Castaways Boathouse — Restaurant in Dover

My girl and I went in late night quickly for something to eat so we didn't have to cook anything so we weren't expecting much other than some quick bar food and possibly a few local drunks hanging around being they are maybe the only place in Dover open until midnight in town. It's a smaller place but it's directly on the water and there's boats in slips all along the river directly behind the bar , so with out door seating on a couple rear decks and outside bar that wasn't open due to the season coming to an end about now but I could see it being really busy and a good time on a warm summer night. If not just to watch the boats come and go or just to do alittle people watching I could see it being a busy place on night like that. As I said it was cold and late so there was only a few people in at the bar so we looked over menu quick and decided to order a couple appetizers, I got an order of mozzarella sticks, my go to never fail order and she decided on an order of boneless Buffalo fingers with an order of fries. There's a good selection of beer on tap id say 10 atleast and there was a bunch of different iPA brewery type of beers which my girl will try any type of and usually likes most of them so she got a 603 iPa and loved it my food came as quick as the beers and the mozzarella sticks looked really good and they tasted as they looked really good cooked perfect with choice of marinara, house ranch which was like a combo of Ranch and Greek combined and it was great plus they had a house blue cheese that was great also I tried all 3 the Buffalo fingers came just as quick also and they were great also, they weren't too hot handle but they had a kick you couldn't get enough of and they were cooked perfectly if you ask me so what she didn't finish I took care of for her. We planned to order burgers for dinner but were not going to eat a full burger between us so we decided against it and looked the menu over hoping for atleast one dessert or something to fill the last empty void in our stomach but there wasn't anything listed. No dessert wasn't an option for my hungry other so she went up to ask the bar tender and she said they had a strawberry shortcake ice cream dessert and a chocolate brownie one as well so it covered both of us me getting the short cake and her the brownie dessert. They both came very quickly and looked so good and they didn't not disappoint! The strawberries were so good and it made a perfectly tasting dessert for sure! It didn't take either of us 5 min to finish both but each trying each other's just before there wasn't anything to share anymore and both were splendid! So I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of food and quickness it was made in so we'll definitely be heading back another night to try out that burger next time! You should do the same if you're in the area! The bill came to 60 dollars worth one person having 2 beers so for 70 bucks and no dirty dishes I call...

Service was ok, atmosphere was ok, but the food…

They need to close this kitchen. I ordered the shrimp wrap and it was so salted it was nearly inedible. Just absolutely CAKED with salty Cajun seasoning. It tasted gross just a few bites in. Girlfriend ordered steak rare with broccoli and if my wrap was almost inedible due to salt, the broccoli was ACTUALLY inedible. Heinously salty to the point where any hint of broccoli flavor was totally absent. We barely even touched it. Her steak tips, despite being ordered rare, had maybe a piece or two out of 5 or 6 that even passed muster for medium rare. The rest of the pieces were medium to medium well. I asked for a water as my drink and it tasted so strongly of cola from the soda machine I hardly drank half of the small cup despite the onslaught of salt from the food. Girlfriend’s lemonade was concentrated and gross as wel.

I will never order food from this establishment again and I don’t recommend you do either!

That said, the staff is nice and doing their best. I do think it’s a solid spot for some drinks, but please god avoid the food.

Shrimp wrap was $16 and the steak tips were $22. I don’t think it you PAID US that amount that it would be enough to try and eat that food again....

The service and drinks here were really what ruined it. Our server never came back after dropping off the food (two dishes of which were missing things and the lettuce on one of the burgers was wilted and soggy). We had to hunt her down to get it fix and then she still brought out one of the wrong things. Then we had to flag her down again for boxes (she brought us the check instead) and then again for boxes (which we should have been asked if we wanted when she brought the check and we had half our food still on our plate 🤦‍♀️). It also took a long while for our food and drinks to come out and it was not a busy night by any means. Our drinks were so bizarre. It was like they just pour a bunch of water into them. I bartended for many years and I've never seen anything like it. The color, taste and everything could only be explained by them literally putting water in the drinks. You couldn't taste any alcohol. I'm usually a benefit of the doubt kind of diner but this was one of the worst experiences I've had at a restaurant in recent memory. So disappointing when there are so many other great restaurants to choose from. Only positive, I was told the beef on the hamburger was really good and they had a singer in the bar area...