The Maribyrnong Boathouse Reviews

Nice views but terrible service. We waited about 50 minutes for a bowl of chips on Sunday. They really need to hire more waiters and train them properly.

Food is amazing here, at the time staff and service was excellent, would give five stars but at some days it is impossible to get a car park / table.

Food was good, bit pricey but not exorbitant and you pay for the view.

Service was ok. Not a bad place.

Extremely friendly staff! Beautiful place to eat & drink with friends along the river!

Lovely views, neat interior and nice decor. Just very slow in serving food (lunch).

Simple but tasty menu.Very relaxed seating and atmosphere. Park nearby to entertain the kids

It s a normal everyday cafe which is far from the normal Melbourne cafe scene. If you want an average home cooked meal with uneven cooked toast and average but satisfying meal, then this place is for you.

Amazing service from staff exceptional Reena. Go there every Sunday morning and they always go out of there way to serve. Recommend

A view to love even on a cold winters day. So peaceful and relaxing with friends enjoying great food - worth a visit.

Staff were very nice and friendly. Coffee was good. A couple of the tables outside could have used a wipe down though.

Wonderful food with delicious vegetarian options and one of the best pizzas I have had in a while. Friendly service and great view of river topped off a lovely Sunday lunch.

Food was good, little pricey. Ambiance was nice with interesting decor, but we were in a large group and waiting to pay was really painful. Employee was on the wrong register, should have been closer to the door so weren't queued where waiters had to walk.

Great views Great hospitality and Great food. You can walk the river then have a coffee and chat in a scenic atmosphere.

Popped in for breakfast. Busy place, but prompt and speedy service. Food was quick to come out and my coffee was nice. Not overly bitter for a long black which was good.

Wonderful service and friendly staff. We had my friends wedding here at the Boathouse, it was a last minute booking. Susan was extremely accommodating and friendly. She catered to our every need and made the day absolutely perfect. thank you team

The Boathouse is beautifully located along the river. The food is decent.. However service is not. I went again today with my daughter and two friends. We hadn't been in a while as the service put us off. I worked in cafes and restaurants for seven years so I fully understand that it can be difficult to provide good service during busy, peak weekend periods.
We ordered one soy lattee, one large dirty chai and one large soy dirty chai. The first time our beverages came out we somehow had three soy lattees. That's fine mistakes happen.the waitress was lovely and took the two extra drinks back. The second time they brought one large dirty chai and one small soy chai. When I asked as to the size of my drink they insisted I didn't order a large. The waiter I ordered off said there was no such large option although there was my friend sitting with her large size of the same beverage. I didn't want to push the topic and be difficult so I sucked it up and accepted paying for a large beverage and getting a small. The waiter delivering the drink was dismissive when I asked if I could have a large size of what I had ordered and actually walked away whilst I was midsentence. I am never rude to people working in customer service. I never raise my voice or get aggressive as one it is wrong and two I still myself work in the industry (retail manager) and I just feel strongly that there is a polite way to do things and behave to others. But walking away and leaving a customer with the wrong order is just poor service....i won't be back despite the great location. It seems a small thing but the rudeness of those serving us isn't acceptable and if it were my staff they'd have a verbal warning. It's not about the money at all. Happy to pay but not happy to be ignored and left midsentence when politely asking if my order could be fixed.....

VERY limited menu. One vegetarian choice. No desserts, only dried up cakes. Lovely location so a shame the food does not justify the prices. Had to leave and go to Brunetti in Carlton!!

The Gluten free menu is quite misleading as their chips are cooked in the same frier as non Gluten free foods

Love this place, food is delicious and staff are super friendly! Can't wait to go back!

The best service and fantastic for kids birthday parties

Held a work corporate event here. Was a great night and the food was fantastic. Staff very helpful and got things done when needed.

Nice location next to the river, food was good as well

Good coffee, good friendly service and a delightful location. The pea falafel were delicious. Treat yourself

Family / couple friendly restaurant, along the Maribyrnong River. Italian & Mediterranian menu. A beautiful setting, especially during sunset. We will be back :)

Nice location, close to the park which is nice for the kids. Some seats have a nice view of the river (others have a view of the carpark).

Food was prompt and tasty, although it was a little burned.

Pay-at-order and self serve cutlery/water etc gives it a pub feel.
Staff were friendly, if not exceptionally efficient or sophisticated.

Pricing was high for the quality of the food, level of training of the staff, and atmosphere of the establishment, but otherwise an enjoyable experience.

Pros: great river views (particularly if you sit outside), plenty of space, kid-friendly and some good veggie options on the menu. Cons: uncomfortable indoor seating and the coffee is always too weak.

Not good... the food was extremely salty (and I eat salt straight out the shaker)

I ordered the steak and the garden salad was very salty..

Pretty disappointed

We planned on having lunch there but had coffee first as kids were playing in the park nearby and it was the worst coffee ever. ..in fact it wasn't a coffee at all..it was like milk with some sugar and milo...will never be returning to it....

Credit card surcharge on expensive food. Nice coffee

we enjoyed the food, the only issue we had was with the wait times

I would like to thank Sue and her amazing team for last night we had our Christmas in July. The service was great and the food was amazing. We from MMCCCC would like to thank the Boathouse for such a beautiful night. See you again for breakfast. If anyone wants to go out for breakfast the Boathouse is the place to go.it's also great for families.

Wonderful ambience, fantastic menu and genuinely friendly Staff - highly recommend a meal here!

have been to many many restaurant, never had such bad experience like it. we had to wait for nearly 1 hour for our food , in the end they found out the waiter forgot to put our order through, no problem , mistake can be made, but we did not get any apology. ok , food finally came , $39 mixed grill, only come 5 tiny piece of meat , and taste badly , 100% overpriced the food for sure, yet , when we pay the bill they charge us surcharge fee because i was paying by card, it's not even credit card , its normal saving account. it's absolutely illegal . i do not what to say anymore, what they doing just make you angry.

Got there at 8pm and the only food we can order is pizza. What a shame. Was yummo though. Lovely staff and cozy deco. Would love to go again.

If you put that cheesecake up on Masterchef you'd be getting laughed out the door. It's more like breakfast than dessert. That was the icing on a very bland and greasy cake.

A bit expensive .
But great location next to river. Liked the outdoor seating.

Great food+Great service! Good halal options as well!

Busy Sunday lunchtime, two meals arrived after 40 minutes, the remaining two meals had still not arrived after 90 minutes and a couple of queries. In their defence they did give a refund and provided the pizza in a box to take away which was tasty on the walk home.

Great food with fantastic entertainment. The ALEX & NAT DUO were great. Service by Brianna was also great. Will definitely come back.

poor service and rude staff.
never going back.
they pretend like we are eating free there.

The food seems stale and not worth the money.There was a string smell of fungus of the burger and the grilled chicken and they say that it is the smell of avacado and the salsa the service seems to be horrible, only good for cocktails and drinks

nice place, great food and they do a fantastic chocolate martini!

Great service, friendly staff and lovely lakeside views.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY !!!!!
Ordered a milk shake - EXPECTING IT TO BE FROTHY AND FLAVOURSOME IN A MILK SHAKE CONTAINER - IT WAS NESTLE STRAWBERRY QUICK IN MILK - I AM NOT JOKING - SIMPLY COULD NOT BELIEVE IT.
WILL NEVER EAT HERE AGAIN - THE PLACE AND SERVICE IS A DISGRACE !!! GARY MEHIGAN YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF !!

Came here for brunch with my friends. The venue was cozy, the staff really nice and they got a big variety of food!
We ordered smashed pumpkin, shakshuka, and the boathouse pancakes. Every dish was delicious and freshly made. My favorite was the pumpkin, it's a perfect combo of sweet, savory and salty!
Looking forward to trying some of their lunch menu as well.

Fantastic location and fantastic meals. Plenty of options on the menu and for kids. Staff very friendly. Highly recommend and would definitely reserve a table again.

Bad service sequencing, cold food and partly cooked vegetables. Nice and helpful staff

Like to grab a coffee here to celebrate the riverwalk!

ALWAYS HERE FOR THE SCONES AND ENVIRONMENT...
BUT TODAY, WHAT 12.50 FOR 2 SCONES....ARE YOU FOR REAL?!?!? GUYS WE ALL KNOW WHAT IT COSTS TO.MAKE SCINES... FROM 6, TO 8.50 OK ITS A NICE SETTING.... BUT 12.50.. THATS A JOKE....
SO BOUGHT A* PURPLE HEAVEN *
9.5 CAME OUT OF A FRIDGE, TASTED LIKE PLAIN BEETROOT, GUYS.... GET A GRIP....SO SHATTED, BOUGHT FRIENDS HERE.... WELL, NOT HAPPY...

Friendly staff mediocre and over priced food nice setting

Crowded place only due to location. Food quality and service, need an uplift.

Order a grilled chicken burger and grilled chicken - both the dishes were stale
The waitress was quite rude

Avoid it expensive stale food

Food is OK, service is very slow ... and parking nearby impossible.

I wasn't happy with the food nor coffee. Has a nice location.

Loved it here. Great atmosphere and very friendly staff! Will definitely be back x

This was hands down the worst dining experience I have ever had. If I could give negative stars I would.

My boyfriend took me to The Boathouse for Valentine's dinner last week. We arrived at 7pm and ordered our food. Come 8pm we still hadn't received our arancini entree so we enquired with the waitress. After taking her time she advised us that she had to 'hunt it down' from the kitchen.

An hour and a half went by and our mains were nowhere to be seen. Again we asked the waitress and this time it was explained to us that they also have an outdoor area as well as an indoor area to cater for so they are running late. In my opinion that is no excuse and if anything it shows disorganisation in what is a Masterchef judge owned restaurant. Two hours gone by and we were told 'just 10 more minutes'. After 15 minutes and still nothing we got up to leave. At the counter the waitress had the audacity to charge us for our entree despite terrible service, poor excuses and no meals!

After sharing my experience with friends they told me that the exact same thing happened to them. I formally complained and they never replied to me. I definitely do not recommend The Boathouse to anyone ever!

The food here is average for the price. The pizzas are quite nice. I would say given the 3 times I have attended this restaurant with my children that it is *not* family friendly. Very rude when attending with children.

Lovely food, good service, great surrounds with views looking onto the river. Terrific playground next to the cafe. Only downside were the toilet facilities - these were located outside the cafe (not great if the weather is poor), the baby change room was quite dirty, plus the fold out change table was absolutely filthy. Needs a frequent clean and it looked like it had never been cleaned.

Great place to spend time with family and friends. Highly cultured and trained staff. Foods are really delicious.

A great cafe, ideal for family with kids. There is an excellent play ground next to the cafe. Great view of the river

The deconstructed cheesecake is devine and worth a trip just for that. The open fire and great service makes it an all-around winner.

Really long wait for the food, the manager was rude and arrogant he is just a server, definitely not worth the wait

Very cool place with delicious menu and friendly staff.

Nice little spot over the river. Good for family s to sit and have lunch. Standard fare for food with pizza, burgers and few speciality dishes. Expect around 12 - 20 for a main

Quite a nice setting by the river. Shame the value for money doesn t match up. Decent range of beer and cider but $10 for a bottle of local. They have this weird policy about not being allowed water jugs on the tables outside, seriously?

9 of us aged 19-79 ate lunch.
Pizza base uncooked and mushrooms were stale
Lamb salad only had one chunk of lamb in it and the chunk was all fat
Beer was warm
Wagyu burger was very dry and stale brioche
One meal did not arrive until 8 of us were finished
The one star is for Francesco, who was a fabulous waiter

The atmosphere is good. However food is way below standard. Runny risotto, oily fish and chips and ordered a chilli prawn pizza but got a pizza with salad on top. Feeling sick after eating the oily fish and chips. Not value for money.

The worst service worst attitude of any place I have been . After a few chances I Will not be back. A waste of a great location , Perhaps a new owner is what is needed.

The set up is nice when you walk in however the menu selection i didn't find much that i fancied. I ordered the fish n chips. I thought for $23 and is owned by Gary from Masterchef, I expected a lot more. Yes the fish was nice but you only get 2 strips and the batter was very oily but crunchy. The chips I expect it hand cut and top quality potatoes used not the frozen type. The mayonnaise you only get a tablespoon's worth just enough for one fish. don't think I will revisit.

I keep hoping this place will improve but it doesn t. It s a pity, because the location is excellent. Mediocre food and staff who just don t care.

Excellent food with a great atmosphere. I can't wait to dine in again.

Considering the location and its reputation, I expected so much more from my experience here. The worst coffee I've ever had in Melbourne by far (dishwater soapy froth in lattes and burnt coffee). The food preparation was sloppy and lazy with presentation equivalent to what kids would plate up themselves on school camp.
Bland cheap quality food with supermarket style toast.
Unfortunately the service (apart from the manager) was very poor too. Wrong orders, spilt drinks which then took forever to clean up their own mess.
It's going to be a very long time before I give this place a chance again but when I do, I hope management has read this review and overhauls its staff and service offerings to match its previous reputation.

A great location but ..... the coffee is terrible and the food is pricey ....

A beautiful brunch or lunch place by the river. Very busy on the weekends !

First visited The Boathouse in 2008. Ordered a pizza, seeing it was advertised as award winning. Worst pizza we have ever had. Staff very offhanded. Tried again next year. Once again staff needed training. Nothing on the menu caught our eye, so decided to give a pizza another run for its money! Ugh,.. awful, boring and barely any topping. Gave it all another try 2012....just the same, and duck dish awful. Needs huge makeover in decor, food and staff....never trying here again...So much more could be done to enhance the fact the river is so near....so much more training needed for staff. What a waste of our dollar..Hope Gary can blast this place outta the water.