Boathouse Restaurant - New Westminster

I haven't been to the boathouse in a couple of years. The restaurant was almost empty when we arrived and yet it took more than five minutes to seat us. The people who walked in behind us were also clearly frustrated. You almost wanted to seat yourself. Food was good but certainly not top notch or kept to the standard I would expect from a boathouse and considering the prices. Drink service was slow. Was never offered a desert menu. It wasn't awful but we were certainly disappointed.

My birthday was August 5, I had received a $100 gift card for the Boathouse. My husband and a friend were with me. My friend and I ordered the Cod and chips meal and my husband had the Salmon. My husband and I upgraded our meals to include a starter and a dessert. Our seafood chowder was served barely warm. The cod and chips were also served cool and were very salty and the coleslaw was tasteless.My husband's salmon was over cooked and was served on a large pile of under cooked potatoes. I understand that it is now the way to serve vegetables al dente, but these were nearly raw.It was a disappointing and expensive dinner. We each had a Ceasar to drink before dinner, and then the guys each had a beer. Our bill was $189, imo, that is very fine dining.

I have had numerous meals both in the bar section where you can typically find the happy hour menu and the dinning room. Like all restaurants they all ebb and flow with food and service, however there should be a base level to at least try and maintain, or perhaps our server was just having a very bad day, we ordered 12 Oysters for one and 6 for another guest, we were served 12 together and when it was brought to her attention all she could do was indicate she could always order us more, we declined but ordered dinner, one guest had to ask twice for a steak knife all the while waiting five minutes for it to be brought to her, another ask for a side plate which was brought half way through the meal, I could go on but I didn’t want to turn this into a rant, when you are paying $39.00 per plate for dinner I would expect a higher level of service. The food was great but you loose the appeal on bad service.

Over the recent past, we have had occasion to dine at the Boathouse. The first time was for breakfast, very basic and not very good, the second time was for dinner and I ordered a steak.which was unchewable. The Manager made up for this with a "free Dessert"(I don't eat dessert.) The third time was because we had a gift certificate from the Hotel.All three times were extremely disappointing.So you would think that we had learned our lesson! Nope!,the night before last, due to unavoidable circumstances, we once again ended up at the Boathouse.On the server's recommendation we both ordered the Miso Glazed Halibut. Big mistake.In appearance and texture, my halibut"resembled tilapia or basa and was tasteless. It was served with a "peppercorn sauce"which was primarily soy sauce.At $39.00 a plate, the meals were greatly overpriced.Needless to say, after four disappointments, we will NEVER venture here again.

We stayed in the hotel next door although only visited the restaurant one evening. Had some lovely vibrant salads and tasty cocktails. Kids enjoyed the children's menu and our waitress was chatty and friendly. Have seen people moaning about the prices but it's a nice restaurant in a good location and we thought they were fairly priced.