The Boathouse Restaurant — Restaurant in British Columbia

On Saturday, 26 January 2024, my family of 5 went to Boathouse New Westminster for their Dine Out. The set menu was $65. I have been to other locations but this was my first time at the New West location. Overall, I would not recommend this location. An average dinner service is 1.5 to 2 hours but our meal ended up being 3 hours. The majority of that time was spent waiting. The meal was off to a bumpy start. We had been seated for over 10 minutes, but no server had come to greet us nor give us water. I noticed empty tables with water ready to go but not ours. I had to flag someone down to find our server. A manager came over to greet us and take our drink order as it was evident that no sever had been assigned our table. They said our server would come greet us shortly. We ordered 2 Seacuterie boards (off the main menu), 3 ceviches, 1 lobster bisque soup, and the calamari for starters. It took 40 minutes for all our appetizers to come. Keep in mind that our Seacuterie dish had all cold items. The lobster bisque and calamari were average. The ceviche was mediocre at best. I found it to be dry. For mains, we ordered 3 Sirloin & Lobster 1, a Lobster Ravioli, and a Togarashi Seared Ahi Tuna. One of the other servers brought out 1 Sirloin & Lobster Thermidor and the Togarashi Seared Ahi Tuna; however, our appies had not been cleared and we could barely fit in the 2 entrees that were brought over. To be honest this server (not our main server) looked quite lost and was likely new. We prompted the individual to put the 2 entrees down. Then we asked the server to take away the appies after putting the 2 entrees down. He told us that the other 3 entrees were on their way out. Unfortunately, this was not true. Due to the fact food service took such a long time, the individuals whose entrees came first started eating. The 2 individuals were almost finished their entrees before the last 3 entrees were brought out. They were also only brought out because we flagged down our main server and asked where the meals were. Our server had not noticed that over half our entrees were missing. With the exception of her initial greeting and the steak knives, she needed prompting for everything else. She did not come to check on how our meal was going because if she did, she would have noticed that 3/5 people did not have their meals.The ahi tuna was the best out of the meals we ordered. The 3 sirloin lobster dish had noticeably different amounts of lobster on each plate. For dessert, we ordered 3 Raspberry Cheesecakes, 1 Crème Brûlée, and 1 Molten Lava Cake (additional $5). The cheesecakes tasted like they were from frozen but had not been brought out to thaw for an appropriate amount of time. The slices were also noticeably different sizes. The molten lava cake… had no lava. The cake was not warm and therefore had no liquid chocolate filling. This item was additional $5, but definitely not worth the additional cost. I sent it back and was given a second cake. This time the plate was warm to the touch and there was a bit of gelatinous chocolate filling - but still nowhere close to a chocolate lava cake (See picture of first cut.) I did not ask for another cake as I was over the waiting game. When we asked for the check, the server took over 15 minutes to bring back the machine. I will say we had gift cards which I know had to be manually entered;however, I cannot imagine that it takes over 15 minutes to sort this out. Overall this experience was VERY disappointing. There was definitely enough staff on that night but it was obvious the management of the staff was inefficient. Our server had to be prompted at every turn: water, missing food items etc. The only time our server took their own initiative was to bring out the steak knives (after the first steak was brought out). The staff were apologetic for all the errors but it does not make up for the inefficient service or inconsistency/ lack of quality in the food. This meal was not worth the $65 price tag, nor the 3 hours of my time. I would not recommend the New West...

I don’t even know where to begin from my experience at the Boathouse restaurant this past Sunday, June 15th for Father’s Day. But here we go….

My dad picked out this restaurant as they usually have a buffet option, come to find out that they have a fixed Father’s Day menu - this wouldn’t be an issue for me if there was still a variety to choose from. The only option aside from a minimal amount of available brunch items was a 3 course meal for $65 or $70. I can’t recall which it was, and I wish a took a photo of the menu.

We were seated inside, even though there was barely anyone sitting on the patio. We didn’t question it, but it felt like a very odd place we were sat at by a deserted bar.

Initially, myself as well as my mother asked if we could order salads and add on a protein, were told this could be accommodated, only to later have our server return and inform us we could only order the salad if we got the 3 course meal. Sure.. okay.. I try and request to have the salmon scramble instead on the limited brunch menu — only to be informed they are out of the salmon. At 12:30pm on Father’s Day??? Mind you, this restaurant wasn’t even close to being at 50% capacity (let alone 30% capacity), so why they were already out of inventory I’m not so sure why. I tell my server to ring in my family’s food items and I will make a decision in a few minutes.

I decide to go with the egg white avocado toast which was listed for $35 on their set brunch menu list. Instead of getting egg whites, I asked for regular scrambled eggs and a field greens salad instead of toast. This also came with fruit.

15 minutes later my meal comes out first and is the only one put down on the table while my family waited for about 5-7 minutes for their food to come out. This is just poor management in the kitchen. Any wise chef will know not to prepare the quickest item first, as it will get cold waiting for the other mains to be completed. Which is why I understand why they brought me my meal first, but having my food sitting on the table while no one else’s food for over 5 minutes is not a great look at all.. When my family’s food finally came out, my father and mother’s meals which came with hashbrowns on the side did not have ketchup ramekins… sure no problem, we had to ask for them, but again here, this is something that can be quickly fixed to have a more seamless dining experience instead of us waiting for our server to return with ketchups to dig in.

My meal was unfortunately the saddest scrambled eggs and “field green salad” I have ever had in my life. The eggs were completely flavourless, I don’t know how you can mess up a field greens salad but somehow there was no dressing and just some greens thrown underneath my eggs. I am quite confident my 12 year old sister could make a more impressive scramble with the ingredients we have at home than what I had at the boathouse. For a meal I paid $35 for, this was absolutely abysmal and completely missed the mark. My families food was nothing to write home about. For a family of 6 getting one main each and 2 coffees, the price after tax being $229.95 is absolutely ludicrous. The service was lacklustre, and the food was actually shocking. I felt like I was genuinely in an episode of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares, and I wish so desperately that any of my family members had seen the reviews on here before we bothered coming in.

I hate to be harsh, I know how difficult running a food establishment can be, I’ve worked in food service for over 10 years. But if this is how The Boathouse Restaurant wants to continue running their establishment, they are going to run it into the ground. I don’t believe any of this falls on staff or chefs, but higher up management and owner’s not knowing what exactly they are trying to accomplish here. I will never come back to the Boathouse, and will be telling all my friends and family...

I don't understand anyone who rates this place less than 5 stars! Went for a Christmas dinner party with 4 colleagues & it was perfect.

There is adequate pay parking in the area and the restaurant was easy to find as it's well labelled and well lit. Parking is reasonable and uses your choice of an app or the traditional parking meters (I used the app which I downloaded easily once I was parked). It was my first time to this restaurant and I had no issues finding it even with construction and detours in the area. As a woman, I felt safe walking alone to and from my parking space and the restaurant, but I was lucky enough to find a parking spot no more than 50' from the entrance to the restaurant.

The setting on the water - even though it was evening, is stunning and we enjoyed watching the tug boats working even in the darkness from the comfort of the restaurant and its massive windows which face the water. The ambiance inside the restaurant is just as wonderful - lighting is calm and relaxing without being too dark that you can't see the menu or the food. Lots of space to move around the tables and no feeling of being crowded no matter how busy the restaurant was. We were not seated near the fireplace but it was nice for ambiance when we walked by. Washrooms were clean and spacious too with numerous stalls for the ladies.

Finally - the food. The food is amazing! We had 3 menus to choose from (regular, Lobsterfest and another menu which we didn't even look at since there was so much choice from the other 2 options). Plate presentation was gorgeous, portion size was adequate, temperature was just right - couldn't ask for more and item selection was amazing as there was something on the menu for everyone's likes. Dessert was awesome too with many offerings. Cocktails and apres dinner drinks were nice and reasonably priced. As far as food prices, 4/5 of us ordered from the Lobsterfest menu and the average plate was about $63 (not including tax/tip), pricey but it was a special menu. Regular menu items were less expensive and more moderately priced. Drinks ranged from $7 (glass of wine) to about $15 (cocktail) and $8 for apres meal coffees. Definitely a nice guiltfree Christmas splurge as the company paid our meals.

The service. Our server was Michael. Special shout out to him! Not only was he extremely professional and efficient, but warm and genuine. He was on point at every step - anticipating what we needed and ensuring we always had it without hesitation or needing to wait. He had excellent knowledge of the menu items which was awesome as I had questions about a few menu items (namely deciding between 2 options) and gave great recommendations. He was attentive throughout dinner without needlessly interrupting and cleaned items away without making us feel rushed. Best service I've received in a long time.

Summary - sorry for the long review but I wanted to be thorough for those who haven't been here before. All pros, no cons. Would highly recommend this restaurant and will return in future. Perfect restaurant for adults, a romantic meal (date or anniversary), or for an adult Christmas dinner. I wouldn't recommend for those to bring young children (especially ones who are not disciplined and who would be disruptive to other diners) - also not many choices of "kids foods" (fries, chicken fingers, etc on the menu) as the menu is quite sophisticated with many choices of seafood and higher end items that don't usually appeal...