Dedham Boathouse - Colchester

The owners of this restaurant should be ashamed of the way customers are treated. Had a serious problem there and no one apologised or offered a refund for food we did not eat. The rudeness was so bad. I have never encountered anything like it before. I certainly will never return and advise anyone going there to be wary.

What a disappointment! Had to sit outside despite the large number of empty “reserved” seats inside. Ordered drinks which arrived promptly and were nice but upon ordering food and more drinks the experience went down hill! Waited over 45 mins before we asked how long it would be only to be told the kitchen was busy which is fine but we had only ordered 3 small breakfast items which I’m sure could of been done whilst the big orders were cooking?! The 2nd round of drinks came along with the slice of cake but the cold sausage roll came with the hot food and was warm? After we had finished we were asked how everything was I don’t think the chap really wanted my answer but once again we were told they weee busy! Last time we came we didn’t have a great experience but we thought we would try again and we wish we hadn’t bothered! It’s a lovely spot and could be a gold mine but needs to do better to get repeat customers. It wasn’t even that busy as the weather wasn’t great so I’d hate to see how they cope when it’s really hot and busy!

Scenic setting in beautiful Constable countryside and a charming converted boatyard. Wonderful home cooked food. Friendly helpful staff.

Breakfast is served until 1130. Lunch is from 1200 We queued up at 1120, got to the front of the queue at 1140 and were told we were too late for breakfast but too early for lunch. But they wouldn’t take the lunch order and put it to one side until 1200, so we joined the back of the queue and started again. Luckily getting to the front very close to 12

We have used this restaurant in the past, it is a beautiful setting and used to be a lovely place for lunch. It has changed name so we can only assume it has new owners. We visited on a Sunday lunchtime, we had reserved a table. When we arrived we were informed there was a 45 minute wait for food. It was very busy they were serving people who seemed to randomly appear from the river bank and boats. There was no waiter/waitress to take orders, we had to join a long queue at the till to order our food and pay in advance. This took 30 minutes and once we reached the front of the queue we were informed most of the menu was unavailable. The food then took at least 45 minutes to arrive. The Ploughmans was OK. The avocado and poached egg wasn't anything special. The fish finger sandwich was mostly batter it was difficult to find the fish and it was cold, I had asked for granary bread but it came on white bread as they had run out of granary. Nobody came to check that this was OK for me, it was just handed to me. We asked for some chips when we saw the size of the portions and were told we couldn't have any as we hadn't paid for them when we ordered. They then said we could have complimentary chips because we had waited so long but these never arrived. It seems to me that these people do not have a clue what they are doing. They need to make up their minds and decide whether they are a cafe for the river visitors or a restaurant where you can reserve a table and have a decent meal. At the moment they are doing neither very well. We were very disappointed and we will not be going back.