Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2009/January 2010 | Page 102

life

FOOD & DRINK

The Boat House follows a
successful trend
It’s difficult not to feel a little envious
of the residents of Seaview having been
blessed with an interesting range of
options for eating out; whatever your
budget; which can again now include The
Boat House on the seafront at Seaview.
Despite a massive refurbishment just
over 18 months ago, inside and out, the
previous management closed its doors
at the end of June this year unable to
make this beautiful destination family pub
and restaurant pay its way in the current
challenging market.
After only six weeks of closure the pub
was under the new ownership of Annie
Horne and the doors were opened for
business and ready to welcome residents
and visitors alike. Ms Horne is the main
partner and creator of the stylish and
elegant Liberty’s Café Bar and the trendy
and chic Blacksheep Bar and Club Lounge,
both in Ryde.
With a new menu, new ideas and new
staff passionate about delivering excellent
food and service, Annie firmly believes
The Boat House has what it takes to be a
popular eating and drinking destination.
Annie says “ When we opened in July
we ‘hit the ground running’. Despite the
recent refurbishment there was still quite
a bit of work to do behind the scenes and
then deciding where to pitch the menu
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at the beginning was another challenge.
Not knowing whether to go down the
fine dining that the previous owners had
started or to try the good quality ‘pub
grub’. In the end we decided on a bit of
both and throughout the summer it was
very popular but there are nine more
months in the year to make this work. I
would describe our food as traditionally
English with global influences, and
majoring on fresh local seafood when
available.
“Keeping the menu classic and simple,
plus a great range of daily specials,
Sunday Roasts and a good selection for
the children and add all that to a roaring
log fire in winter, live music in the bar on
Sunday afternoons and then hopefully we
will have something to offer everyone!
Just sit here and look at that spectacular
view of the Solent – it’s breathtaking,
especially on a day like today” (Wet, wild
and wintery!)
When asked about her businesses
being in competition with each other her
response was this “Each of them cater
for a different market and are different
in style, but clearly there will be some
cross-over, they are only within four miles
of one another! Hopefully that will be
in a good way though, with customers
knowing that whatever we do, we aim

to do well. Key to any success has to
be the staff, it is so important to have
the best staff, which I believe I have.
Any of this just woul F