A very charming space overlooking the water. The Boathouse is located on 116 Gordon St in Guelph. There is parking available right along the paved walkway (angle parking only). If you follow the route, it leads to another bigger parking lot. Parking is free! Reservations are highly recommended. My guest and I made a reservation for two for 1:30pm. It was very busy when we walked in. We got a table right by the door. There were artwork and paintings hung all around the cafe - it was cute. I ordered an afternoon tea set, as well as an extra breakfast burrito for my guest and I to share. There is a tea menu to look at all the various options they have. It was nice to see that they had many options to choose. Our set came with mini sandwiches, scones and dessert and fruits. I would definitely come back to visit - it would be nice to come in the summer and book a table out on their patio. read more

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Great location and customer service. Scones: Decent. A little sweet (which I like), served with whipped cream and strawberry jam. Fruit: The fruit was the best part of all our meals here. It was so fresh and sweet, which I thought would be difficult to find outside of California! I also enjoyed it with cottage cheese, which is not so common at breakfast spots in California unfortunately. Tea: The tea is enjoyable but pretty average when compared to bougier tea spots like The Bruce in Stratford. It's not clear how long I should let it steep for for optimal flavor. I preferred the Winter Dream green tea, which was warm and cozy, slightly sweet. I also preferred the McCrae over the Boathouse blend. The Boathouse blend was a little basic for me, and the McCrae had a slight sweetness that I enjoyed. High Tea: Average - a good price and pleasant experience, especially if the weather is nice enough to eat outside (and catch a bald eagle flying by!). My favorite dessert was the carrot cake cupcake. Ice Cream: Yes, ice cream and tea is definitely a good idea! The banana cream pie tastes like your classic Runts banana flavor (the original banana that got wiped out) and the black cherry has plenty of big cherry pieces. Great servings, and we loved that they served them in reusable bowls instead of disposable ones. Would definitely come again! read more

The Boathouse - banana cream pie and black cherry ice cream with a side of tea, please! - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

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Ice cream for the family with a beautiful view of the river. Pleasant experience. Easy 5 stars. read more

The Boathouse - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

This is always our spot to connect with our sweet desires in Guelph. The Boathouse is situated where the Eramosa River meets the Speed River, and is restored from a real century-old boathouse associated with Guelph's river systems. This bright pink shop operates as a tea room & an ice cream parlour. Enjoy the generous scoop portions from among a tasty selection of local offerings. Flavours such as tiger stripe, bear claw & watermelon sherbet are all delightfully creamy. Best advice is to lick as fast you can before your ice cream melts under the summer sun! There's a park & covered bridge nearby to calmly enjoy the treat and watch wildlife. As for the tea room & riverside patio, perhaps we'll be able to be seated to try next time. read more

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A wonderful place for afternoon tea! Great service, great prices! I will be back on every visit to Guelph.

Such a cute ice cream spot by the water! I tried the pumpkin spice ice cream and it was delicious! read more

The Boathouse - Pumpkin Spiced Ice Cream - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

This place is one of my go to ice cream joint in Guelph! A great ice cream shop in a nice area with a small trail to walk along while enjoying your ice cream. The view of the river is very nice to take in as well. You can also rent canoes and kayaks here to go down the river. They offer a wide selection of ice cream flavours. If you're in for small treat, I'd recommend just getting the kids cone size because that would be enough to satisfy your craving. However if you have a sweet tooth, I'd go with the single - this allows you to have up to two flavours and it is more than enough to fill you (as shown in picture in cup). I can't imagine how big the double portion is! Not only is this an ice cream joint but they have a restaurant in the back end for breakfast, lunch and high tea. They have a variety of food items on the menu but I always go here for their high tea! It's very affordable compared to other places that serve afternoon high tea - which is typically double the price or more. It is $21 per person and it comes with 3 sandwiches each: egg salad, tuna salad, cucumber and cream cheese, one scone with jam and clotted cream, fresh fruit and an assortment of desserts. They also have a large selection of tea options to choose from and it was nice to have free refills for them. It was served on a very nice vintage 3 tier and tea pot/cup set. The sandwiches were great, as well as the scones. However the desserts were just okay for me. The last time I visited here - they had a wasp issue, so it was a little uncomfortable to enjoy our high tea with the wasps flying around us and going into our food. Regardless, the staff were very friendly and accommodating. I'd love to come back and try their breakfast/lunch menu items. read more

The Boathouse - Kids come and single portion ice cream in cup. - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

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Ambiance: This hidden gem has a very nice patio situated right next to the water. Perfect for a high tea brunch. The inside less appealing to the eye but comfortable nonetheless. Unfortunately, there is wasp issue, we would have loved to enjoy the brunch outdoors but due to the number of wasps, we asked to be seated inside (much warmer inside). There is an ice cream shop located without the restaurant (outdoor access). That was very popular as well Food: I really appreciate that they have a whole variety menu instead of the basics. The high tea pricing is very decent compared to other places. The high tea assemble comes with sandwiches, scone, jam, whipped cream, sandwiches fruit & tea of choice. We also opted to trying other items on the menu like Egg wraps & bagels, & summer salad. Everything was delicious. Service: They were accommodating and attentive. Definitely worth checking out early. read more

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Stopped into the boathouse about 1hr to closing at 4pm. I ordered the soup of the day, chicken jambalaya, people ordered wraps and sandwiches with soup and tea. The soup of the day was without chicken or sausages or shrimp , typical the jambalaya...it tasted like a tomato Campbell soup. The wrap was nice and tight with the right amount of mayonnaise. Washrooms are big, with diaper changing bench. The interior looks like grandmas with unique chairs. There is also outdoor patio. The interior does have AC, but not efficient. This location is known for high tea, guess I'll have to try it next time. read more

I love the boathouse ice-cream soo much and it's right next to a park so you can get ice cream the go sit down at the park. It can be hit or miss thought with the serving size because you can ( most of the time ) get humongous portions or the tiniest little ball of ice cream . A little consistency would be nice. But the servers are usually very good and the line moves pretty quick. read more

I wasn't too sure what expect with the Boathouse but as it was recommended by many I thought it would be worth a try. And it's not just worth a try, it's awesome! We tried one of their chocolate ice cream and it's definitely one of the better ice creams I've had in a while. Very creamy. Definitely worth the wait! read more

The Boathouse - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

Food was great, however, the service was slow and they kept forgetting to bring essentials, like milk and sugar for the tea/coffee, utensils etc. read more

The Boathouse - Afternoon tea - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

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Enjoyed some yummy ice cream from The Boathouse while enjoying the gorgeous sunshine weather and speed river views. There was a lineup (as usual on a warm day) but their lines move rather quickly and efficiently. They've got great flavours (bear paw, cherry cheesecake and watermelon sorbet are my faves!) and also offer vegan options as well. Their kid cone size is already a great amount too! If you've got your wee one with you, they offer a free baby cone (very cute!). Highly recommend having some ice cream from Boathouse and soaking in the scenery followed by a nice walk along speed river and over the lattice bridge. I plan to book a high tea lunch there as well soon. read more

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Do I need to say anything? Amazing place by the river with very polite/friendly stuff and one of a kind atmosphere. If you are in town definitely take a stop there to enjoy a cup of authentic tea and a snack read more

The Boathouse - Extra cozy - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

The ice cream was super overpriced. No thank you.

Awesome place to get delicious ice cream and relax. Their ice cream variety was not a lot but their flavors were very tasty. Also it was unfortunate that the house tea was close when we got there ( or maybe that's the excuse for another visit) ;) read more

The Boathouse - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

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I love this restaurant/ice cream parlor. My family comes here every summer for ice cream and conoe trips. All the ice cream flavors are delicious and they are very generous with scoops! Sometimes too generous, and I have to ask them to scrape some off because it's just too much for me. Beautiful location! Great place! read more

Amazing ice cream !! Such a good bang for your buck since you get huge scoops! Not to mention the flavours are awesome. My favourite was the blackberry moose tracks. I love the atmosphere and location of the place. I only had ice cream. So this ice cream storefront is a nice little setup. It's right by the river so on a nice day it's super relaxing to eat your ice cream by the water. The great part about this place is you know you're supporting a family business. The worker told me that the ice cream comes from a set of sisters that opened up an ice cream company. Highly recommend for a warm weather treat for pretty cheap!! read more

The Boathouse - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

Grabbed an ice cream and trying to enjoy the view. Ice cream was really artificial.. the bridge was beautiful but was out of control.. Rude and racist people sitting on the bridge and would let anyone take pictures except us. Called us "fxxking Asians" and were really making us uncomfortable. The area needs better management for sure. read more

The Boathouse - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

Great location! Lovely surroundings. The ice cream was delicious, I had the pumpkin flavour and it was amazing. It's a bit pricey but a nice treat. Next time I plan on trying the tea room. read more

Great Place for an ice cream and enjoying the Speed River in Guelph with a stroll over the covered bridge.

This place used to be nice but at my most recent visit, it felt tired and worn out. We found that our waitress was less than friendly, and did not seem to know her way around the menu or the tea offerings for that matter. She did not place ordered items on the table so much as just drop them. The scones we ordered were under-cooked in the middle and when we asked for another, she brought an equally cold and raw scone after being microwaved. As a matter of fact, our food seemed to have been supplied by Costco both in taste and presentation. The younger wait staff, in general, were under trained, and appeared to laugh at the customers more than do their jobs. Too bad. This used to be a nice place. lt was always a little rough around the edges, but that was part of its charm. Now it just seems to be dirty. lt is a lovely setting and hopefully they'll be able to get their act together. We will not be back. read more

I went canoeing for the first time ! and had an amazing time ! Wore pink to fit the restaurant's theme !

A four-minute drive from the University of Guelph campus, the Boathouse Tea Room is a great spot for ice cream. The single scoop ($4.20) is essentially a double scoop because you can pick two flavours. The scoops are also massive, so that's all you need. I'm not even sure how they could make it any bigger if you ordered a double. They all come in waffle cones. This is just a funny observation, but when we watched about 10 other people order their single scoops and even within our own party, it was clear that the size of the scoops is dependent on the size of the customer. And that's not even a joke. I was the smallest in my party and my scoops were the smallest by far. We watched two rather large customers order their singles after us and their scoops were double the size of mine. Either way, you'll get plenty of ice cream. The raspberry moose tracks was delicious (and I'm not even about that raspberry life), Grammy's Cupboard, Toffee Cashew Crunch, and Betty's Blueberry Cheesecake were the best out of the bunch we tried. The tea house also rents out canoes because it's right beside the Eramosa River and a short walk off to the side is one of the few covered bridges in Ontario, which is a cool place to check out and take pictures. If you're in the mood for ice cream, I'd definitely recommend this place, and based on how unregulated their scoop sizes seem, if you're not that hungry, a kiddie cone will do. read more

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I love taking people here. It's so nice to have breakfast, brunch, or lunch by the river. The patio area can be a bit uncomfortable if it's really sunny but if you've got sunglasses it's really relaxing to watch the river, kayaks/canoes, and birds go by. I've had a few different things from the menu and have also had high tea here with friends. The high tea comes out on one of those three-tiered serving stands. The bottom was sandwiches (tuna salad, egg salad, and cucumber), the middle was scones and jam, and the top was an assortment of little treats. It's about 15 bucks per person and pretty filling; we had to take the top tier to go. They also serve ice cream at the front, which is nice. Honestly, the location makes this the clear choice to take visitors for summer brunches and ice cream. It's one of those places that provides the Guelph experience at its very best. read more

Nice little place. Food was good, nothing special, ice cream was good, a little pricey but the best of this place is the tea and the scones plus the great location. You can rent a canoe or a kayak for 2 hrs and the service is good. They have a wide variety of great teas. This is their specialty. read more

Stopped by for dessert the other day :) The staff is really nice and super patient while you contemplate that important life question of which ice cream flavor to get. (Ask for a sample if you're unsure!) I loved the orange sherbet and coconut island. Serving are huge and the price is great. Singles are 2 scoops and they have a baby cones for those that are less gluttonous. Baby cones for actual babies are free! The location is right by the water which makes it a wonderful place to sit and relax... just don't get attacked by the Canadian geese :P (They also have a tea shop on the other side.) read more

A great place to go for ice cream. Large cones with the option of having even larger cones. With many places to sit right by the river, this is a perfect place to visit with friends on a summer day. In the back of the shop, there is a space to enjoy some food as well as more desserts other than ice cream. Another popular offering are canoe rentals which are also issued by the boathouse. It makes for a nice activity after (or before) enjoying your ice cream! read more

The staff and owner are wonderful! Great spot in the summer for a special treat while in the park. Have also rented out the boathouse for small events and it is a fabulous spot. read more

Delightful place to go enjoy some yummy ice cream or tea while taking in the beautiful scenery that this city has to offer... right in the downtown core! read more

The Boathouse - The Boat House - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

Went here for breakfast and it has a nice view, cool breakfast sandwiches and and nice ambience. Paintings, drawings and cedar rafters which gives it a rustic atmosphere. Friendly staff and fast service. A sure win for breakfast or tea. Many places were reserved so you can reserve in advance for a group. read more

This is one of the nicest spots in Guelph. The view of the water and the park across the road is delightful. The ice cream serving sizes are big. A kid's scoop is honestly enough for me. There are many flavours and vegan ice cream is available. Lots of lawn chairs are there for you to sit on. read more

A nice place for afternoon tea on a sunny day. The Boathouse Tea Room is right on the river and there's a nice little patio where you can enjoy the view too. The location is great! The food is good (sometimes I'm really happy with it, sometimes I'm a little less happy.. but overall good). Prices for afternoon tea are very reasonable compared to other restaurants. Service is okay. For a "tea room" the selection of teas isn't all that big, but I'll always find something that I like. They close around 4 PM which I didn't realize last time I went there so I made plans to meet up with a friend after work (we got there right before 4) so we just grabbing tea to go. I think the ice cream shop is open later though. Overall, a good option for lunch or afternoon tea. read more

The Boathouse - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

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Ice cream is always amazing. My favourite is the polar paw, which I haven't seen in stores lately, but I've tried multiple flavours and they're all delicious and creamy. Best ice cream in Guelph! read more

Love this place! Rented a canoe today for $18 and explored the Eramosa River. So beautiful and peaceful. Went into the Boathouse afterwards for some great ice cream. Enjoyed it sitting by the river and watching everyone paddle down the river. read more

After a long hike, we came here for ice cream. It was a cute little place by the river and you can rent Kayak. There's also a trail that you walk over the bridge if you're looking for a stroll. The ice cream was so so.. nothing impressive read more

Located at the confluence of the Speed & Eramosa rivers, beside a nice old covered bridge, right at the edge of downtown & a decently sized park, as well as within easy driving distance of the University of Guelph. Not really the sort of restaurant you would go it for its own sake, though its perfect if you've been spending, are about to spend, or are in the process of spending some time in any of those places. Besides renting out canoes, they also serve all kinds of food, including various sorts of salads & wraps, though the real draw is the fantastic ice cream, which is a real treat on a hot summer day! The tea is swell as well. read more

Why four star? Perfect place to have the ice cream shop as it is close to the lake and they offer canoeing and kayaking! The ice cream were good and refreshing. I ordered the butterscotch ice cream in a cone. Bad decision as when I was walking away from the shop my ice cream starts to melt and I have to eat them fast before it melts I my hands. I should have just asked for a cup so I could enjoy the ice cream while walking around the area. Definitely will visit this ice cream shop again when I visit Guelph. read more

My girlfriend and I walked down to get some icecream this past weekend from the Boathouse. Got there and they were out of all types of cones!! What type of ice cream shop runs out of ice cream cones? Obviously very poorly managed. Instead we were offered Styrofoam cups in place of the cones and charged the same price. After eating our ice cream my girlfriend noticed a dark substance at the bottom of her cup- looked like someone had drank some pepsi in the cup before her ice cream was served in it to her. We were very disgusted and will never ever be back. read more

The boathouse has a beautiful location for lunch. Whether you are sitting inside at a table or outside (so long as there are no geese coming at you) it is a great spot to grab a bite. A variety of menu items which will appeal to any should keep any visitor happy! read more