh home-made bread (I couldn't get enough of the stuff).

Imagine my disappointment upon dragging my in-laws back there after absolutely raving about the place. We chose to dine in the bistro, which was unsurprisingly full at 7.30pm. However, we decided to wait for the 20 minutes which the bistro manager assured us was the waiting time. 2 HOURS later we stormed out in a hissy fit after being ignored, starved then insulted as we were refused a table. Outrageous treatment and unfortunately I will never be back. A shame as the Boathouse should be up there with the premiere places to eat in Scotland; pity the service is so appallinig.

This was my first visit to the Boathouse and i have no doubt that it will be the last. The Isle of Harris hand dived scallop starter with Stornoway black pudding was disappointing and overpriced. The black pudding portion was meagre and the dish was served on a clam shell which proved to be an impossible plate...it would have been better used as an ashtray! The cod fillet with mussel chowder resembled cod with a macaroni style white sauce and was a massive let down, there were a few cubes of potatoes and a tired piece of broccoli along side. West coast scallops for main course were small and the dish was uninspiring and sparse, it would have been better placed as a starter. A portion of new potatoes arrived once we were half way through the mains with a half hearted apology for them 'forgetting to bring them'. The mains were £16-18 per dish and i left feeling ripped off. Whilst using the ladies toilets, a Japanese tourist became locked in one loo and required assistance getting out. The lock was broken in the cubicle i used and there were individually packed ear buds but no hand soap in the dispensers. I informed the staff of both difficulties and was advised that these were problems which were on-going.... I couldn't get out quick enough, the view is nice but the rest is classless and pricey.

Lunch in the Bistro could be a packet of crisps and you would not notice with such a view, the Rail Bridge dominates the skyline, the Forth opens out to Incholm Island past Hound Point. Once you have got over the view, which may be difficult if you are new to the area. The menu is light and interesting, the mussels come in three sauces and the smoked salmon was excellent. My partner has the scallops which was superb and had the lovely fish & chips. A good value wine menu made for a lovely relaxing lunch followed by a walk along to the Hawes pier to let it all go down.

Went for sat lunch and had fixed price menu in restaurant as was quieter than bistro and had window table. Disappointed in mains - all fish portions fairly small. I had 4 scallops but no scent of truffle noted -(see above) and my daughter had a fish fillet which had a sauce so scarce she said she had to ration it to each mouthful. But is was presentation that was lacking - all came with boiled new potatoes and green beans already on the plate - this was dull, dry and lazy and wasteful as none of us ate the potatoes. The bistro version of the scallops looked much more interesting when I checked out the other menu. Starters - a lovely flavoursome cullen skink, not too rich with cream and pudding of fresh generously filled profiteroles were much more what we expected.