Cherwell Boathouse Restaurant

We visited for our anniversary and were welcomed into a lovely atmosphere with friendly, attentive service. We enjoyed a three-course meal each — both the starter and main courses were excellent. However, we were a little disappointed with the dessert cheese sharing board. Having to ask for butter was unexpected, and the portion size felt small for the price. That said, it was still a very pleasant experience overall, and the corkage fee was fair.

Had the opportunity to shoot a small wedding here. Only 20x guests but they were well served and the amazing team really looked after them. Food was amazing and it’s hard to choose from the menu as it all looks great. Wedding guests loved being by the river and enjoyed a well deserved champagne welcome and mingle before being seated for food. Would love to come back.

Great friendly service and a lovely atmosphere on the river. First time in Oxford and this was a great place for a Sunday roast. Just wish there was a bit more gravy included, but the beef and potatoes were excellent.

One of our short list Oxford restaurants - idilic location on the river watching the punting with relaxed seating options indoor, outdoor and in the conservatory. Service is always professional and attentive. Food generally of high standard, well presented and don't expect massive portions. Latest visit in the afternoon for Sunday lunch with a dessert and a glass of wine - on the pricier side but well worth it, monkfish dish v good and great atmosphere on a sunny day by the river

Probably the worst experience I had in a restaurant. Made a reservation for a special dinner for our wedding anniversary and asked a special request. They had my name on the reservation but did not reserve a table so when we arrived we got whatever table was left. The chairs and tables are small and wonky making it really difficult to eat as everything is almost falling out. Barely any space between tables and chairs back to back making your meal a ‘family’ meal as we are so closed to other people you could reach their food with your fork. The food wasn’t anything special. Worse than that my ‘pink’ steak was completely raw. Fries overcooked and very dark brown. Took 20 minutes to get our order and had to request twice to the waiters floating around. The bill equally the same time to wait. Do not recommend. Expensive and low quality products and terrible customer service.

I had quite expectations of visiting this place. They park space is tiny and was full (weekday dinner), had to look for a space outside to park which had restrictions of the amount of hours to park. The place is nice, with good view and option for panting. The main dishes are small, I ordered the lamb option, very tasty. The best dish for me was the Waterloo cheese ordered, well presented and tasty. Coffee was not the highlight, none of us were happy with the coffee after the dessert, opportunity to improve here.

An incredible setting to host an event! I had the pleasure of photographing a wedding at Cherwell Boathouse this season and it was beautiful. A waterside setting, with the bride and groom punting in for their arrival, a fabulous wedding breakfast in the marquee followed by an epic party in the lower boathouse. Highly recommend this venue for any private or corporate events.

Had a wonderful meal alongside the the lake, watching many enjoy the pints for hire. Food was exceptional, staff were simply amazing and setting was lovely.

What an absolutely lovely place! Rent a punting boat or have dinner, or both! This charming gem offers a chance to try punting, a great Oxford tradition. Or just sit and relax, enjoy the scenery, food and wine, I'm sure you'll love it. I definitely did.

Lovely place for a Classic British Sunday Roast. They have a great selection of wines and a pretty good menu. We had the Halloumi Plate with a Vegetable Salad and Soup. The food came out great. The ambiance is amazing and the service is prompt. They also do have punts for leisure punting/rowing!

We have been ordering groceries for delivery through lockdown and it has been such a wonderful treat each week. The burgers are out-of-this-world good (especially with the brioche bun!), and the chicken cooks up so tender and flavorful. All of the fruit and veg have been peak and perfectly ripe. We love the Greek yogurt they serve as well. I hope they continue this service as we come out of lockdown.

We ate here as a family after enjoying some time on the Cherwell in a punt. An out of the way location without any pretensions. All the food was well presented, very well cooked and had great flavour. Will definitely return.

Oh I love this place. Right on a tributary of the Thames, with punting boats and wonderful restaurant and a bar and coffee. Way out-of-the-way.

The Cherwell Boathouse is a restuarant situated right next to the actual boathouse itself, which rents out punts on the river Cherwell, allowing one to hire a punt, and then return to the restaurant afterwards to talk of one's adventures, while watching fellow punters trying their hand. The restaurant itself is a delightful mock-Tudor building, oozing distinction, and occupied with a friendly and attentive staff who are willing to cater for all kinds of visitor. The food itself is British style haute cuisine, allowing for some fabulously delicious dishes such as rolled belly of lamb, pork noisettes, and crab soup, along with an interestingly stocked wine cellar. Pricewise, it's a little on the dear side, but certainly worth it, should you wish to entertain a loved one, or, as was my case, hold a birthday lunch for a relative.

Beautiful, supremely romantic restaurant with excellent food and service. The kind of place you still think about years later...

Went for drinks followed by a lovely meal with friends. Great atmosphere, friendly staff and the food was excellent! Perfect place for lunch, would recommend. You can try a bit of punting on the tributary too...

Had an early dinner here as we just arrived into town and this was the only reservation time available. The appetizers and wine were delicious. Unfortunately, things got busy quickly and by the time our entrees came, they had not brought our wine. It took 10 min to get someone's attention and then more time for them to prepare our glasses. Apologetically, they brought our wine but we had slowly consumed half our plates by then. They had selected the perfect wines for our plates and we were delighted. The food: salmon tartare was out of this world. Pork belly starter was full of flavor and had crispy skin, much like Asian roast pig. The sautéed gilt fish was perfectly seared and paired well with the tapenade sauce, which enhanced its flavor. The lamb was served piping hot and would have been better if I was not slow rolling my meal anxiously awaiting my wine. (The lamb was continuing to cook as each second passed, and the plate was served hot too) The ambience: there are two parts to the restaurant, the main and the tented deck patio. The main area is more tightly filled and formal while the tented area is also nice but not so cramped. Setting is romantic but also vibrant enough for an outing with friends or for business. Watching punting was a lot of fun too!

We had our wedding rehearsal dinner here 20 years ago, and returned with our children for our 20th anniversary dinner. We told the restaurant this (and saw that it was noted next to our reservation at the desk). We weren't expecting special treatment, though a simple "happy anniversary" would have been nice (with, for instance, the non-complimentary glasses of champagne we ordered at the end of the meal) . However, we were given a poor table, and terrible service. We had to ask repeatedly for various things - wine, bread - and some drinks we ordered were never brought to us, and we struggled even to be noticed by the waiter. The food was fine; competent, nothing spectacular. We were left feeling disappointed: this was supposed to be a high point of our European vacation with our children, but we were left feeling blah.

Lovely restaurant on the water surrounded by punts. Food was excellent as was the service. Would highly recommend for a special night out.

Amazing place! The setting is really nice, with the boathouse, the river etc etc, it was unfortunate that we were here on a rainy day, but with sun it should be amazing The menu is good, has a lot of deliciuos stuff: I had a beef carpaccio as starter, a mediterranean vegetables gateau as main and then we shared 3 of the available desserts: the pineapple tart is the best thing, but also the chocolate trio doens't disappoint! The best part of the restaurant is the wine list: it is really comprehensive and the manager is a real sommelier, that gives really good recommendations based on the food ordered. Worth visiting!

A little further of a walk to get to from the city centre than the punt at magdalena bridge. But this is a good thing as you rarely have the 100s of tourist. The launch point has a great little restaurant, and there a couple pubs along the river where you can stop of a quick pint. However, this isnt the punt you think of when you think oxford. the landscape is flat and meadow like, which is nice. but you can't magdalena for meandering through collages and under a tree lined tunnel and bridges.

A good place to learn to punt. The Cherwell is too small to have any motorised craft on it (though I have seen a bungee driven surf board) and so the hazards are fewer - and when you are learning you don't need any hazards. If you punt north you can go under the Marston Ferry Road and pull up at the Victoria Arms in Marston for a well deserved pint. Though it is worth remembering that you are paying by the hour for the punt which makes stopping to enjoy yourself somewhat expensive. If you punt south you go along the back of a few schools and colleges and the University Parks before you get to a weir that can be got round by pulling your punt up and over the rollers. And then you can get all the way down to Magdalen Bridge and even out into the Thames. By the time you get to the Thames you should be a good enough punter to be able to avoid the motor boats but you'll also probably be too exhausted to get the punt all the way back to the Cherwell boathouse. You can also hire rowing boats and canoes which can be a good idea if you have primary school aged children who want to have a go - you do really need to be taller than 3 feet to have any success at punting. Size isn't so important in a canoe or rowing boat.

Lovely hidden gem! Our group of forty from Arizona had reservations for a delightful luncheon! Absolutely delicious British fare! Since we pre ordered, our luncheon went smoothly! Entering this venue was a treat...an idyllic setting with students rowing by! Lovely venue, delicious fare and plenty of wine made for a wonderful afternoon in Oxford!

The location is superb. BUT... The food is not particularly great and overpriced even if it were. But the main negative is that the staff are unfailingly supercilious, to the point that they give the unmistakeable impression they are doing you a great privilege just by attending to you. A real shame, as this place could be superb under different management. It would doubtless do much better as a casual pub than as a pretentious restaurant.

Waiters with social issues. No american express - written on the menu. Wait time between the main and the desert 1hr+ during not so busy Saturday. Stay clear!

Have to say it's not worth the price. Seafood not fresh and beef too old. May not go second time unless major improvement.

The setting, deck seats overlooking the canal and punters, is gorgeous. The food was so flavorful and presentation was impeccable. Loved it.

Fantastic British fare. All great dishes, enjoyed by all and at a reasonable price for something of this quality. Only complaint was the cheese board was rather stingy... Must have been running low in the kitchen! Lovely ambiance and friendly service. A bit out of the way but a nice enough walk from town on a nice day - and the reward of a pleasant riverside-haven was worth it. Would recommend for a treat!

Definitely the best punt hire venue in Oxford. Pretty location, a nice place to sit and enjoy an ice cream as well as punt. And it's easy to get to the Victoria Arms from here even if your punting skills are as ropey as mine! Or go in the opposite direction and you'll be going through the Parks and Parsons Pleasure, which featured in an Inspector Morse story.

Never mind punting. This is a great restaurant really good food and most charming and well informed waiting staff, such a change from the usual uninterested schoolchildren or foreigners that usually wait these days. My wife and I celebrated an important occasion here and had a fantastic dinner, overlooking the river.

The Cherwell Boathouse is a very picturesque restaurant by the river. Get a table by the river and watch the world go by. Food is good and tasty. It's not cheap but the quality certainly tempts you into trying everything. Good attentive service tops of a good experience.

Great food, hidden away nicely.

Punting is a fantastic Oxford tradition and it's great fun to get some friends together or the family round to try it out in summer. Cherwell boathouse provides Northern Oxford with the opportunity to splash around and has a nice restaurant and little cafe selling ice creams and drinks attached. For those unfamiliar with the term, a punt is a long, narrow, flat boat which is moved along with a long pole and a paddle. The Oxford style has the punter (the person using the pole) at the back, unlike the Cambridge style where they stand at the front. Of course, this is all great in theory; when it comes to it, your first time may well be spent getting stuck in bushes and spinning horizontally across the river. Of course, with such a silly method of propulsion, this isn't designed as an efficient method of transport, but a fun way to spend an hour to two on the river in the sun. Take a bottle of Pimms or wine, settle back on the nice squishy cushions they give you, and enjoy the Oxford countryside as you drift along in the sun.