Central Park: Loeb Boathouse

11/16/10

Great Anniversary date

by artsy23 at Citysearch

My boyfriend and I had lunch there on a saturday for our anniversary. I had always wanted to go there since I had moved to NYC. Its iconic New York. The wait was about an hour and a half, so we decided to kill time by taking a boat ride on the water. It was amazing. The retaurant was great. Not as many brunch selections as I thought there would be, but it was worth it. Not as pricey as I thought it would be. There were plenty of plates under $20.

05/24/10

Good for special occasions, elegant yet casual date

by relieved souls at Citysearch

The setting by the lakeside is fresh and unbeatable in its charm. Go early, maybe a bit of boating and catch the sunrise on the river as you eat.

If you call and make a prior reseravtion, you get a good lakeside table and no waiting. The service here is smooth waiters accomodating but non-intrusive. Atmosphere is not stuffy or snooty (though you do need to dress well) so taht makes it perfect to take a special friend or family out for birthdays as well as a more elegant yet casual early date.

Its not all in the setting. The food is good too. Above average mostly with some dishes excellent depending upon what you order. Serving sizes were what i liked best, filling and satisfying.. makes you feel you got your value for money. Bit pricey but not excessively so. The cocktails are interesting. Mostly lighter ones... the mango mojito was my fave of the evening.

Definitely, a restaurant worth a visit. Give it a try.

• Pros: beautiful setting, good-sized servings, courteous service
• Cons: food takes while to arrive

09/23/09

Poor Service, Food was Very Good

by David Greene at Citysearch

The restaurants website does not support Mac, forcing me to use opentable directly, at higher cost to the restaurant. Our guests arrived before us and were told the reservation was made for 2, not 4 people. I arrived to find them sitting in the waiting area, not at the table, and had not been offered a drink. I showed the host the email confirmation on my iPhone. He shrugged and said they were having problems with opentable. Having made dozens of reservations this way, it has never been a problem. When we were seated, we asked for the table next to the pond, but were told it was reserved for a friend of the owner. Nobody ever showed up. The server was rude, offering as a response to what he considered medium rare "bloody". Nice. He was evasive, slow and rude. I like the location a lot, and the food was very good (I noted there were no vegetarian entrees on the menu), but the service was a turnoff. I'm not sure I'll go back, and I'll certainly be careful who I take there in the future (ie. not clients).

• Pros: Location, ambiance, food
• Cons: Service

05/22/09

too bad

by laurenbt22 at Citysearch

first time at the boathouse, which i thought was a lovely place in central park. we sat on the side tables near the gondola boat to enjoy the last part of the day. Then came the mean waitresses. Consistently rude, after 1 beer and a glass of wine, the bill was promptly put on our table without asking us if we would like anything else. We asked for a second round and as time went by with no drinks, we politly asked again, at which point the waitress said "wait a minute" in a nasty tone. Boathouse should send staff to manners school asap. I would probably not go again.... and go somewhere else in the park instead.

• Pros: peaceful pond like setting
• Cons: sun glare

08/16/04

Superb

by yannpastor at Citysearch

The Boat House is my favorite place in the city, either for a nice brunch near CP's Lake, for a glass of wine and grilled shrimps at the Grill or for an abundant and delicious dinner al fresco.

It's a MUST.

The food is fabulous (especially fresh seafood). The staff is professional (except for some of their maitres d'). And the location is heavenly.

• Pros: Location, Food, Service
• Cons: , Maitre d'