Cherwell Boathouse, The

Ian Martin (15 January 2006)

My brother always seems to have bad luck when he takes us to one of his favourite restaurants. Sadly our visit to the Cherwell Boat House was no exception. The restaurant was for the most part only half full on a Saturday evening. Service was sluggish. My starter was a few pieces of overcooked wood pigeon, thrown onto some thinly sliced fried potato. The "Slow Roast" pork belly was overcooked on the outside, and undercooked on the in. Not I would suggest roasted very slowly. The accompanying parsnip was burnt on the outside and uncooked inside. The final straw was the desert, a frangipane tart the pastry of which was burnt, and a crude attempt to cover this up with sprinkled coco powder, had been unsuccessful. The pastry under-surface was charcoal. The "flambéed bananas" did not appear to have been near any alcohol, and appeared to be like fried and soggy banana pieces. The coconut ice cream advertised had been substituted for Walls finest vanilla. My daughter's chocolate fondant did not arrive until 10 minutes after the others had finished their deserts (I did not eat mine). We complained to the manager, who reported that she had told the head chef that she didn't think the pigeon or tart were satisfactory, but he apparently had told her they would do and to serve them. This restaurant seems to think that its location means that cooking is a skill which is not required by the chef. I would avoid this place at all cost.