Lake House Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Town of Carmel

I have been to this restaurant several times in the past when it was called Blu, and thoroughly enjoyed the food along with the picturesque views from their deck. I was excited to return to Lake House Restaurant and Bar over labor day weekend (2021) with my husband after I found out they were back open under new management. I called to see if they were open and serving dinner to which I was told over the phone yes but due to the holiday I would need to make a reservation. I arrived to find the restaurant barely half full with no wait and was seated to a spectacular view of lake Mahopac. The server seemed new and unfamiliar with the menu but we were able to get answers to any questions we had after he asked other staff members. We ordered a couple of appetizers, a wedge salad, and fried calamari, followed by two entrees, scallops and risotto and the house made gnocchi with short rib ragu. Starting with the wedge salad, it was very mediocre with store bought dressing so it was a little disappointing but we were still highly looking forward to our entrees as I personally had the house made gnocchi dish before and it was fantastic. Unfortunately, along with the management change it seems the recipes have also changed. The gnocchi were very heavy and gummy and tasted like frozen store bought so definitely not house made, and the ragu was just tomato sauce with slices of tough bland short rib on top that resembled London broil. My husband's dish was no better, the risotto was undercooked therefore very crunchy and there were two sea scallops that were pounded or pressed down and then cut in half and placed on the dish to give the appearance of four scallops. I'm hoping these shortcomings were in error due to a busy holiday weekend because the view is impeccable, but the food served to me that day and the service was not worth the price I paid, and I left extremely disappointed. I don't think I'll...

I've been here twice since it opened. Once when they first opened and then again just recently. I like to always give places a second chance. You never know what kinks a new place needs to correct, but instead of things getting better, it was worse. The first time we went the food was good but the service was not the best, but tolerable enough. This final time I went, there was nothing good about my experience. To start we waited over 20 min for anyone to come up to the table to even take a drink order. If the place was busy I could understand the wait, but it was visible that it was not. As soon as they came to the table we placed our full order with the server. We didn't receive our drinks until way after they brought us our appetizer. When we did get our drinks most of the ice had melted away. It was also clear that the staff didn't know the table numbers, as they were constantly looking around as to what table the food and drinks belonged to. No one checked on our table once to see how our meal was going or if we liked it, which we did not, or needed another drink. The food had no flavor and my friend's food was cold. We asked for bread 3 times from anyone near us, cause again no one checked on us. We never received any. In the end we needed to go up to the hostess station ourselves to get our check. Which was another fiasco since one knew the table numbers to figure out which bill was ours. We had to go up again when paying our bill. Total mess!! It's unfortunate because I'm a local in the area and used to love going to Blu when it was there. With all the reconstruction they did to make that place look amazing they need to match it with good service and food. Get a consultant in there to get your staff into shape so you can have returning customers. As for now I will not...

I’m writing this review while still waiting for my food to arrive. Sadly, this has been one of the worst service experiences I’ve ever had. We waited 30 minutes just to be seated at the table we requested, and now it’s been over 45 minutes waiting for our appetizer. No one has checked in on us, and it feels like we’ve been completely ignored. Maybe they’re short-staffed, but that doesn’t change the fact that I drove an hour and am paying for an experience that’s been nothing but disappointing. This evening is completely ruined. We ended up leaving...

Adding this part after the restaurant replied to the review The staff was short, which is exactly why the service was clearly lacking. The staff told us that earlier in the day there were too many servers, and the boss/manager decided to send them home because they assumed the afternoon would be slow.

Yes, they apologized, but that is not my problem. It’s the restaurant’s responsibility to take precautions and be prepared for busy days like yesterday. My evening was ruined, and I left feeling frustrated.

After we sat at the table we wanted near the water, the server brought the bottle of wine (which we paid for but didn’t even drink because we left) and took our order right away. We ordered around 7:35 PM, and the food finally arrived around 8:05–8:10 PM (not a steak that requires time, but simply grilled calamari and mussels.) If appetizers alone took 40 minutes, imagine the wait for the main course. Of course we left , what did you expect?

As for the reservation, it is not our fault we couldn’t find any button on Google to reserve a table, nor a single note to let us know that you even work with reservations or how to make one. That lack of communication is on the restaurant, not the customer.

And don’t worry , we will absolutely not be...