Went to this pub for lunch, our first visit for many years. The menu descriptions were a little unclear – we wanted to know if the liver and onions came with chips or anything as nothing was mentioned on the menu. The waitress said “you...can have chips if you want to” which didn’t really answer our question as to whether or not they were included in the price and then, after asking to have chips with it, when the food arrived they were missing. The waitress seemed somewhat out of her depth. Possibly she was new into the job? If not she was in need of more training. After being told the chips had been forgotten on the liver and onions, she stood there for a few moments looking confused then, without a word just picked up the plate and disappeared back to the kitchen, returning some moments later with the plate which now had a bucket of chips on top. No apology, nothing. We later saw her do a complete circle of the room with 2 meals for someone, seeming unsure which table she should be taking them to, until another staff member stepped in and told her. We were out of sight of the bar and so had to go and remind them that we had ordered desserts as they didn’t come back to take our plates. So, while the food was very nice, the service could have been a little more efficient. Will visit again when, hopefully, things will run a little more smoothly.More

Brilliant manager meant that this couldn’t be anything less than 5 star. There was a minor problem with my order and the young waitress was quite confused and a little abrupt but the manager sorted everything efficiently and with a smile. Well done and thanks

Wow just had the best food at The Boat in Penkridge Lovely pub and very busy so that says a lot about it straight away. Staff are very friendly and service excellent Ordered burgers and honestly can say this is one of the best home...made burger we’ve had so fully recommend. We have eaten here a few times and always choose something different from the menu and I can say we’ve never been disappointed Also would recommend the crispy belly pork or sizzling platter Value for money excellent so 100% for food Also has large outside space would be great with band playing outside in summerMore

Food and service were 100% great atmosphere and superb location. We will definitely be back. Thank you.

A lovely warm and welcoming family and dog friendly pub, staff were brilliant and took our order quickly. Food arrived quickly and was lovely. Good value for money and one of the nicest meals we have had while we've been out on this boat trip....We ll definitely visit again when passing through.More

Went to the Boat with 8 family members last night for a family meal, previous visits have always been a good experience, last night however was a disaster from start to finish, double booked the table to start with, got seated and went to bar...for drinks order, service very slow, sever was looking through the spirits for a merlot wine?? Had to inform him what he should be looking for, starters Andy mains ordered, 40 minutes later starters arrived and were nice, mains arrived 30 minutes later, except one that had apparently been crossed off the list, food was not good, steaks overcooked, chicken over cooked, one member had a mixed grill but had to leave all of the meat near enough, complained about the standard and was told we could have complimentary sweets, 4 of the party ordered the preferred sweet to be told it was unavailable, chose again from the limited sweet menu, sweets came 40 minutes later, this ended up being a 3 hour visit which should have been half of that, in truth the time taken was not the biggest issue as we were talking and spending time as a family, service was abysmal from start to finish, food was very poor apart from the starters, will certainly not be visiting again…More

First class great food ,staff and atmosphere. Will soon return we need these canalside treasures. Give it a try you'll be surprised.

When visiting Penkridge we decided we would visit the Boat for food as the menus advertised looked really good. We sat at the table and the lady said she would get us menus which never arrived, we picked some up ourselves and while deciding ordered...a drink which the staff seemed very disinterested. There just seemed as though the staff did not know what they were doing so we finished our drinks and left.More

Sunday lunch was very disappointing. The beef was very odd tasting and the vegan “beef” we are sure was quern product not beef like at all.

We arrived on the canal in a narrow boat and our guide book stated that they were open until 7pm on a Sunday. We went in at 6 pm to be told that the meals had finished but then a very pleasant lady agreed to...provide food for the four of us, as the chef had taken pity on us. We were all ravenous but the food was of a very high standard and the welcome in the pub was out of this world. We enjoyed it so much that because of rain we stayed and had a wonderful meal the following night. The staff were very friendly and went out of their way to make sure we were satisfied with the meal. We would not hesitate to give this pub the highest recommendation .More

Our first time at The Boat and wasn't dissapointed. A very friendly welcome and could choose a table of our choice. Friendly waitress who asked us if the music was too loud, it was fine but a lovely touch to ask! We had a 3...course lunch, soup of the day was tomato with a warm roll, the Hubby absolutely loved it! Garlic mushrooms were amazing along with the chicken burger and scampi, although a little dissapointed no tartar sauce with the scampi. We had the chocolate brownie with ice-cream for dessert, it was delicious! Thank you so much, we will definitely be returning!More

During a trip to Penkridge the 4 of us found the Boat Inn, arriving for lunch. The chap on the bar was quite unwelcoming, but we discovered we could sit wherever there was a free table. No welcome, no menus. Eventually we fetched a menu...from by the door. The menu advertised online was not available, but the set lunch menu looked good. The chap on the bar said he’d be with us soon to take our order. 30 minutes later after a few prompts, no one came to our table. A couple of members of staff wandered past but looked disinterested and certainly showed no interest in our custom so we got up and left. Shame, as we were about to place 4x the three course lunch and buy drinks at c£60-80, but with zero customer service and other things planned that day, we didn’t want to wait forever to get ordered and served. Great to see a business in the current cost of living crisis so thriving (it was almost deserted) that they don’t need our hard earned cash. Shame, we’d looked forward to a nice traditional pub lunch. Shame the Boat Inn Penkridge weren’t interested in our custom. We spent our hard earned cash elsewhere, and will never return to such a poor, disinterested and badly run pub again.More