The Boater, Bath

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#41 of 123 Quick Bites in BathQuick Bites, Bar, $$ - $$$

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The Boater, Bath

Review

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About

Nestled away in one of Bath's bustling streets, The Boater is a traditional pub that celebrates good old fashioned service and the beauty of a well poured pint.

Features

CUISINES

Bar, British, Pub, Gastropub

Meal types

Lunch, Dinner, Drinks

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly

FEATURES

Accepts Credit Cards

American Express

Digital Payments

Discover

Free Wifi

Full Bar

Highchairs Available

Live Music

Mastercard

Parking Available

Reservations

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Street Parking

Table Service

Television

Visa

Wine and Beer

Location

9 Argyle Street, Bath BA2 4BQ England

Parking Available, Street Parking

Is this restaurant good for bar scene?

Yes

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Hours

Suggest an edit

Closed now

• Opens at 11:00 AM

Sunday

12:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Monday

11:00 AM - 11:00 PM

Tuesday

11:00 AM - 11:00 PM

Wednesday

11:00 AM - 11:00 PM

Thursday

11:00 AM - 11:00 PM

Friday

11:00 AM - 11:00 PM

Saturday

11:00 AM - 11:00 PM

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3.7

621 reviews

Excellent

225

Very good

190

Average

Poor

Terrible

Kirstie S

10 contributions

Sunday roast - not for me

Apr 2024 • family

My daughter and visited for Easter Sunday lunch. Very disappointing. The cabbage was cold, the cauliflower cheese look dry and unappetising and where was the gravy. We also asked for horseradish sauce which didnt appear. I cannot fault the staff. They apologised and asked if we would like something else. As I was limited to time we asked for a refund, this was no problem at all. I would return to try the food again just not the roast.

Written April 1, 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

El J

2 contributions

where were the olives?

Aug 2024 • couples

Reluctant to call this out but it has to be. We shared "the mushroom" pizza which was really good except the menu said it had mushrooms, artichokes and olives. Well there wasn't an olive to be seen and the guy didn't say we're out of olives so we'll knock 2.50 off the price whereas if you wanted an extra you were charged an extra 2.50. Explanations welcomed.

Written August 21, 2024

LeeandZena

Longwell Green180 contributions

Great staff shame about organisation and food

Apr 2023 • none

Our first visit as dogs are welcome and had a warm welcome. Unfortunately it went down hill from then. Ordered some drinks and decided on some food. After a very very long wait our starter and main course came at the same time so I asked to let us finish our starter before bringing our main. The server put our food on the bar where people were stood getting served drinks. I wasn’t happy with our food sitting there so I requested to bring it back. The lady behind the bar said it’s ok if your salad is served cold and I replied ok but no my daughters burger! The burger we ordered should have been completely plain other than a slice of cheese! It was full of salad etc so the chap apologise and said he’d put another on the fly and again we requested just cheese. After another long wait the burger arrived with mustard & mayo so not plain. I sent this back and requested it to be taken off the bill. The staff did offer a desert and to remove quite a lot of drinks from the bill plus a round on them. All well and good but my daughter didn’t eat after waiting at least 1.5 hours. Such a shame as it was are first day together over bank holiday.

Written May 5, 2023

Don R

5 contributions

Poor service and expensive

Feb 2025 • friends

Expensive for what you get. As we were a large party, we had to pre-order which was fair enough and each give a £5 deposit. A confirmation for what we ordered was received with the personal cost which also included an up-front service charge. Important as wait til the end. The service was slow and staggered. Maybe if we’d just turned up and ordered maybe understandable but this was not the case. Prawn cocktail quite heavily spiced, pate only 3 small crackers for the portion size. Mains- some had finished before others got theirs. Otherwise meals would have been cold. Thai green curry had no meat and tasted like pure paste had been used with no dilution. Belly pork was a gelatinous mess. Desert - the crumble was covered in custard which disguised the poor quality of the crumble topping, just tasted of flour. And when it came to paying, they rather unsubtlely forgot about the deposits already paid. The service charge had also been averaged over the whole party so some would lose, others gain in paying it. I originally rated this place a 2 but having written the above changed to 1.

Written February 18, 2025

Jim F

East Sussex5 contributions

Not a great experience

Dec 2024 • friends

A very hit and miss experience. 8 of us went in for a drink. The first round was ok but the beers in the second round were flat. We decided to eat. Ordered fish finger sandwiches. This came as a ciabatta roll with one tiny fishfinger for £12. Also ordered prawns on sour dough bread. 4 tiny prawns were delivered on 2 mother’s pride crusts! When this was pointed out we were offered a refund for the prawns and a complimentary drink. We ordered the drinks and then were charged for the difference between the ‘complimentary’ drinks and the food bill. We won’t be going back.

Written December 6, 2024

FeW

5 contributions

Don’t eat here

Jul 2023 • friends

Do not eat here. Food is terrible. Has so much potential as it’s a lovely pub. Burgers were so plain and sad looking with no garnish and a few measly chips on the side. The cheese on the cheese burger wasn’t even melted and the side salad was soggy. Service was more geared for being in a pub and so staff weren’t really interested in serving food and making it a nice dining experience. If you go for a drink you won’t be disappointed but if you go for food you’ll wish you hadn’t.

Written July 15, 2023

Milton House B&B Studio Apartment Suites

Askrigg30 contributions

Not Repeating a visit

Oct 2024 • couples

Came in for snack lunch . 3 choices on sandwich menu , 1 choice not available . Ordered chorizo chicken wrap as alternative to Avocado wrap which was not available . Poor selection if you happen to Be vegetarian . All Served on Tortilla wrap it stated choice of fries or triple cooked chips . £11.95 . 1 small sandwich on white bread and a little basked chips arrived . No Tortilla wrap . Apparently you have to ask for that option although it states it is the only option ??? Sent it back . A wrap was then supplied . Very expensive for a small wrap and handful of fries . Won’t be coming back !!!

Written October 17, 2024

Teddington36

5 contributions

Disappointing & uncomfortable dining experience

Mar 2023 • none

I visited for dinner with colelagues and we were seated in the freexing cold cellar bar with the rear doors open in winter, no heating or blankets. Whilst the bar staff upstairs were pleasant they seemed understaffed and did not have a drinks service downstairs for our large table of guests (pre booked online). The menu was very limited - mostly fried food and no healthy options. Such a shame for a pub that could be a gem in the centre of Bath.

Written March 11, 2023

Bodgerpool

Dar es Salaam43 contributions

Fawlty towers meets the pub trade

Nov 2022 • friends

Honestly Fullers need to get a grip of this place. There seems to be more managers than actual staff, there’s a rather tempestuous blond bar server who seemed to be having a bad day. Nothing seemed to be being served it was as if Basil Fawlty has branched out. Had food which was very average and expensive, young lad behind the bar was great and dealt with the random nagging from the highly paid help. Probably needs a rethink as there’s much better pubs in Bath and this should be with the right staff one of them

Written November 28, 2022

zoe h

2 contributions

Disappointing lunch

Jul 2023 • friends

Went for lunch with friends. Ordered burgers and fish and chips from very linited menu / but but would be fine if decent “ pub grub” . An hour after ordering some very sad looking burgers arrived which looked no better than fast food burgers. Terrible presentation, dry boring burgers . Friends had cheeseburger with unmelted processed cheese slice on top! So friends/ company- great. Staff friendly Decor nice and inviting . Food poor and yet expensive for what arrived . Take away burgers and chips would sadly have been probablt better .

Written July 15, 2023

Toffeeuk

United Kingdom61 contributions

Definitely not the best experience

Jun 2022 • couples

Visited the beer terrace outside and was served really quick, the service was great but when I ordered food from the bbq I was left disappointed! The buttered new potato side dish was a bit firm and dripping in oil and not well seasoned, I went for the piri piri burger which costed £8. I looked at the chicken breast which was pale and devoid of piri seasoned! Maybe I spotted a few chilli flakes but if I was making it I would mix the spices with oil and marinade the chicken not just sprinkle raw spices on it ! Call yourself a chef ! I told the waiter that it looked plain and he didn’t really take it serious. Tofu was ok but small salad for price . Feel free to Google piri piri on images.

Written June 17, 2022

curlymel

2 contributions

Amazing welcoming staff. Great pub!

Oct 2023 • friends

We can not thank the staff at the Boater enough for going above and beyond for our family & friends group. After a very wet rugby match the kitchen flooded but they let us stay and watch the rugby World Cup final, get the kids dried out and made sure we had food, even though it was very busy. Such a lovely, traditional pub serving a great choice of beers.

Written October 29, 2023

StephTravels

West Sussex883 contributions

A bit useless really

Jul 2023 • couples

Walked past and decided to pop in for a drink. It’s clearly had some recent renovations as it had a slight paint smell, however it looked nice so thought we’d give it a go! We asked for a pint and a sweet rose only to be told they had no rose! Not great for a pub but not an issue. Behind the bar, on a black board, was a list of cocktails so I ordered an expresso martini instead. The girl then said we could only order cocktails in the downstairs bar! I was a bit confused by this as why have a cocktail menu on the wall behind the bar if cocktails aren’t available?! She then said we could pay for the drinks here and then she’d get someone to bring the cocktail up from downstairs, so we paid and sat down! By the time my cocktail arrived, with a pissed off looking waitress, my other half had pretty much finished his pint! My boyfriend went to the bar to order another drink and while we were waiting the couple infront of him were being served a glass of white and a glass of rose! Wtf! The rose they apparently didn’t have! He ordered a pint then as she was pouring it he asked for a Prosecco too! She had already pressed something on the till before pouring so asked him to pay for the beer first and then the Prosecco separately! Not sure why she couldn’t have just cancelled the card request and do again…. Lazy I guess!

Written July 23, 2023

Doug F

Athelhampton93 contributions

Dreadful

Nov 2022 • family

So disappointed. What should have been a convivial pre Christmas family gathering was so disappointing. We had pre dooked and ordered our food booked the upstairs room. We were on time ant our waiter did his best. The food was at best bizarre. The chewy mushroon ravioli starter, Tiny Single fishcake. The mains arrived the turkey roast was cold sent back and arrived 15 minutes later still cold but covered in a warm gravy. That also was rejected. Other mains included a steak pie on an apple sauce! Garnished with a dozen sprout leaves. The pie was great but not much and a very strange combo. No veg nothing else. Having rejected the 4 turkey mains, a bowl of chips was offered. The puddings were fine. On the basis of value for money very poor. Presentation poor Combination of flavours poor Service. He did what he could under difficult circumstances. I felt sorry for him. Ultimately. I will not come back here. They really need to get a grip. I can only hope this was a blip.

Written November 27, 2022

Wilba2205

Sheffield26 contributions

Worst place for lunch in Bath

Sep 2023 • friends

This has to be the worst place for lunch in Bath. There are 5 off us on a friends trip and we all ordered various sandwiches. The worst was mushroom, 2 mushrooms on the sandwich. One friend ordered squid/calamari - it was cold/undercooked. We sent this back! Also complained about the food. The staff said they had a new menu (they need to rethink this!) They offered us a very small refund but it really was awful.

Written September 30, 2023

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THE BOATER, BATH - Restaurant Reviews, Photos & Phone Number - Tripadvisor