The Boat House has been a favorite among Bangor restaurant goers since it opened 8 years ago. Now the owners have decided its time to shutter up and move on, I finally got the opportunity to give it a go.
They're closing in October, and to celebrate they're doing a tasting menu which will change every fortnight, revisiting the dishes they've made over the past near-decade of cooking.
The atmosphere of the restaurant was very welcoming, very intimate. At first you see the size of the building and couldn't imagine there would be much to it, but inside its rather spacious and certainly comfortable enough to spend a few hours inside.
The service itself was good. The dishes came and went at an acceptable pace, but sometime it felt as though things were a bit slapdash. At the end of the night one of the servers asked which dish we thought was best, but it didn't feel like "I'm curious to know", more like "we're secretly polling this and will be doing extensive statistical analysis once the restaurant has closed for the night."
The food for the most part was excellent. A well thought out menu, with well balanced flavors and combinations, and a wide variety of things to taste which complimented each other. A couple of the testing menu dishes were a bit of a miss (the amuse-bouche was alright, with the dessert (an apple-vodka pannacotta) being not as great as it sounded) but they didn't spoil the overall experience. The lamb loin ratatouille that I chose was excellent (albeit small), absolutely bursting with lovely game flavor and a rich jus that I wish I had a gigantic jug of. The fish course was some of the nicest mackerel I'd had.
Overall I'd recommend it. You'll not really find anywhere like this and Bangor, and as somewhere to go for a nice romantic dinner or a night out with like-minded food-loving friends, you'll be really happy.
If you're a foodie, definitely go there before it closes in October. read more