The Boathouse, Daventry

The Boathouse used to be a very characterful, traditional, canalside pub called The Rose and Castle which had a higgeldy piggeldy interior and, occasionally, a decent pint of Bass. It has been expanded and changed out of all recognition in a Marston's refurbishment and the original pub is barely discernible now having had various buildings and conservatories added leaving it to function as the kitchen it appears. As others have mentioned, this is an over corporate drinking and eating barn with little atmosphere or quality. Having said that, the staff were friendly, the pub is well located on the canal, with moorings available, and there are absorbing views over the canal and beyond to the Warwickshire-Northamptonshire borders. This is the way to have a beer here as should you focus on the interior you will find identikit pine furniture, unimaginative fixtures and fittings and an unwelcoming layout designed to fit in the maximum number of consumers. Beer is all from the Marston's stable with Ringwood Boondoggle, Banks Sunbeam, Hobgoblin and Pedigree available on this visit. The Boondoggle was very good but was followed by a hazy Pedigree which would have been suited to chips than to drinking. Four marks given for the Boondoggle, location and view, friendly staff and actually being a pub. I doubt that a return visit is imminent.

Large Marstons family orientated roadside restaurant equipped with an outside kids playground and large open car park that benefits from an above average location next to the Grand Union canal. Well covered by the previous reviews and the previous description of this being an upmarket Wetherspoons is apt with regards to the food menu, or “laminated card of grilled and deep fried delights” as my other half described it after seeing that even the salads come with large lumps of chicken or steak piled on top. What you cannot do is use this description for the beer offering because four Marston group brews do not qualify as upmarket in any ones book, but fortunately Ringwood 49 was on and a decent pint to be enjoyed on the outside canal facing seating area. We did not eat here, but in that respect it’s one of those Marstons outlets that uses the “DFS sales” approach to pull punters in, e.g. large banners outside advertising 2for1 deals and when you get in you find that most items on the menu are twice as expensive than the other pubs in Braunston, for example the Sunday Roast is on the menu at £13.10, but then the accompanying flyer offers two roasts and two puddings for £15. So the moral is make sure you come here as an even number of adults. So to agree with the other reviews, much more family restaurant than pub and as usual you should look at Trip advisor for how it currently fares in that respect. And as, at time of writing, it is currently ranked middle of the 56 restaurant establishments to be enjoyed in Daventry, below the town Chinese take away and fish and chip shop, probably tells you all you need to know.

Re-visited this Pub on the 12th September 2012, nothing much has changed, still a popular roadside pub. The customer serice is still slightly over the top, but thats what these chain pubs are like. Beer was still ok with Marstons EPA, Pedigree, Hobgoblin and Ringwood 49 on offer. They still draw it thourgh swan neck pumps though! Large menu, with a two-for one on offer, large portions and it does seem to be cooked rather than from microwave.

BoatHouse This is one of 4 local pubs in the area of Braunston canal Junction, the nearest to the people mooring along the grand union/ oxford canal. Marston’s, a clean & tidy large, road / canal side family orientated chain pub, (a bit classier than a whetherspoons) I think they must have taken this over in the past year, as I don’t recall it looking so inviting last year on our stay in a canal boat. It has a huge open plan interior, the usual local photos, and modern decoration, irrelevant mirrors and objet da. Large bar all the usual hip and trendy drinks along with 4 real ales, a complete surprise as they included Wychwood Hobgoblin, Ringwood’s Old Thumper, Marston’s Epa and Pedigree. It was curry night when we visited, two curry’s and two pints of beer for £10, choice of 5 curries with either rice or chips. We were waited on so no need to order at the bar. (they were advertising meals for two every night) The menu was what you would usually find on a chain pub menu. It was very quickly served from when we ordered, so clearly ready for large numbers of curry orders. However the bar staff clearly had a back log of drink orders as we had to wait some time for our second drink. The lady who served us, was friendly and apologetic about the wait, she also didn’t seem in a hurry to take our money, but it was busy in there. They did have music on which at first seemed a little loud but soon became back ground noise. This pub is what it is large and comfortable. Not a proper pub but a good place for boaters to rest up in. For those interested you can hire a small narrow boat for the day from here. 22nd September 2010