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Boathouse

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Idler
Idler
First Reviewer
5 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
2
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8
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Editor Pick

Boathouse Restaurant

  • March 4, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by samepenny from Fort Worth, Texas
Boathouse Restaurant

Come to this fine restaurant for the Chargilled Ahi Tuna ($23.95) and really have a nice dinner! Of course it has a nice view. This is San Diego! This restaurant is on the 2nd of the man-made islands in San Diego Harbor, and isn't far from the airport.

The prices here are very reasonable for the quality of the food and the service. An enormous bowl of clam chowder is $5.95 and Crispy Malaysian Coconut Prawns are $22.95.

This is a large restaurant, in an upstairs location, with no elevator. The views are great by day and by night, but the stairs are steep. It is a $15.00 taxi ride from downtown.

On the evening we dined here it was unseasonably chilly, so the large windows were closed, but outside dining is a bonus in normal Southern California weather. I would go out of my way to dine at this nice restaurant.

I enjoyed the Ahi Tuna cooked just a bit and served barely warm, sliced thin and as tasty as possible. Wonderful! Most of the people I dined with had prawns cooked one way or another. Absolutely huge prawns.

www.boathouserestaurant.com

From journal Back to the Boathouse!

Editor Pick

The Boathouse Restaurant

  • January 9, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Idler from Poolesville, Maryland
The Boathouse Restaurant

Deciding where to have Christmas dinner while traveling over the holidays always presents something of a dilemma. Truth to tell, we tend to leave this more to chance than planning, with mixed results. Our low point came one year when, unable to find anything open, we had a perfectly ghastly meal at Denny’s in Florida. Our high point was a five-star seafood dinner at sunset overlooking Hanalei Bay.

This year, we were in luck again, though not quite so spectacularly. I’d given up phoning various recommended restaurants San Diego – no one answering at one, another not open, and a third completely booked. Then we spotted the Boathouse as we were driving by Harbor Island. Although it was early in the day for dinner, we liked the look of the place. Jack went in to take a look, bringing back a promising report: plenty of seafood, festive atmosphere, and a table immediately if we wanted it. Anxious to put the ‘where shall we eat?’ question to rest, we voted unanimously in favor of an early dinner.

The Boathouse boasts splendid views over the boat slips of Harbor Island – that is, if you are seated near the immense picture windows that run the length of the main dining room. Unfortunately, we were seated in a separate small back section, but the view wasn’t unattractive, just not as compelling. Instead, we enjoyed the lovely holiday decorations: trees and wreaths aglitter with gold and red ornaments and twinkling white lights. An especially nice touch were the holiday carolers circulating through the restaurant, two women in fur-trimmed capes and two men in top hats and tailcoats, doing harmonized versions of holiday standards.

There was a truncated holiday menu with about eight entrees and an equal number of appetizers. Greg opted for the prime rib, with a half Caesar salad for starters. Jack and I choose the stuffed wild salmon – topped with crabmeat, chopped shrimp, spinach, and cheese, with a sun-dried tomato and red pepper buerre blanc. It was accompanied by rice pilaf and a vegetable medley of carrot medallions, broccoli, and zucchini. They brought us a basket of warm sourdough bread that we promptly demolished (twice!).

Greg’s prime rib was the star of the show. I had a bite and it was absolutely delicious – wonderfully juicy and with a savory aftertaste guaranteed to induce nods of appreciation from steak lovers. His entrée came with mashed red potatoes (with skins left on) and the aforementioned vegetable medley. Our salmon was not quite the standout that the prime rib was, but it was quite good, which is to say that there was nary a bite left on our plates.

Service was pleasant and efficient. As we left, large groups of diners were just arriving – it seemed that we’d timed our dinner just before the evening rush. There was time just before sunset to stroll along the docks, pointing to this or that yacht as we laid claim, if only in our fantasies.

From journal Christmas in San Diego

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