The Boathouse is a wonderful restaurant set in the heart of Sutton Park (West Midlands) on the bank of Bracebridge Pool. It is a 16th Century building, once used by Henry VIII as a hunting lodge.


To get to The Boathouse you first have to enter Sutton Park and drive through a lovely little lane surrounded by woods and trees. If you’re lucky enough your path will sometimes be blocked by the wild ponies that wander around Sutton Park. When you get to the building, the first thing that grabs you is the view.

The view of Bracebridge Pool is simply stunning. You can see this view from almost every table in The Boathouse and it makes the whole experience just so much better to be able to see such beauty.

Once inside the staff are warm and friendly and will take you to your table and bring you some freshly baked bread while you try and choose from the fab menu. Mmmmmm, warm bread! The place itself is nicely decorated and comfortable and there’s an open fire at the back which is usually on in the colder months.

Anyway, let’s get onto the stuff that really matters - the food. The Boathouse is my favourite restaurant and for good reason. The food in this place is fabulous. So fabulous that I had my Wedding Reception here. For the purpose of this review I ordered my starter: Deep-fried brie with almond bread crumbs, Amaretto and strawberry sauce.

As you can see it’s simple, elegant and extremely delicious. My wife ordered baby fishcake with lemon and dill dressing. I don’t like fish at all but I tasted her start and loved it. Praise indeed!

After gulping down the starter we only waited about 10 minutes for our main course. 10 minutes goes very fast when you’ve got such beautiful scenery to gaze at! I had ordered fillet of pork, apricot and sage gravy and apple fritter, and my wife had ordered pan fried free range chicken breast stuffed with red pepper and brie with spinach cream. The main courses come with new potatoes, scallion mash and fries. (or Chips if you’re not American....). We also ordered a selection of vegetables because The Boathouse server the most delicious vegetables known to man. I mean, just look at it....

The veg is always fresh and crispy and tastes just yummy. The meat on both courses was tender and juicy and the gravy was to die for. Once you’ve dished up all the spuds and veg onto a plate, it makes a meal that would satisfy any man.

This was literally the tastiest meal I have had for months and months. I don’t know how they do it but it is just heavenly. I reckon they’ve secretly got Gordon Ramsay working in the back because I can’t understand any other way to explain how nice this food is.

Finally, onto the desserts. I ordered creme brulee with shortbread and my wife ordered chocolate and orange bread and butter pudding serviced with custard.

Again, very nice. The only thing that bothered me about this was that the top of my creme brulee was not caramelised so it was soft. I’ve seen them being served here like this before and I think it’s just the way they do them, but I prefer a glacial top that I have to break into. Still, it tasted good and my wife certainly enjoyed hers.

The pricing in The Boathouse is as you would expect from a high quality restaurant with starters costing between £4 - £6 and main courses costing between £14 - £25. These prices are for the evening meals. They also provide a lunch time menu which consists of 2 or 3 courses and costs between £11 - £13. Bargain eh?

Overall, I can’t do anything else but give The Boathouse full marks. It’s a wonderful building situated in a wonderful setting populated by wonderful staff and heavenly food. Be sure to try this place if at all possible and I guarantee that you will NOT be disappointed!

10 out of 10
“Amazing in every respect. The building, location and most importantly the food. My favourite restaurant of all time. Book now to avoid disappointment!”

http://www.boathouseatbracebridge.co.uk/