Barge East Reviews Summary

Restaurant Ambiance

Pros:

• "My tastebuds were happy with this restaurant. A beautiful gem in Hackney Wick with yummy food."
• "The restaurant ambiance was so beautiful and the fact it was all inside of a boat! Wow."
• "This place is perfect for a date night, or just any form of an intimate dinner."
• "Weather was superb and sunny, so that made it even better."
• "The atmosphere feels more classy inside the boat than on the deck."
• "We were at the gardens. The security guards are very friendly and they go beyond their job and welcome you in the place."
• "Atmosphere was nice as we were by the canals and the music was cool."
• "Visited Barge East after attending Abba Voyage. Loved the atmosphere inside and outside in the gardens."

Cons:

• "We weren't that comfortable sitting on the decking type seating outside on the deck, maybe some decent cushions wouldn't be a bad idea."
• "Service was friendly and laid back. I must say, we weren't that comfortable sitting on the decking type seating outside on the deck."
• "Also the environment is not as pleasant as we hoped for. The chairs are very uncomfortable (with no back support) and the tables look like they haven't been cleaned properly for years."
• "This was an Anniversary meal, and I must say the whole set up was a pleasurable experience, the views across the river, the rustic barge and staff all added in a positive way."
• "The dessert, was wonderfully tasty, but the whole thing could fit on the dessert spoon."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "My favourites were the fried sardines, potato croquettes, braised ox cheek & fried spicy brussel sprouts."
• "Food was pretty good, considering the location and the limited resources they have to make things happen."
• "We had trout and mushrooms for starters, beef sirloin and duck confit for mains, and blueberry parfait and the 'lost' bread for dessert."
• "My friend and I both agreed the beef sirloin was our favorite - good quality beef at medium rare with lovely sides."
• "The food was ok but I was not blown away by it as I wanted to be."
• "I liked the coriander pesto artichokes but I wasn’t impressed by the burgers. Drinks were good though."
• "The staff were lovely and attentive and the food was beautiful. We had the tomatoes with goats cheese and asparagus to start, then the chicken, venison and market fish from the à la carte menu."
• "The majority of our food was delicious, but a few of our group mentioned that their beef was a little tough."

Cons:

• "Ingredients are not the freshest, food is mediocre at best and overpriced, and service is terrible."
• "Beef tartare has small pieces of beef buried in crumble, beef was not very fresh, and the sauce was way too salty."
• "The duck was mediocre. Starters portions were too small for their prices (there were like 5 small pieces of trout)."
• "The pork was ok ish but the skin was not crispy at all - almost impossible to cut with the knife they provided."
• "She complained to the waiter, and the waiter said he could ask and see what can be done. A few moments later another waiter came back and told us condescendingly that 'we can't take anything anything off the bill due to personal taste'."

Service Quality

Pros:

• "Service was friendly and laid back."
• "Would note that the service was much better than what we experienced on Sunday, maybe because the waiters and waitresses were less busy."
• "They were friendly and attentive throughout our dinner."
• "The staff treated us to complimentary Prosecco which was really nice."
• "Fabulous concept, chilled holiday type vibe, and top service."
• "Great burgers provided and many gluten-free options."
• "Service was also fantastic, the servers were very attentive and personable even though it was a full house for Mother's Day."
• "Staff were simply excellent. Knowledgeable and friendly... especially Faith (one of the managers) who has now got a new best friend in my daughter."

Cons:

• "The bill came as £162, which should work out to be £54 per person, but the waiter got the wrong table's bill and charged us £65 per person."
• "After we pointed it out to him, he offered no apology, and eventually pulled out a calculator to recalculate rather reluctantly."
• "It took 40 minutes for our food to arrive, when it did, the chicken was so hard and the batter was very over cooked, it was painful to eat."
• "The chips were even worse, they were left in the fryer far too long."
• "First £2 bread per person, for three people, we were given 2 half-hand size bread, until we asked another one as they are so small and we were two pieces for the whole table."