The Boathouse At Lakeville — Restaurant in Salisbury

(Last visited on 10/9/2021.) After a long, amazingly fun day at Lime Rock Park it was time for dinner, but we didn't feel like making the 90 minute drive home just yet. So we did out fair share of Yelp'ing then found this place. I'm glad we did, because I had a good time, here's why!

Atmosphere/Appearance: The Boathouse, set right on Main Street, looks just like it's namesake with a private parking lot on the side that wraps around the back. The inside delivers a very tavern-feel with low, yellow lighting, lots of wood and an open concept. It was VERY busy since it was a Saturday evening, but that's what you want to see! We didn't have any reservations so we just sent up a prayer and boom... 2 seats at the bar! Sold! So we sat at the bar among the regulars and chatted it up!

Service: Chris was our bartender and server. He took excellent care of us. He was swift, friendly, funny, personable and made sure that we had a good time.

Food: Never in my life had I ever had wings and sushi in the same meal... until now. Lol. It's such a strange concept. I was actually a bit apprehensive about getting sushi in the same place where they sell, wings, prime rib and steaks. I shouldn't have been! So I started off with the wings with their homemade Buffalo sauce. They were pretty good, but I didn't know they were breaded. So they were super thick, but super flavorful as well. I'd ask if it's possible to get them without the breading next time, but usually that slows the kitchen down a bit. For my sushi entrees I went with The T-N-T Roll which contains spicy tuna, lobster salad and avocado on the inside then covered with spicy mayo as well as some crunchies. It comes wrapped in soy paper. This was a delicious roll that wasn't very spicy, but it was so savory. The flavors worked together so well and the crunchies helped add another texted to the roll. The 2nd roll I got was The Triple Fire Roll which contains tuna, salmon, yellowtail and tobiko. It's then covered in spicy mayo and wrapped in soy paper. Just like The T-N-T roll, the flavors went together so well, but were much simpler. I did prefer the first roll over the 2nd though. Seeing what they can do with wings and sushi really intrigues me. I'd love to try some of the other things on the menu!

Value: My sushi rolls were $15.00 and $16.00. That's about on par with any other sushi restaurant and these were BIG "American-sized" rolls as well. Lol. You get like, 8 huge wings for $18.00. Though they were good, I don't think they're worth that. I'd rather stick to the sushi or would be willing to try out one of their other appetizers.

In conclusion, the next time I'm out at the track and am ready for dinner, I'd absolutely stop by The Boathouse. This place really did impress me and I'm excited to see what else they can do!

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Excellent food, good service . Avoid getting seated in the back room.

The NY strip steak was done perfectly and the side vegetables were just as good...not an afterthought. Clams linguini with fra diavalo sauce was delicious. Curiously, the clams were cut like minced garlic. Is that typical?

The waiter was friendly, knowledgeable, efficient and eager to please. More than once I was caught off guard when he suddenly appeared beside the table and spoke so rapidly I had to ask him to repeat himself! Maybe it was the end of a long week for me and I couldn't listen fast enough.

We were seated in the back room, which felt authentically like the back room of a boat house: the kind of place where you would throw wet shoes, oars and soggy canvas things. The cement tile floor and walls were all painted the same color as the boat hanging from the ceiling: the harvest color of a 70s Frigidaire.

The wooden chairs were extremely uncomfortable with rigid straight backs. The wood-stained tables had that sticky feeling they get even when cleaned thoroughly (and to their credit the staff thoroughly cleaned each table after use.)

On the wall, photos of Lakeville from the early 1900s were interesting, but the spotlights aimed at them semi-missed and randomly washed the wall with light. One bulb was burned out. I got the impression the other bulbs had been replaced and accidentally shifted over time.

One good thing about the back room is that it's quiet enough to carry a conversation without shouting.

Desserts were equally as good as our mains. The ice cream cookie sandwich may need a slight re-think: the cookies were not soft and chewy. They needed to be broken up using a knife as a chisel. To use the spoon it was served with would've caused cookies and ice cream to fly across the table! I don't think I was supposed to pick it up and eat it like a sandwich because it was beautifully decorated with whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

All in all a nice evening, and I...

One of the worst experiences I've had at a restaurant. Myself, my wife, and our young daughter stopped in for lunch. The place was busy, but by no means full, yet we were seated off to the side, away from the main dining area, in a corner. As we were taking our seats, the guy that sat us asked if we wanted any water, and casually just tossed our menus onto the table from a couple feet away. We took our seats and started looking over the menu, already having a bad feeling about the place. There was no drink menu, so we were stuck with just the water. After at least 10 minutes of waiting for someone to come over, I had to bring my daughter to the restroom. When I got back, my wife informed me that the same guy that seated us had come back to take drink orders. She said she wasn't sure, as there was no menu. She was met with a slight attitude from him, as he went to get the menu. This one was also just tossed at her, when he returned. The drink menu that has thick wooden covers. That's what was tossed onto the table in front of her. We planned on leaving at this point, but our daughter said she really liked how the place looked and wanted to stay. Eventually we ordered, received our food, and ate. The food was fine. Absolutely not worth what we paid for it, but whatever. The last 2 times our wonderful host came to check on us, we received the most forced feeling, almost patronizing smile and hospitality. Absolutely no way to treat people, and we will definitely not...