The Peterboat, Old Leigh, Leigh-On-Sea

More of a seafood restaurant than a pub, this is a large place with plenty of seating both indoor and out. There are some very nice views of the Thames Estuary. The long bar is designed to resemble a boat. There are 5 handpulls in all, with 3 clipped for my visit - Greene King Bonkers Conkers, Wantsum Heart of Darkness & George's Hilda B. Greene King IPA was also listed on the board. It may have been available, but there was no pumpclip. Craft beers were Greene King Ice Breaker & Level Head, Belhaven Black & Beavertown Neck Oil. Ciders were Inch's & Old Mout. My Heart of Darkness was in excellent condition and was much welcomed after a poor start in the Crooked Billet. Pretty much everybody else was eating, but there was still a pub-like atmosphere. One section on a front corner looked more like a drinkers' space, but I don't think there were any customers in. No sign of any TVs, but music was being played. A festive menu was being promoted.

Makes the most of its sea view with a large outside area. Primarily functions as a restaurant but drinkers are welcome at the attractive boat-like bar (it even has little portholes which act as lights). Look out for the Mann, Crossman & Paulin stained glass windows. A couple of the local George's beers on at the bar, sadly my Hilda B was flabby (NBSS 2) as the clientele were all on the lagers and nobody had pulled this one through for some time. Shame about the beer as otherwise I thought it had a bit going for it. 6.5

We visited this large seafront pub in the height of summer on a gloriously hot day, so saw it at what I assume is the absolute limit of its capacity. You enter into a bare boarded main bar area with the servery in an L-shape along the back wall, slightly to your right. The bar has been designed to look like a boat, with masts, port-holes and other such quirky features, all under a nice hop-lined canopy and fairly dull bar back. Opposite, there is a spacious carpeted seating area which opens on through to a conservatory-style space beyond, where smart tables and chairs have been set up specifically to accommodate diners. Passing down the left-hand side of the bar, the room opens out a little into a couple of smartly apportioned areas with comfy seating, upmarket décor, nice leaded windows and old brick fireplaces. This space has signage referring to it as the Peterboat Restaurant, but seemed no more or less food-oriented than the rest of the pub. Pop music was playing in the background for the duration of our visit and as you might expect on such a sunny day, the place was awash with kids and dogs who were causing chaos around the packed bar area. The pub’s standout feature (in the summer at least) is the huge tarmacked garden area (seemingly a former car park) to the side of the building, which is jam-packed full of picnic tables, including a raised section along the sea wall which looks out directly over the water. The garden has lots of bright flowers around the side of the pub and in a few planters, limited umbrellas for a spot of shade and a small booth serving ice creams, hot dogs and a limited selection of drinks. Thankfully, table service is provided out here, so it’s not necessary to trek back into the packed bar to order your fish & chips. The bar area was so packed, I may have missed a few ales, but I did spot Belhaven Talisk, St Edmunds and Georges Ale, Leigh Six Little Ships and something called ‘The Endeavour’ from an unknown brewery. Due to a mix up with my order, I ended up with Belhaven Time IPA on keg, which turned out to be very drinkable in such hot weather. We also had some food here and found the portion sizes very large, with prices perhaps reflecting the touristy nature of their location. Despite the crazy crowds that saw us sat at the far end of the garden in what felt like a different postcode to the pub, I enjoyed our visit here and thought the beer range and food both merited recommendations. It remains to be seen whether I’d feel the same sat in the bar area on a cold Winter’s evening, but as a summer destination pub, it was an enjoyable, if somewhat manic, experience.

Official site of Peterboat - the-peterboat.eastangliapubs.com

Official site of Peterboat - the-peterboat.eastangliapubs.com

A good sized pub in a prime location alongside the estuary, it makes the most of it’s location with a large terrace adjacent to the pub and bi-folding doors along the side of the pub to open out the inside as much as possible during the current hot weather. Plenty of staff were on duty and were offering table service in the outside area if required as well as regularly clearing and cleaning the tables, which makes a pleasant change from some pubs that seem to be taken completely by surprise at how busy they get on sunny weekends. Internally it has something of a contemporary feel to it, and there also seems to be quite a strong emphasis on food with “Please wait here to be seated” lecterns and so on, not that you couldn’t just wander up to the bar and get a pint yourself if you wished. The flooring was wood strip and the large windows gave it a light and airy feel whilst some exposed brick walling gave it a slightly more rustic feel. The bar counter had bunches of hops strung along the top and there was a small TV on the wall, although the volume was off so this was not too intrusive. A smaller room at the rear looked to be more geared up for dining, and this was a little cosier with a brick fireplace. Beers on tap were Seafarer’s Ale, Oliver’s Island, Hilda B and Doom Bar, whilst the ciders were Strongbow and Strongbow Cloudy Apple. All in all, a decent enough pub, but whether there would be enough to tempt me back if it were not for the outside seating, I’m not so sure.