The Alaska Boathouse - Big Lake

We were impressed with the quality of food and decent quantity. It was a perfect day to sit on the deck and watch the activity on the lake. We were amazed how quiet the boats were and were pleased with the service. Our waitress was pleasant and never left us waiting. Our meal was delicious and obviously made from fresh ingredients by a talented chef. The halibut batter was crispy, the fries were delightful. The special of chicken parmesan was cooked perfectly and the homemade marinara sauce was chunky and fresh. The fettucini alfredo was creamy with just the right amount of garlic. Mmmmm excellent! We will be back and we will be telling all of our friends about this place!

Food was good staff was pleasant and accommodating, but I think we caught them on a bad day (Mother's Day) because we waited an entire hour for our appetizer and another hour for our entrees. Will we return? Unlikely. Had they offered free dessert to make up for the excessively slow service, sure! But they didn't, so we'll stick with our favorites. Sorry Boathouse...you have good potential and we typically won't think twice about leaving a 20% tip when it's warranted, but for a $200 bill, you fell below our expectations.

Although the food is a bit pricey, if you are looking for a really fine dinner with no compromises on the food, The Boat House delivers. The Caesar was delicious, the Halibut was cooked to perfection, and the Rib Eye had the right amount of marbling. One criticism though, the veggies with the entrees was carrots, just carrots. It seems there could have been a bit more variety there and was a bit of a disappointment.

We have been to the Boathouse before for Sunday brunch. We booked Valentine's evening as a special night out, as we don't go out alone much since we have a 7 year old, and wanted a romantic Dinner. Our table was ready when we got there. The hostess was absolutely great! the owner brought us bread, as they were pretty busy. The tables around us were ALL complaining on the 45 minute food wait. We were expecting that, so we weren't alarmed. the waiter brought us a wine menu...then didn't come back for 20 minutes. He delivered food to 2 tables around us and then looked at us very startled. He had forgotten We were there. He took our full order (yes he wrote it down) and brought us our bottle of wine. We ordered the wine and calamari, and 2 of their Valentine specials. Pretty simple. We could see the entire downstairs dining area and our waiter at random tables. So we have been there 45 minutes now. We are half way through our bottle of wine. No more bread. No salads yet. And the tables around us are leaving after eating. He hasn't been back and they are going down for their bill and to pay! Another 20 minutes goes by and we watch him serve wine AND salads to a table that had been there 15 minutes. The poor hostess comes up to bus tables because the bus boy hadn't come upstairs at all. I catch the poor hostess who apologized profusely. I know he forgot to put our order in. Our reservation was at 7. We have drank all of our wine, and have had nothing and it is now 8:15. She went downstairs and I watched her tell him. He came back up After serving 2 more tables. Did not apologize. Brought our salads finally at 8:30. Our calamari at 8:45 and then dinner at 9 and dessert at 9:15. We called for the owner and he failed to apologize as well. He made the excuse that it was normal and happens due to the holiday. No, it shouldn't, and nobody else waited like that. We watched. we were forgotten. It was a great dinner. Kudos to the chef! And thank you to the super special hostess!

Limited availability in menu long wait to order and be seated even with reservation don't be in a rush and must be flexible. Great food and ambiance