The Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill
The Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
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Basic seafood, cocktails & Lake Merritt views are found at this renovated boathouse with a patio.
attractions: Children's Fairyland, Courtyard Oakland Downtown, Snow Park, The Cathedral of Christ the Light, The Gardens at Lake Merritt, Lake Merritt, Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Pacific Renaissance Plaza, Laney College Flea Market, restaurants: Shan Dong, Portal, Rockin Crawfish, Jong Ga House, Xolo Taqueria, Cafe Van Kleef, Shooting Star Cafe, Enssaro Ethiopian Restaurant, Kamdesh Afghan Cuisine, Biryani Tika Kabab (برياني تكا كباب حلال)Halal Indian & Pakistani Cuisine
Ratings
Description
Basic seafood, cocktails & Lake Merritt views are found at this renovated boathouse with a patio.
Posts
Food was delicious. Had to sit at the bar, but that was ok as it was a great view of the water. Unfortunately, we were seated next to an obnoxious drunk guy, but that does not speak to the restaurant itself. Just the annoyance of drunk people. If I could review the person I would. Definitely a great place to eat, and then take a beautiful walk around the lake. Get those steps in! A follow-up visit to Lake Chalet seafood bar and grill my fiancee and I decided to go during Oakland restaurant week 2019. We opted for the special menu that they had four the Oakland restaurant week 2019. The items we ordered where are as follows along with my review of each item: 1.Roasted Beet Salad: Whipped Farmer's Cheese, Winter Citrus, Pecans, Mache, Saba. Let's just start out with that I'm not a big fan the beets. This is a dish that radiates with the vibrance of autumn with a delicious dusting of toasted candied walnuts really makes this dish sing. 2.Dungeness Crab Bisque: Brandy, Creme Fraiche, and Chives. This dish have the potential to be exciting and flavorful however it proved to be rather boring and pedantic. My one piece of advice is to season crab.. 3.Porcini Dusted Niman Ranch All-Natural Beef Flatiron: Sunchoke Puree, King Trumpet Mushrooms, Green Bean Chimichurri, Crispy Shallots. This is by far the best dish that we received during her meal. The steak was delectable and tender. seasoned to perfection with a proprietary blend of king trumpet mushrooms and chimichurri. To top it off, each steak is topped off with crispy grilled onions that makes this a tantalizing treat guaranteed to make any food lover drool. 4.Saffron Tagliatelle Pasta: Local Dungeness Crab, Garlic, Red Chilies, Scallions, Bone Marrow Bread Crumbs 5. Milk Chocolate Pot de Creme White Chocolate Gelato, Hazelnut Streusel. Words cannot describe how scrumptious this dessert was. It almost redeemed for the seasoned crab.
Erik Aranda-WikmanErik Aranda-Wikman
10
From the Central Valley and dinner plans in the City fell through and I wanted Clam Chowder. Looked on Yelp and this place had good reviews. Headed there around 7pm knowing they closed at 9, according to Google. Get there and parking was surprisingly easy. Didn't have reservation so 45 minute wait. Longer than I wanted but just came from the City so I'll wait. Seated and it's now after 8. Beautiful view on water. That view was the best thing about the place. Our server had only us out there on water and seemed to forget. We ordered 2 bowls of clam chowder, loaf of bread, and fish and chips to share. About 10 minutes later our server said the kitchen was out of chowder. Literally the only thing I wanted but I do realize it was late so we asked for a few minutes to peruse the menu. My teen didn't see anything else she wanted so she settled on her own fish & chips. The server took a very long time to head back and we told her "just another fish & chips." Our bread finally comes. It's grilled AND cold. Hmm...weird. Then, after another long wait, one plate of fish & chips arrives. We said we ordered 2. The guy says he will let the server know. After another long wait our server comes over and says she misunderstood and will tell kitchen to rush another plate. My teen eats the first plate and I get mine about 15 minutes later with an apology. Check comes for $60. I thought maybe they'd comp something or discount but no. I left unimpressed. Especially after I visited the disgusting restroom on my way out. Go for the view, if you must, but nothing special otherwise.
Sofia BeeSofia Bee
10
Immensely disappointing :( We came here with high hopes since the reviews were so good. They close the dock seating a bit after 7 (at least in summer) so we instead sat at the bar. We at least had a nice view out the window which was good because it took us 10+ minutes to place our order and another 40+ minutes to get our food. I ordered the seafood linguine, which I was expecting to be like a fancier linguine and clams, one of my favorites. The sauce it came in was red instead of white and creamy, and very salty but otherwise bland. The seafood tasted like seafood, not delicious and succulent but very briny and otherwise tasteless! It reminded me of ordering clam chowder expecting Boston chowder and getting Manhattan chowder. Blech! My partner ordered the miso glazed salmon. It was also relatively flavorless, and the mushrooms on the side were essentially dehydrated. The potato was mediocre, but far better than the salmon. The only thing on the plate that was actually enjoyable to eat were the brussel sprouts, which were very thin but at least had good flavor. After spending over 2 hours at this establishment (it took at least 30 more minutes to get our check handled), I can firmly say I won't come back, and that our experience was not worth $40 each (after tax and tip). I will say that the interactions we did have with the staff were generally positive and at worst neutral, but they were too infrequent for the experience we were paying for.
Angela TobinAngela Tobin
00
We arrived at 3:30pm on a Friday for Happy Hour. We were told it was going to be about a 45 minute wait to be seated at a table on the dock/pier outdoor area. We weren't seated until 5!!! Then we were ignored by waitstaff for over 15 minutes. Happy Hour ends at 6pm. We finally waved down a waiter that didn't seem too pleased & he seemed to begrudgingly take our orders for drinks & food. We ordered a dozen Fanny Bay Oysters, the food runner just tossed it in the middle of the table, he didn't give us a stand for it or any plates for eating upon. We had to wave down a busboy. We also ordered a Cow Slider, a first round of Halibut Ceviche Tostadas & Caesar Salads. They all came pretty quickly but when we flagged down our waiter for a second round of Tostadas at about 5:40pm, I think he forgot us because we didn't get our second round of Tostadas until 6:15-20 after we complained 2x. By then we were ready for our check. It took another 15 minutes to get that. I don't think this establishment is ready for Summer at all. They were greatly understaffed & those booths are so UNCOMFORTABLE that no one wants to sit there!! We'll wait for a table with chairs instead. I think they really need to revisit that seating situation & make them more comfortable or replace of most altogether with more tables & chairs. We came several times last year & the service was a lot better than it was this time. I'm not sure we'll be back any time soon.
Mira LarkinMira Larkin
20
Food is great. But when I visited during happy hour today, the bartender was extremely rude to multiple guests at the bar. He made several sarcastic comments that were super off-putting. Whenever anyone asked questions about the food menu (they serve food at the bar), he responded passive aggressively and reminded them he is responsible for making drinks only. I wanted to order the seafood deviled eggs, but he couldn't tell me what type of seafood was in them and wasn't willing to find out?? At one point, he told a guest who was trying to get his attention that he "had about a hundred other things to do." He was also pretty mean to a couple who came in at the end of happy hour and couldn't decide what to order (although this was kinda their fault too). I've been here a handful of times, and although the service is typically a bit slow, I'd never experienced anything like this before. Makes me think they are probably very understaffed. The host was sweet, though! TLDR: come for the food, but don't expect the best service.
Jennifer EmmettJennifer Emmett
10
We went here as a group. This was our 2nd time visiting. It has a beautiful view from inside and outside. It is a great place to hang out with friends. The servers were friendly but it took a very long time to get our food for the second time. We were prepared but it took even longer to be served. I took a 20 minute walk around part of the lake and returned and the food still hadn’t arrived. So I walked around and took pictures. When the food arrived, some ordered were incorrect others were lukewarm. Fortunately, my shrimp salad was good. I was happy With my meal. I appreciated being able to see meals being cooked and there was a cool bar inside and a neat environment outside that also had a bar. I would say this is a nice place to hang out on a Friday after work for drinks and hors d'oeuvres but if you plan to eat a meal make sure you have plenty of time on a Friday or Saturday.
Sister Regena RossSister Regena Ross
00
Nearby Attractions Of The Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill
Children's Fairyland
Courtyard Oakland Downtown
Snow Park
The Cathedral of Christ the Light
The Gardens at Lake Merritt
Lake Merritt
Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
Pacific Renaissance Plaza
Laney College Flea Market
Children's Fairyland
4.5
(688)Click for details
Courtyard Oakland Downtown
4.2
(471)Click for details
Snow Park
4.4
(459)Click for details
The Cathedral of Christ the Light
4.7
(428)Click for details
Nearby Restaurants Of The Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill
Shan Dong
Portal
Rockin Crawfish
Jong Ga House
Xolo Taqueria
Cafe Van Kleef
Shooting Star Cafe
Enssaro Ethiopian Restaurant
Kamdesh Afghan Cuisine
Biryani Tika Kabab (برياني تكا كباب حلال)Halal Indian & Pakistani Cuisine
Shan Dong
4.5
(828)$
Click for details
Portal
4.5
(727)$$
Click for details
Rockin Crawfish
4.4
(626)$$
Click for details
Jong Ga House
4.4
(585)$$
Click for details
Reviews
Overview
4.2
(1.3K reviews)$$$
Phone
(510) 208-5253
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Website
thelakechalet.com
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