The Boathouse Seafood Restaurant And Waterfront Patio — Restaurant in Ontario

My husband and I dined at this establishment yesterday at around 2p.m. You would have thought that service would be quick when walking into a restaurant with only a few occupied tables. Sadly, that was not the case.

We have been here before and had a great experience which is the reason we came back. Unfortunately, we did not receive the same experience this time.

It took our server fifteen minutes to approach us. The other couple in front of our booth seemed to be looking around for the same server that was assigned to our table. When she finally arrived at our table she did not introduce herself. Although, she did apologize about the wait which we were still left confused since the restaurant was not busy.

We ordered coconut shrimp and fish tacos. We asked her to bring out whichever dish was ready first. Unfortunately, we received both dishes at the same time without cutlery, napkins, and side plates. We were surprised that deep fried shrimp wouldn't have come first since it does not take long to make. I would know since I have been working in a seafood restaurant that serves a similar dish for the last nine years.

Once the meals hit the table she asked if we would like side plates since we were sharing. I thought side plates would be a given since we ordered an appetizer and one meal? We were almost done our dishes when she finally realized she never dropped over our plates along with cutlery which we have asked for. We never received water refills as well.

We are not demanding customers. We require minimal service. I have been working in the restaurant industry for eighteen years, mostly as a server, with five years of fine dining, and in management.

I am not sure what type of training program you have but this server definitely needs to be retrained. Your tip, although it does not always happen this way, should be a reflection of the service you have provided. The server seemed frustrated and disappointed in her tip when we were leaving since we did not get a thank you or a goodbye. We are hoping that our tip would allow her to reflect on the poor service she provided.

I hope that this review is shared with her as a learning experience. Location is important but service...

I had the fish tacos for lunch. The three tacos are each comprised of a soft taco shell, a long piece of battered and fried fish with a drizzle of a very mild Chipotle mayonnaise on top and plain shredded red cabbage underneath.

It was very bland and the fish was quite oily - the sign of the fry oil not being hot enough. This was during the lunch hour and with the deep fryer in heavy use it's likely the oil's temperature had dropped too low.

So the fish and the mayonnaise combined gave the tacos a very oily mouth-feel so it desperately needed something acidic to cut through. The shredded cabbage had no seasoning - perhaps a vinaigrette or just a splash of apple cider vinegar would have helped it to 'pop'. Even a lemon wedge would have helped but the dish came with just a twist of lemon - like you would use to garnish a cocktail.

If I were designing this dish I would certainly have, as an option instead of the Chipotle mayonnaise, a light creamy cilantro sauce. Most definitely the cabbage needs a light, acidic dressing. To finish off, the soft taco shells were too chewy. It's like they had been heated but subsequently left out on a counter.

When rating a dish my metric is 'would I serve this to dinner guests and what's the price of the dish'. So, to the first my answer is no, I wouldn't have served this to guests.

As to the price, this restaurant operates at a high price point. At $17.99 + tax + tip the fish tacos are at the bottom of the entrée pricing. But that's still expensive for three tacos. At that price I expect my taste buds to experience something exciting, something above average. This dish, at least the one that I was served, was definitely not that. Of the three tacos, I ate one and a half. I gave the third to my brother with whom I was having lunch. He ate half of it before coming to the same critique as I've detailed above. He left the other half on the plate.

This restaurant gets a lot of good reviews which I'm sure are honest and accurate. But sometimes it's a swing and a miss, which was my fish taco lunch. At the prices they charge it needs to be a...

It’s a casual place but we had a bigger group and we were coming kind of late, so I wanted to make a reservation. I made it over email and confirmed it over the phone and the staff were very polite and on top of it. We showed up and there were tables combined for us in their lounge area. The place looks small from the outside but there was plenty of space for us. We were served by Mike who was really fantastic. He couldn’t have been more polite, answered questions from the picky eaters in our family, was on top of everything, professional and conversational, just a really fantastic guy. He even asked us how we wanted our cheque split etc., which you don’t often get in big groups.

Drinks were delivered in great time and delicious. Same with appetizers we ordered for the table. I recommend the potato skins and the lobster spinach dip. They have a huge menu and were very accommodating of some members of my family who had shellfish allergies, and even asked me when I made the reservation if we wanted special menu items (I did not). Our food was hot and fresh, and generous portions.

But let me tell you, if you read nothing else from this review, you must know: The Boathouse has, hands down, the best fish and chips I’ve ever had in my life. Not even close. I got the haddock. It was a terrific value, and simply the best haddock I’ve ever had. Flakey and white and a whole filet, not grey or fishy, batter was golden, crispy and flavourful, not greasy.

Sadly, we were so stuffed we did not get to try dessert, but we will be back to try it for sure. They have so many options too.

And I have to mention, we are so so grateful for a couple at the bar who were regulars, who overheard my wife and I were newlyweds and were generous enough to anonymously pay a portion of our tab. If you are reading this, thank you!!! This was not at all expected and we were fully prepared to pay the total, but even if we didn’t have this gesture this place would still get 5 stars. At first glance The Boathouse seems like it may be a bit of a dive and meant for locals but they treated us out-of-towners...