Bistro at the Boathouse was rated 2 in August, marked down on food handling. Three Tuns and Full House got 3s, and 42 of 55 new district ratings were a 5.
Bistro at the Boathouse, the riverside restaurant at The Boathouse on Thameside in Henley, has been given a food hygiene rating of 2 after an inspection on 19 August 2026. A 2 means “improvement is necessary”.
It is the lowest rating given to any business in South Oxfordshire in August or September. Of the 55 inspections from those two months now published, 42 scored the top rating of 5.
What the inspection found
Every inspection scores three areas. The Food Standards Agency record for Bistro at the Boathouse shows:
- Hygienic food handling: improvement necessary
- Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building: generally satisfactory
- Management of food safety: generally satisfactory
So the restaurant was marked down on how food is handled, prepared and stored, not on the building or its paperwork.
The business has not posted a reply on the register. Every rated business has the right to publish one, and can ask South Oxfordshire District Council for a re-inspection once it has made the improvements. The register showed no new rating pending when we checked on 9 October. The 2 stands until the council inspects again.
Two Henley venues rated 3
Two more Henley businesses were rated 3, “generally satisfactory”, in August. Both scored “generally satisfactory” in all three areas.
| Business | Address | Inspected | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three Tuns | 5 Market Place | 11 August | 3 |
| Full House Chinese Takeaway and Fish and Chips | 10 Friday Street | 27 August | 3 |
| Istanbul BBQ Henley | 7 Greys Road | 25 August | 4 |
| The Henley Distillery | East Barn, Hampstead Farm, RG9 4LG | 2 September | 4 |
Istanbul BBQ’s 4 comes with the best possible score for management of food safety, “very good”. It was marked “generally satisfactory” on handling and on the building.
The Henley 5s
Eight businesses in and around Henley were rated 5, “very good”, in August and September:
- Cygnets of Henley, Valley Road, 12 August
- Hols Little Cakery, a home business in RG9, 13 August
- Henley Piazza, Mill Meadows, 14 August
- Lashbrook House Nursing Home, Mill Road, Shiplake, 24 August
- Harris & Hoole, 1-3 Duke Street, 26 August
- YO! Henley-on-Thames Tesco, Reading Road, 15 September
- Nettlebed Village Club, High Street, Nettlebed, 17 September
- Trinity C of E Primary School, Vicarage Road, 21 September
Across South Oxfordshire
The district’s register has 55 ratings dated August or September 2026:
- 34 from August: 22 rated 5, 7 rated 4, 4 rated 3 and 1 rated 2
- 21 from September: 20 rated 5 and 1 rated 4
The newest published rating is dated 28 September. September’s figures will grow as the council publishes the rest of the month’s visits.
Outside Henley, two more businesses were rated 3 in August:
- The Pack Saddle at Chazey Heath, Mapledurham, about six miles south-west of Henley, on 27 August
- Dorchester Abbey Tea Rooms in Dorchester-on-Thames, about 13 miles north-west, on 28 August
Across all 1,140 rated food businesses in South Oxfordshire, 819 hold a 5. Sixteen are rated 2 and four are rated 1. None is rated 0.
In the RG9 postcode, which takes in Henley and villages such as Shiplake and Nettlebed, 209 businesses hold a rating. Of those, 127 are rated 5 and three are rated 2:
- Bistro at the Boathouse, Thameside, rated in August 2026
- The Cheesy Grape, 4 Market Place, rated in February 2026
- Warings Bakery, 1 Greys Road, rated in August 2025
Both of the older 2s were marked down on the building, not on food handling. No RG9 business is rated below 2.
What it means for you
- The rating is a snapshot of one visit. It tells you what an officer found on that day, not how the kitchen runs today. A business that fixes the problems can ask for a re-inspection.
- Check before you book. Every rating, with the three scores behind it, is on the Food Standards Agency site, and businesses in England do not have to display their sticker.
- If you have a concern about a food business, report it to the council’s environmental health team at env.health@southandvale.gov.uk, the contact the register gives for South Oxfordshire.
We report ratings exactly as the Food Standards Agency register records them. Any business named here can publish a right to reply on the register, and we will add a response sent to hello@henleypost.co.uk.
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