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  5. Helensburgh
Sugar Boat, Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire

Sugar Boat

4.4
4.4
535 Reviews
£25 and under
Bistro

Make a booking

2 people
19:00
Booked 6 times today
  • Neighbourhood gem
  • Good for special occasions
  • Great for brunch
Welcome to Sugar Boat - a relaxed & informal neighbourhood bistro in the heart of the town on Colquhoun Square, a stones throw from the sea front. We are open daily from 7.30am (8.30am on Saturday & 9am on Sunday's) through until late. We serve everything from breakfast with a cracking fry up or eggs benedict with or avocado & poached eggs on toast. For lunch & dinner we offer a la carte menus. Lunch is the more informal with burgers, fish & chips & daily sandwiches. Dinner can be a little more special. Cakes, scones & savoury snacks are available all day. We have a Wine Shop for off sales from our extensive list of over 100 wines - everything from £9.50 per bottle upwards. Enjoy a tip top cocktail from our bar made with premium sprits & our home made purees, cordials and juices or enjoy a pint of a locally brewed beer or a can of local Scottish craft ale. Choose to sit on the square or in our rear courtyard.

Dining areas

Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Elegant
  • Price
    £25 and under
  • Cuisines
    Bistro
  • Hours of Operation
    Mon–Fri 07:30–00:00 Sat 08:30–01:00 Sun 09:00–00:00
  • Phone number
    01436 647522
  • Payment Options
    AMEX, Mastercard, Visa
  • Dress code
    Casual Dress
  • Executive Chef
    Oliver Nodwell
  • Area
    Helensburgh
  • Cross Street
    Colquhoun Street
  • Parking details
    A large car park is adjacent to the restaurant accessed via an archway from Sinclair Street & offers free parking for 2 hours. Free parking on local shopping streets for an hour or a couple of streets up the hill with no time limit. There is free parking too on the pier (5 minute walk).
  • Public transit
    Trains run direct to Helensburgh Central from Glasgow; Edinburgh (2 min walk). Trains run direct from London Euston to Helensburgh Upper (10 min walk). Local bus services drop you in the square from neighboring villages & towns to Central Glasgow. The Waverley Paddle Steamer regularly stops at the pier in Helensburgh between Easter & October.
  • Additional
    Bar/Lounge, Beer, Cafe, Cocktails, Corkage Fee, Full Bar, Gender Neutral Restroom, Gluten-free Options, Outdoor Smoking Area, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Vegan, Wheelchair Access, Wine

What 535 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.4
4.4 based on recent ratings
  • 4.5Food
  • 4.4Service
  • 4.3Ambience
  • 4.1Value

NoiseEnergetic

Loved For

  • Dunbartonshire/Renfrewshire

    Most Booked

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews
Sugar Boat offers a captivating dining experience with "superb" food and vibrant atmosphere. Frequent diners praise the "great staff" and "outstanding" dishes, such as the Sunday Roast. While occasional service hiccups occur, many guests leave eager to return. The lively ambience and "fantastic" meals make it a standout choice in Helensburgh.

535 Reviews
  1. Lynn

    Glasgow

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Sugar Boat was absolutely amazing. We were a table of 9 for Sunday Lunch and it was totally perfect from start to finish.

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  2. Heather

    Glasgow

    8 reviews

    3.0

    8 reviews

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 3
    Sugarboat is a great restaurant, good food, good service but today they were off their game. Appeared to be short staffed and 3 of their brunch items weren’t available - no kedgeree, no smoked salmon or sausages, this seemed to have unsettled the waiting staff. As we had chosen to go to Sugarboat today because their kedgeree us so good , so a bit disappointed.

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  3. Iain

    Dunbartonshire

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined 6 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Waiters were very attentive and quick to sort any small issues. Food was great with plenty of choices.

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  4. Jessica

    Dunbartonshire

    1 review

    2.0

    1 review

    Dined on 17 October 2024

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 2
    4. Ambience 3
    The Cullen skink was outstandingly bland, two people in our party of 5 ordered it and it was quite disappointing, the smoked fish flavour wasn’t there and it just tasted like cream, however the garlic bread served alongside it was exceptionally good and well seasoned. The beef burgers were quite overdone in our opinion, again two people in our party had them and both of them were unfortunately overcooked. Not once were we asked how our food was which was quite disappointing. The shop looked very nice but not everything had a price tag which made us quite disinterested. Overall, our experience dinning there was quite poor.

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  5. Maureen

    Glasgow

    5 reviews

    3.0

    5 reviews

    Dined on 8 October 2024

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 3
    We four only had a light lunch. Three had the very tasty Cullen Skink soup which they enjoyed. I had the Mushroom and Fennel which was also tasty. The three had a toasted sourdough filled sandwich each - all of them over-toasted a bit which made them rather too scrunchy. My soup came with toasted sourdough which was OK and benefitted from being dunked in the soup! Some lovely fresh whole meal bread would have been better, we all feel. Our waiter was very attentive, the wine was lovely and the coffee was fine.

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  6. Adam

    Dunbartonshire

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on 2 October 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Great restaurant - faultless. Would highly recommend 👍.

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  7. Mandeep

    London

    3 reviews

    3.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on 28 September 2024

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 3
    Service was haphazard and a bit chaotic. Food was okay, not special

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  8. Gail

    Glasgow

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on 21 September 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Found this place last week. Impressed enough to take family back today. Everyone enthusiastic about the food they had, the friendly and obliging staff and general ambiance.

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  9. Jenny

    Dunbartonshire

    1 review

    4.0

    1 review

    Dined on 20 September 2024

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    Very tasty food if a little pricey. Good service. Felt a little cramped being very close to adjoining table. Larger tables had more space around them.

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  10. Averil

    London

    2 reviews

    4.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on 14 September 2024

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 2
    We enjoyed the evening at Sugar Boat, the food was really good as was service but the noise level was extremely loud which spoiled the ambience.

    Is this helpful?

FAQs

Sugar Boat is rated 4.4 stars by 535 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a booking

2 people
19:00
Booked 6 times today
Google Map for Sugar Boat

30 Colquhoun Square, Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire G84 8AQ

Dining areas

Additional information

  • Cross Street
    Colquhoun Street
  • Area
    Helensburgh
  • Hours of Operation
    Mon–Fri 07:30–00:00 Sat 08:30–01:00 Sun 09:00–00:00
  • Price
    £25 and under
  • Cuisines
    Bistro
  • Dining style
    Casual Elegant
  • Dress code
    Casual Dress
  • Parking details
    A large car park is adjacent to the restaurant accessed via an archway from Sinclair Street & offers free parking for 2 hours. Free parking on local shopping streets for an hour or a couple of streets up the hill with no time limit. There is free parking too on the pier (5 minute walk).
  • Public transit
    Trains run direct to Helensburgh Central from Glasgow; Edinburgh (2 min walk). Trains run direct from London Euston to Helensburgh Upper (10 min walk). Local bus services drop you in the square from neighboring villages & towns to Central Glasgow. The Waverley Paddle Steamer regularly stops at the pier in Helensburgh between Easter & October.
  • Payment Options
    AMEX, Mastercard, Visa
  • Executive Chef
    Oliver Nodwell
  • Additional
    Bar/Lounge, Beer, Cafe, Cocktails, Corkage Fee, Full Bar, Gender Neutral Restroom, Gluten-free Options, Outdoor Smoking Area, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Vegan, Wheelchair Access, Wine
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