Boathouse (Kitsilano)

Another great location, another Boathouse. This time on Kits Beach!

Emme, Pitah, and I went here on a beautiful day, so we got to take full advantage of the wondrous view from the Boathouse balcony. I think most Vancouverites would agree that Vancouver is the most livable city… for about two (or three) months of the year, when it’s not raining. Those few months are sometimes enough to make you forget about all the miserable rain and gray weather we get for the rest of the year!

An amazing location, however, cannot conceal the fact that the food at the Boathouse is still… not amazing. If you’re not blinded by the blue skies and sunshine and awesome setting, you’ll realise that most of the money you’re putting towards your meal is actually just you paying for the view. With that premise, let the review officially commence.

The service here is friendly, for the most part, although after our rather cheerful hostess seated us, we were served for the rest of the noon hour by a cranky waitress. You would think the outstanding weather would be enough to put anyone in a sunny mood, or at least remind waiters and waitresses to not bring their bad attitudes to work. We had a tough time getting water refills the rest of the time, and our meals took so long to prepare that we actually did have to ask at one point if we could expect our food any time soon. A large party of six that was sitting a little ways from us, but seated twenty minutes after we had ordered, got their food before we did. Not a good way to start off the meal!

Northwest Seafood Pasta with a side of Caesar salad

Northwest Seafood Pasta: ★★☆☆☆

Pitah ordered the Northwest Seafood Pasta with the Caesar salad option for a side dish. The description of “wild fish, shrimp & clams, spinach, roasted tomatoes, garlic cream” may make you think that there should have been a bit more there… Indeed. Aside from the Parmesan that was shredded on top, this was mostly bland pasta and shrimp, with a barely detectable hint of garlic. There was nothing aside from the shrimp and the one clam you see in the photo, maybe three tomatoes, and a couple of strings of cooked spinach. The Caesar salad was tastier than the main pasta dish.

Grilled Chicken Breast Club: ★★★☆☆

Grilled Chicken Breast Club

Emme has an allergy to some types of seafood, so she opted to go for a safer option and chose the Grilled Chicken Breast Club. This was better – much better – than the pasta, but still nothing particularly outstanding. The cheese on the sandwich was a nice touch, although it could have used more than the single, wimpy slice of smoked bacon. (What little bacon there was, though, was very, very good.) The chicken was a little tough and could have used some additional seasoning. The roasted red pepper, however, was a nice touch. The side salad was a nice blend of textures – savoury Parmesan, crunchy pine nuts, and crispy lettuce. Huh, reading this review, you’d think that if there is one thing that the Boathouse does do well, it’s their side salads.

Cod in Tomato Saffron Broth

Cod in Tomato Saffron Broth: ★☆☆☆☆

I love seafood, so it almost goes without saying that I ordered a seafood-based dish. My choice was the Cod in Tomato Saffron Broth,which I think was a special of the day or something since I haven’t seen it on their menu since the last time I ate it. Oh boy. This was disappointing. The menu described it as having a “hearty, rich, tomato-based broth”. “Tomato-based” – I’ll give them that, but “hearty” and “rich”? Not so much. There was very little flavour to the broth, and it was very thin and watery. It could have, I suppose, been a little bit better if there had been more herbs simmered alongside, or if it had been topped with fresh herbs, but nothing would have fixed its consistency unless you altered the entire recipe and added more cream or even more tomato. I couldn’t taste any saffron, though maybe it was diluted in the watery mixture. The lemon helped a little… but not much. The vegetables were cooked well, but I don’t think they were cooked in the broth, since they didn’t taste like anything but the vegetables they were. If I have anything here to praise, it’s the presentation and the fish. The fish was cooked well, although it is a white fish and could have used some extra seasoning and flavouring to make it a little more exciting.

So with less-than-impressive food and service, what are the redeeming features of the Boathouse? Definitely location, and the ambiance if you sit on the deck. Unfortunately, I don’t find the view worth the prices you end up having to pay for the mediocre-to-substandard food, so I probably won’t be coming back.

Ambiance: 5

Food: 2

Service: 2

Value: 3

Overall: 2.5

The Boathouse (Horseshoe Bay)

As a child, my parents would often bring my brother and I here for lunch over the summer, on warm sunny days when it was a treat to sit outside and marvel at the beautiful view of the water and mountains. It seems that all of The Boathouse restaurants have lovely views, and that’s probably one of the things that draws people to the restaurant. I have to admit that, being influenced by the sunny weather and clear blue sky one day, I suggested to Emme that we visit The Boathouse in Horseshoe Bay… simply because I wanted to bask in the sunshine and enjoy the setting. We had tried to go to it on a different day and been turned away, with words from the waitress telling  us of a two-hour. However, on this occasion, Emme and I went early enough that we avoided any lines and were given a table right away by the window.

Maple Roasted Chicken

The first and probably most obvious feature worth mentioning about the Boathouse is that it has a spectacular setting. You have a clear view of Horseshoe Bay and the beautiful mountain scenery – and everything lights up and is coloured a lovely orange hue at sunset. It really is quite a stunning view. The main reason I wanted to go, as I mentioned before, was just for the setting. I suppose it can be more or less of a draw, depending on how much you choose to be influenced by the weather. In any case, we were glad to have the setting we wanted… although we both noticed that many people in the dining room that night had less-than-acceptable table manners.

Out waiter was friendly enough and fairly knowledgeable about the menu. Just when I had decided on getting one of the specials of the day – which I actually can’t recall exactly anymore – he returned to our table informing us that they couldn’t serve it. Both Emme and I were kind of in disbelief… You don’t have your own special of the day? What do you mean?! Why is it even listed as a special then, or listed on the menu at all, if you can’t serve it? He said they didn’t have the fish for it. Riiight… That did not really start off the dining experience well, but I chose something else and Emme was lucky enough to get served exactly what she asked for.

The Maple Roasted Chicken that Emme picked ended up being quite a good choice. The mashed potatoes, she claimed, were really the highlight of the meal, what with a wonderful fluffy texture and pleasing, but not over-powering, garlicky aroma. The chicken itself was very good; succulent and sweet from the maple, with some fresh and dried herbs adding new dimensions of flavour. This dish was a hit.

Seafood Grill

I wish I could say the same for my dish. The Seafood Grill that I ended up getting instead of the special of the day was, despite a light sprinkling of dried herbs (chives?), very bland overall. The seafood chunks (shrimp, salmon, and scallops) looked like they had been marinated… but upon tasting there was no hint of the sauce. The salmon was tough and chewy, and the shrimp a bit rubbery. The scallops were the best part, what with their subtle sweetness. Thankfully they escaped the perils of overcooking that the shrimp and the salmon suffered. The spaghetti squash upon which the skewers rested was… well, okay I suppose. It didn’t taste like anything, which is really the problem. Any sort of additional sauce probably would have done wonders to enhance some of the flavours of the dish.

At the end of the meal, Emme and I were waiting for our evening tea to arrive… and the waiter, rushing crazily towards our table with two boiling hot teapots and two teacups precariously perched in the crook of one elbow, ended up actually spilling a good deal of hot water on my bag (which I hung from the side of my chair), the table, and actually a bit on my [napkin covered] lap, too. I tried to brush it off, just being grateful that I wasn’t scalded by the hot water, but Emme was quite taken aback… and probably with good reason. After spilling and splashing hot water everywhere, the waiter didn’t apologise or come back to clean up the spills. He gave a light-hearted “Whoops!”, dropped the pots and cups to the table, and took off again, not to be seen for another twenty minutes. Even before this incident, though, the service throughout our meal had been… nonexistent. Perhaps this would have been more forgivable if it had been busy, but the fact of the matter is that it wasn’t. At all.

On our way out, we also noticed that a lot of the food was not truly “fresh”… or, should I say, not “cooked to order”. A huge amount of dishes were already cooked and being hot-held under the hoods of grills in the kitchen. Also, there were a couple of buckets of condiments by the pick-up area where servers grab dishes (for toppings like chives, or cheese, etc.) and we saw – repeatedly – servers just grabbing condiments with their bare hands to throw on dishes. Maybe I shouldn’t have been as bothered by that, but… how often do servers wash their hands? It just didn’t seem very sanitary. At the very least, the chefs should be putting those final touches on dishes – not the servers.

I wish I could say better things about the Boathouse – and this one in particular, since I’ve got good childhood memories involving the place – but this one dining experience was a flop. The Maple Roasted Chicken was great, but the seafood dish – which should have been the Boathouse’s strong point, in terms of food – was overcooked and underseasoned. The ambiance suffered only because of the type of other diners around, but is otherwise fantastic on a sunny day or warm summer evening when you can sit on the patio. The service was… questionable, to say the least. Definitely not the best. And value? Well, the Boathouse is classed as one of those supposedly “upscale” restaurants (like Joey restaurants, Moxie’s. or Earl’s type restaurants are supposed to be) so it wasn’t cheap. For a less than satisfying meal, I can’t say that I got the most bang out of my buck. Emme’s dish, on the other hand, was a better deal… But other choices on the menu also seemed a bit overpriced for what they were offering. Portion sizes are skimpy, and if you finish hungry like both Emme and I did, you’re probably better off going somewhere else for a more filling meal.

Ambiance: 5

Food: 3

Service: 1.5

Value: 2

Overall: 2.5