The Pilot Boat Inn - Isle of Wight

This was our first visit to Pilot Boat and it certainly won’t be our last we booked with booking.com but would suggest booking direct. We had 2 rooms 1 with king size bed and 1 with Twin beds ,the king size bedroom was a nice size and very clean we had a small fridge and loads of tea and coffee in the room although the twin room was again very clean it was a little smaller but still ok. There is some noise from the main road and the windows would have been better if double glazed. We all had a good sleep the beds were really comfortable the breakfast was nice Continental but was really nice and plenty of it this is where we met the owner George he was very friendly and would like to enforce he was the owner but this was ok he greeted every person each time they came down to breakfast. This place has its own micro brewery and all the beers were really nice I did try all of them and really enjoyed them,the only issue we had was food on the evening as the pilot board does not do evening meals although it has teamed up with a pizza company and they looked nice and smelt nice but one person from our friends did not like pizza, George the owner is looking into a menu for future ,we had to go up to Bembridge villiage for evening food but it was only .2 miles away within walking distance and can recommend the Villiage inn . I would highly recommend the Pilot Boat for staying and beers

If you like a good choice of ales brewed on the premises, this is the place to come. Its only small but it was very busy when we came with a lot of tables booked out for the evening. Only serve pizzas but a couple came out whilst we were there and looked, and judging by the comments of the diners, very tasty.

We walked to the restaurant and enjoyed a couple of locally brewed pints. The fresh, homemade pizzas were delicious. The interior was small and cozy, so we chose to sit outside. The beer selection was excellent, but the variety of other drinks was limited. The Prosecco my wife ordered was good, but not outstanding.

Unfortunately, despite having a good experience earlier in our vacation, it seems that The Pilot Boat is adopting the same approach as many other hospitality venues at the moment. It appears that they do not want our business. We arrived at 8:30, just half an hour before closing time at 9:00, and were surprised to be told that the kitchen had already closed 5 minutes before our arrival. We asked if we could order a takeaway Margarita pizza and two beers, but were informed that it would take 30 minutes for the oven to heat up again. It was disappointing to see that there was no consideration for the loss of potential revenue from a sale of over £25. In these difficult financial times, it is surprising that small independent establishments like this can afford to turn away customers without considering the consequences. It was not due to a lack of staff, as there were 3 front-of-house workers and likely a chef in the kitchen. If businesses like this one fail and their staff lose their jobs, they have no one to blame but themselves.

From the moment you approach this restaurant, you can feel its quirky charm. The pizza menu is just as unique - we had never seen a pea and potato pizza with salsa verde before, so we decided to try it. It was absolutely delicious, with a superb sourdough base that was both crispy and delightfully chewy. The combination of toppings was perfectly herby and all piping hot and appealing. We finished off our meal with pots of ice cream. This place offers lovely beer, good wine, and fantastic pizza. The simple menu is executed extremely well and is definitely worth a visit.