This was our first ever visit to this restaurant located along the waterfront of the Disney Springs’ area known as The Landing.
Once inside we located the check in desk to let them know we had arrived for our reservation. To the left I saw the bar area…
In the bar area was a display case which held some of seafood offerings. From left to right: Wild Caught Sea of Cortez Prawn Shrimp, Boathouse Lobster Cocktail, and Florida Stone Crab Claws…
But what really caught my eye was this ski boat that had been converted into a dinner table…
We elected to be seated outside on their deck though because we wanted to see the pretty sunset that was developing outside…
We then looked over the menu…
We made our starter and entrée choices and then some tasty rolls and butter were brought to our table…
Next came Paula’s choice from their Raw Bar…
Fresh Florida Large Stone Crab Claws served chilled on ice with Gibsons Dijon Mustard Sauce
These are only on their menu seasonally and are quite expensive. Each of these two claws were $16.50. She generously gave me one of these to try. While it was good, for me it was not worth $16.50 for the few bites of crab meat I was able to extract from the shell. But then again, I’m really not a fan of any food that you have to work that hard for. I believe though that Paula really enjoyed her crab claw.
Given his seafood allergy, Hunter started his meal with these…
Filet Mignon Sliders (two served for $14)
These looked really good and according to Hunter they tasted as good as they looked.
Paula and Hunter also got these delicious Truffle Fries for us to share…
Now for our entrée choices, starting with mine. I had originally planned to order the filet mignon sliders as my entrée but when Hunter ordered them, for the sake of variety I changed my mind. When I saw that they had fried clam strips on the menu, I was quite excited because I love fried clam strips. My excitement though soon came to a halt when our server told me that they were out of clam strips. Boo! Soooo my next choice was another option from the Dock Side Buckets section of the menu…
Crispy Panko-Fried Fish of the Day served with Tartar Sauce, Lemon slice, and Fresh Cut Fries
This was just okay. I prefer beer-battered fried fish over this. This was my second time having fish & chips on this trip, with the first being at Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Tree Tavern, and I actually liked both the fish and the fries better at Liberty Tree. So this was kind of disappointing for me, especially considering that The Boathouse is known for its seafood. But on the plus side, the portion size of The Boathouse fish & chips was more generous and at $18 was $1 less than at Liberty Tree.
Paula chose her entrée from the Sandwich section of the menu…
New England Lobster Roll – Fresh Whole Maine Lobster, Toasted Split Top Bun
Note: This is normally served with regular fries but Paula paid the upcharge to instead have truffle fries.
Paula said this was very good, with lots of big chunks of tasty lobster. Good choice!
Also a good choice was Hunter’s non-seafood entrée…
Smokehouse Angus Brisket French Dip – Slow Smoked Brisket on a French Baguette served Au Jus (with juice)
Note: This too normally comes with regular fries but Hunter instead requested a side of Mac N’ Cheese. I don’t believe there was an extra charge for this substitution.
There were no complaints from Hunter regarding his sandwich. He enjoyed it!
While I did take a photo of the menu, we were all too full to want dessert…
So this meal turned out to be a rather ironic one, as it was me who really wanted to dine at The Boathouse but because of Hunter’s seafood allergy it took some convincing to get Paula & Hunter to try it with me. However, in the end Paula and Hunter left quite content with their meal while I thought it was just okay. I would though say that I would be willing to give it another try…maybe I’ll get to have those fried clam strips next time?!
As for the ratings, The Boathouse rates rather well with 4 stars by Yelp reviewers and 4 1/2 by reviewers on Trip Advisor. It also ranks a very high #91 of the nearly 3,000 Orlando area restaurants reviewed on Trip Advisor and #23 if narrowing it to just the Disney World area restaurants reviewed there. So yes, I guess I should give this place another go.
Taste of Disney 