Cove Lakeside Bistro — Restaurant in Portage

It is what it is, where it is. To enjoy this place, you have to manage your expectations. If you've been to any gulf side resort town in Florida or places like Myrtle Beach, they are full of these places with big panoramic views of the lake, bland, repetitive decor (that makes us feel comfortable), and a bright and open atmosphere like you would expect from an outdoor café. So if that's what Millennium set out to do here, they did a decent job. The chef was a MG insider, so I guess I was cautious going in, but he totally hit it out of the park with the calamari, which was perfectly tender and not like a box of rubber bands. I'm not sure what that sweet and sour sauce was doing on the plate but it was that gross stuff from a jar and it was as out of place as if I'd received like... Jello pudding or something, or a cup of Motts cinnamon applesauce with the foil pulled off. And with the rich aioli/mayo in the other cup, it needed an acid of some kind, I would put malt vinegar with it. The goat cheese and beetroot salad was real fine, with high quality goat cheese and touches like nuts and crystals, my wife really liked that. The French onion soup was classic, but I feel like the cheese could have browned a bit longer. The cheese was high quality and the croutons seemed to be in house because of the way the croutons stay crunchy in the soup only in the way that happens with freshly made croutons. The fish sandwich was the star of the show and the fish was perfectly cooked, with a good portion of the (why are they always overcooked?) house made potato chips these arrived without salt, and I feel like they should have been salted. I realize that the old folks that parade through there whine about the salt content, but don't be afraid! You're not going to hurt anyone. The fish needed salt too. My wife had the Lobster roll, the star of which was the roll itself. Like a big piece of Texas toast hollowed out in the middle and filled with lettuce and seafood salad. This wasn't a boring dry Lobster roll. I was totally blown away by the quality. It needed salt. My wife's chips also needed salt. For dessert we had a Chipotle chocolate fudge thing with an orange sauce and what looked like a crema inglesa what a great thing. This chef, if you would buy him some salt, will absolutely set the world on fire I guarantee. I go to restaurants for food I can't make myself and this absolutely delivers. The kitchen here displays a technical proficiency that completely outshines the middle class blandness of the entire rest of the dining experience. Also I want you guys to know... Your initial advertising said you were the new restaurant in downtown Portage. You are in Lake Center. Sort of evidence that you're in Lake Center is the big mural on the side of Nelson's Hardware and the signs in the window for the Lake Center Business Association on everyone's door. I get that Millennium wants to be our local restaurant brand, but when you get details like this wrong, it sort of pulls back the curtain a little bit. That, and you misspelled Mattawan. That's why it's taken me so long to come visit. We're glad we did, the food was great, the service was great, and we love you guys. And that's what I mean, if you're at a restaurant for the food and the service and not the atmosphere or politics, you'll have an extra...

Went for Thanksgiving and the food was so incredibly subpar I was shocked to be honest. Half of the turkey I received was practically like jerky it was so hard and inedible, just dry outer dark meat chunks. The rest was only semi dry but had absolutely no flavor. There was no gravy served, just cranberry sauce, and when I asked for gravy we each received a thimble's worth of very watery bland sauce??? Mashed potatoes were clumped up potato chunks with no butter or seasonings or anything done to it really. The stuffing was the only decent thing in the plate, and I only managed to shovel down as much as I did because I skipped lunch in anticipation of this... meal.

As for other parts of the meal, the clam chowder was a bit overly salty and there were occasionally clumps of cream or roux that suggested it'd been sitting and thickening in the pot all day and they scraped the bottom to serve us. The pumpkin pie was the only shining star of the meal; they must have bought it from a great bakery, but the chocolate cake was cold and bland, and could have benefited with a little heat or something. Also, half of it was frosting, legitimately about an inch of frosting.

Anyway, the waitress claimed she would take the dry turkey jerky chunks back to show the chef, but there was no substitute turkey meat offered, no discount, or any other offer of reparations. We walked in expecting a great upscale dining experience and ended up with essentially bad diner food, and it just really ruined the night. This may be one of a handful of meals we can still enjoy with an ill loved one, and to have it end like this is beyond disappointing. I would have preferred frozen pizza over this.

This is actually the second time visiting in the past year, and while last time was mediocre, I thought I'd give them a chance, and hoped that the special limited holiday menu would be better.

Anyway, I suggest people steer clear, because the quality does not match the...

We’ve been to the Grove since its inception and was open. At the beginning, the food was great. The atmosphere was great. Everything was peachy and overtime. The menu stayed the same pretty much with the exception of you changes. It’s sad to see that a restaurant with a view like this and a great outdoor seating that is on the lake has such a crappy and subpar Expensive food menu. They have the coconut battered Fish and chips that used to be a plant full dish and very good and I ordered the dishes today which was $23 for kid you not two small pieces of fish and a very small serving of french fries. I get it. Everything is getting expensive and the restaurants are trying to reduce their cost but to be honest this plate is not even worth $14 anywhere else so to have an overpriced dish like this and not even serve a decent amount or adequate amount is very sad and disappointing not to mention the fish came in chewy like rubber. This is not the first and only time I had a bad Experience Before I ordered a burger and the meat came so dry and the whole plate wasn’t tasteful at all it’s sad to see a restaurant like this, not being innovative with their food, not having a A good menu and creative one especially with the setting that they have which is right on the lake. I would like to mention that the service from our waiter was great, but sadly, the food was not and this is not the first time I think if it wasn’t for the view, a lot of people Would have the...