The Ferry Boat Inn - Walthamstow/Tottenham

5:08pm Wednesday 31st October 2007

I DON'T ever think I've ever eaten in no-man's-land before.

Although technically the Ferry Boat Inn is just in Haringey, if you sit in the middle of the pub, as we did, you are sat on the small stretch of road between the signs announcing where Waltham Forest ends and where Haringey begins.

Not a very important point, but one that had me wondering as we waited for our food, though.

In summer, the Ferry Boat is a great place to enjoy a drink in the large beer garden. However, on the night we visited, the rain was lashing down, and we were grateful to escape inside and nestle down by the open fire.

We settled down with some drinks from the bar, and perused the menu. Great for a carnivore like me, although a slightly limited choice for the vegetarians in our party.

Unfortunately, being a Sunday, the pub wasn't doing sandwiches, so one of the two vegetarians ended up settling for a second starter as a main dish.

Two of us chose the soup of the day (£2.95), which was tomato, basil and red pepper, with two other members of the party choosing to share the breaded mushrooms (£3.95). The starters arrived very quickly and did the trick of warming us up on such a miserable evening, with the soup and accompanying bread very filling, although the individual flavours were hard to pick out.

Meanwhile, the breaded mushrooms were "really nice" and disappeared as quickly as they arrived.

For main courses it was soup for one, a cheese and bacon burger (£7.25), a beef and ale pie (£7.95), roast beef (£7.50) and mushroom lasagne (£6.75).

The burger, ordered as the fish and chips was unavailable, came with a mound of chips. Requests for ketchup were met by the arrival of a large platter of condiments, with the waitress waiting as you took what you needed before whisking them away again. Surely individual bottles, or even sachets, of ketchup would be easier.

As for the verdict - no more than so, so, unfortunately.

On the other hand, the slow cooked beef, mushroom and Guinness pie was probably the best I have ever had in a pub. It came served in its own individual dish and looked amazingly appetising, even before trying it.

Extra points for short crust pastry (flaky pastry on a pie just doesn't cut it with me), with the meat plentiful and tender. More than enough plus points for me to overlook the slightly bland accompanying vegetables.

The roast beef (one of two Sunday roasts on offer), complete with large Yorkshire pudding looked less appetising as it arrived. There was nothing extra special to differentiate it from an average pub roast, although the portion size was good. The mushroom lasagne was met with enthusiasm, although could have done with more garlic bread.

However, with a new menu coming in on November 1, it will definitely warrant a repeat visit.

The Ferry Boat Inn,
Ferry Lane,
N17 9NG

Tel: 0208 493 9341

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