Absolutely brilliant. The Boathouse is a stylish restaurant with approachable, enjoyable and brilliantly presented food, the kind of versatile restaurant to which one may confidently take any guest, knowing they’ll find something on the menu to suit their tastes.

Unlike many restaurants where food is unnecessarily complicated, the food at The Boathouse is uncomplicated in composition, but still looks great, meaning that even popular staples like steaks, burgers and fish & chips feel like a treat with stunning design and the odd quirky touch.

Yet, at the heart of the venue’s food is a brigade of ten chefs well-versed in the fundamentals of food preparation, meaning your meal will taste as good as it, and its surroundings, would lead you to expect.

A team of four business partners head up the venue; Nathan Barton, who leads the front of house, Dan Garner, Executive Chef, and Adam & Robin Perkins. Dan this month leaves the Boathouse’s kitchens to serve as head chef of the company’s newest venue, The Riverbank on Trent Bridge, Nottingham, whilst the trio’s most established venue, Tom Browns, continues to trade under the Perkins’ direct control at Gunthorpe, Nottingham.

Taking over from Dan in the kitchen is new head chef Luke McGowen, who leads the brigade as The prepare an evening menu, with a choice of amuse bouches including olives and daily home made breads, plus seven starters and nine main courses. Also available are four steaks and two burgers, plus a selection of side dishes and   home made desserts to finish.

An Early Bird menu from 6pm-7pm and slightly more comprehensive lunch menu are also available for daytime and evening diners, whilst table d’hôte set menus for between £20 & £25 and a specials board keep dining versatile and affordable.

If anything the menu is a little too comprehensive, but the brigade is well versed in producing each dish, and serve their food on anything from traditional porcelain to dark, square slates.

The dining room is best described as industrial chic inspired with industrial concrete floor, exposed contemporary fireplaces and air conditioning ducts, modern hand toned photographic prints by Alex Atkin and artwork by local man Ken Messam.

Diners enjoy distressed suede seating and thick, dark walnut tables, as well as candles and polished silverwear, all of which creates a shamelessly stylish and contemporary dining room that’s a world away from the cosy period dining rooms of the traditional gastropubs that surround the restaurant.

To accompany, the restaurant hosts Sunday Sessions - mellow, live background music from 8.30pm each Sunday, with free tapas. Artists include charismatic pianist Dino Baptiste, and acoustic artist Tee Dymond.

“We love giving diners something to enjoy and something to entertain them before, during and after their meal.” says Nathan. “It’s a way of turning a meal into an occasion.”

The 110 cover venue also features an additional seating area for 40 diners with a large terrace sheltered from the breeze by mature ivy covered trees and decking area by the venue’s jetty.

It’s an enviable spring dining location with riverside walks adjacent to the UK’s largest inshore marina, perfect for al fresco dining this season.

All bread, pickles, chutneys, sauces and ice creams are made in house, and the restaurant’s deli offers the same products for sale alongside a selection of fair trade coffees for diners keen to take away a little of the Boathouse away with them.

“Whether you’re enjoying a relaxed lunch or a full, formal meal to celebrate a special occasion, we want to make dining special.” says Nathan. “The ambience and overall experience of restaurant dining should equal the quality of the food, and that’s what we’ve aimed to do.”

The whole team is young, and enthusiastic and happy, a cohesive group hellbent on making their patrons happy, and that passion is reflected brilliantly in the vibrant, skillfully presented dishes that emerge from the kitchen.

The restaurant’s modern, vibrant feel matches traditional values of customer service, traditional ingredients and genuine chefcraft. For spring and summer dining, it’s difficult to think of anywhere in the area we can recommend as much as the exciting and vivacious Boathouse.