The Boatshed Ambleside — Restaurant in West Vancouver

Looking for a restaurant with an incredible ocean view? Look no further!

•Service: we ordered at the window since we wanted to sit and eat on the beach. The girl who took our order was very friendly! Our food didn’t take long, maybe 8-10mins.

•Chicken Burger with Fries, 3.5/5: I’m sad they don’t make the chicken burger they used to, it was a 5/5! The new burger’s served on a soft brioche bun, chicken was nicely cooked, lightly seasoned and deep fried. Coleslaw on the burger was a nice touch, it gave me pulled pork sandwich vibes. Unfortunately, as you can see in the photo, this seriously lacked BBQ sauce, or I would’ve given this a higher rating. I’d still recommend trying this burger, just ask for extra sauce. *Boat Shed, if you’re listening, please bring back the old chicken burger, it was outstanding!

•Cod Burger 3.75/5: there’s nothing quite like eating fish and chips by the sea! Again, what’s with the lack of sauce? Also served on a fresh brioche bun, we got a generous piece of cod, which was cooked to perfection! The batter’s thick and well-seasoned. Once again, coleslaw’s a nice touch, especially on this burger. You’ll want to eat this fairly quickly, between the soft bun, coleslaw, pickle and battered fish, it can get a bit soggy. I wish there was more tartar sauce, I would’ve given 4/5, but I still highly recommend this, just ask for extra sauce. My friend and I agreed this was the better burger of the two!

•Parmesan Truffle Fries with Garlic Aioli, 2.75/5: truffle isn’t my favorite, but my friend loves it, so I tried a couple. We agreed that given the mild truffle flavor and sprinkle of Parmesan, these didn’t justify the $4 upgrade. *Side note, my friend said they’d get Garlic Aioli as a dip for the regular fries, it was good.

•Regular Fries, 5/5: delicious! Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, served piping hot. The fries alone make me want to come back!

Overall: Burgers cost $20 and come with French Fries, or upgrade to Yam or Parmesan Truffle Fries for an additional $4. Portions are generous, depending how hungry you are, two people could share a burger and fries. After these tasty meals today, (minus the sauce issue, which I know to ask for extra next time), I’d return to try...

Fantastic location, fantastic atmosphere, terrible restaurant. My friends and I are a bunch of ~18-year-olds who typically have low expectations, but even we were disappointed. To start off our meal, we were given 3 sets of cutlery for the 4 of us. Not sure if they expected #4 to eat with his hands or what, but even after being seated we were not given any water or cups and had to ask for them ourselves.

Waitresses were clearly inexperienced and served our food one person at a time, telling us something along the lines of "You enjoy your meal, your friends' food will be arriving later," with the other food still 5-10 minutes out. Were the rest of us supposed to sit there and watch as one person ate? Was that one person supposed to resist temptation and wait to eat (while their food cooled in the open air)? This happened twice, and yet only when all our food was finished did we realise they even forgot to bring out one of the side dishes we had ordered! We tend to be rather understanding people, but the waitresses clearly did not care. We were served by two girls who looked about 16 and who were visibly apathetic to their jobs, only doing the bare minimum to scrape by. They didn't even have uniforms on, just their regular everyday clothes, though that's probably more on the owners.

Lastly, the food was not very good. It was certainly edible and not something I'd attest to giving a second chance, but I would rate my specialty "Boat Shed Burger" as a 6/10 and my friend gave his fish and chips a 5/10. Our most satisfied had ordered the vegan tacos, which were a 7-8/10. However, the food was cheap enough for the quality, and despite being served in paper plates (!) I wouldn't really go as far as to cite the food as a major turnoff.

The atmosphere is fantastic, though that much is visible from the outside. I would find it hard to accept this as a substitute for the poor service and mediocre food, however, and the four of us will be visiting somewhere else with our...

I really, really wanted to like this place as I'd heard positive things from a friend. We got off to a bad start when the manager yelled at us and his staff for allowing us to go under the outside rope to our beachside table. I have two broken ankles and my friends thought it would be easier for me than going through the restaurant. We apologized. We ordered fish and chips and waited. And waited. We were the only people on the patio but couldn't get the attention of any of the wait staff. After 45 minutes, one of our group went to the kitchen area and sure enough, they had forgotten to put in our order. They apologized, offered to take the $2 surcharge for parmesan truffle fries off each of our orders, and all was well we thought. Our fish and chips were delivered with a scowl about 15 minutes later. No one offered to refill our water or offered a coffee refill or even asked if we wanted wine. When one of us asked, they didn't have the wine she wanted in stock. The food was average. The fish batter was greasy, there was no vinegar in sight and after asking twice, we got some hot sauce and a water refill. We didn't expect five-star food or service at a beach cafe but this was the worst, rudest service any of us had experienced in a very long time. We got our bill -- without the $6 surcharge removed as promised -- and for the first time in my life (I'm a former server), I didn't leave a tip. The view was superb; the service sub-par. We'll be back for the view, but we'll give the cafe...