Boathouse Restaurant

I’m knocking the food down one star due to the inconsistency of the seasoning and flavor. But first the high spots. The place is beautiful! The location and the views are amazing. The staff and the owner are super friendly and welcoming. The bartender was excellent! Great martinis and brandy old fashioned. They have a good wine menu. Local wines and wines from other areas. I had the Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon and it was delicious! My one small knock all three glasses of wine were served in wine glasses loaded with water marks. At $25 a glass this should never happen. Our server was Jasmine and she was very sweet. The other two servers we observed we knowledgeable, attentive and offered great service. The oysters on the half shell were Lucious. We did 6 of each kind. They each offered something different one was meaty and sweet and the other delicate and briny. We did the tempura asparagus and fois gras. The asparagus were huge and flavorful but needed salt. The tomato coulis was excellent on its own but became overwhelmed by the flavorful asparagus. Roasted garlic aioli would do this dish better. The fois gras, we order this dish if on the menu, was the worst we have had. Totally lacking in flavor. The mushroom bisque was delicious but again we asked for salt and pepper. The bisque was not heavy and packed with mushroom flavor. The stars of the night were the Wagu Filet and Strip! I chose classic and my husband chose house accompaniments. These steaks were some of the finest I’ve ever had! So were the dauphinois potato and the delightful twice baked. The Demi glacé was a flavor punch, with onion and mushroom and broccolini. The asparagus, puréed turnips, black garlic, and sauce were well matched to the excellent strip steak. For desert we each chose the chocolate desert and it was just ok. We will be back again to this lovely spot. Thank you for an excellent meal for our anniversary.

Dinner at the Boathouse was unbelievably fantastic! This is definitely a 5-star restaurant for food, service, and ambiance! We started with cocktails and appetizers. Our appetizers were the fresh spring salad and the shrimp cocktail with fresh horseradish. It included 6 jumbo shrimp and the fresh horseradish was really good, although I would personally prefer more horseradish. Next time I’ll just ask for double horseradish because I really like it spicy. For entrees we thoroughly enjoyed the 3 large scallops on top of mini lobster cakes with grilled cauliflower and broccolini, and the halibut over risotto with mushrooms on the side. These dishes were all perfectly prepared and delicious! Our server, Brian, was fantastic! He was friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient. We will definitely be back the next time we are in town. Be sure to make reservations way in advance!

I am so impressed with Boathouse!! This is my second time coming here and I'm still in love with the quality of food and service they provide! We were seated immediately in the sunroom upon arriving to our reservation of 6 people. The view from there was wonderful during the sunset overlooking the water. Our server, Mary Grace, greeted us immediately and put in our drink orders. She brought them out right away and they looked beautiful and tasted even better. I'm not much of a drinker so I was really excited to see they had mocktails and even more that they had an alcohol free espresso martini. I cannot even describe how amazing it was, it was so good. It was a foamy coffee drink with a cinnamon rim that just hit the spot. We also got a blueberry lemon drop cocktail and Manhattan that were just as good and balanced very well. For appetizers we ordered a half dozen Rockefeller oysters and two salads to share with the table. When our server came back she surprised us with an additional set of raw oysters from the east coast that the kitchen mistakenly made and gave to us on the house. This was my first time trying oysters and both the raw and cooked ones were phenomenal. My friend that was eating with us and knows oysters and said they were well above average and enjoyed them as well. We also thought it was so cute and smart that they wrap the lemon to prevent the seeds from falling into the oysters. When it came time to put in our entree orders, almost everyone ordered halibut and one ordered the wagyu filet. They were plated so beautifully and tasted great. We really enjoyed the food and ordered dessert to finish it off. We got the creme brulee, dirty ice cream with chocolate cake mixed into the vanilla ice cream, and some sort of chocolate hazelnut cake. We loved all of them. We were celebrating our soon-to-be bride and I asked our server, Mary Grace if she could split the bill 5 ways so we could all pay for her and she wasn't sure if she could get the POS system to do it but managed to make it work and for that I am so thankful! Each of our checkbooks had souvinir post cards and stickers for us to take home and it was so cute I loved it! Anyone that comes into Traverse City, I will always recommend going there to eat. They are always booked so make sure to book reservations in advance! Shout-out to our amazing server Mary Grace we loved her.