We took an extended weekend trip up to Western Michigan earlier this summer and stayed in Holland, MI. We had hoped to stay in South Haven, a small town about 30 miles south of Holland - and a place we'd stayed at before about 10 years ago - but the hotel we wanted to stay at was full. Instead, we got a room at the Doubletree in Holland. Holland has a number of great little shops in their downtown business district and we were in one on a Friday evening. We were talking to the store manager about places to eat that would have views of Lake Michigan. She said, "Well, there really isn't one around here, other than the Boatwerks. But it's not really on Lake Michigan. It's on Lake Macatawa just west of downtown." We decided to give it a shot and drove to the place.
Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant is an upscale restaurant owned by Joe Walsh (not the rock star) and run by managing partner Chris Hart. It is situated in a large building that features inside and outside seating, a lounge, a private room that can accommodate up to 100 people and an outdoor lawn/patio area that can handle a large tent for special dinners, weddings and other events. It's located just next to Kollen Park on Holland's west side (see map).
The inside of the place is heavy on mahogany, the type of wood used on old boats that were built in the 40's, 50's and 60's (many of which are still running strong on upper Midwest lakes to this day) with a spacious indoor dining area. Exposed wooden beams line the ceiling and being that the place has a nautical theme to it, they have boat flags, models of boats and other neat little boating decorations around the room. The lounge area (above right) has a waterfront view of Lake Macatawa and has room for about 75 people.
It was around 8:30 when we got into Boatwerks. We were greeted at the hostess stand by a young lady who told us that it would be a 30 minute wait - minimum - if we wanted to be seated inside, but they had immediate seating outside. Cindy thought sitting outside would be a nice touch as it was a beautiful evening. She instructed us to go through the dining room and out the door to the outside hostess stand. As we were walking through dining room, we noticed a number of empty tables which caused Cindy to remark, "All those people must have gotten up to go to the restroom." We were a little perplexed at first, then realized that they may not have had the waitstaff on hand to take care of any more than what they did have in the dining room.
When we got to the hostess stand outside, the girl there informed us that it would be a 15 to 20 minute wait. I said, "Wait a minute. They just told us inside that it was immediate seating."
In a rather cold manner, she replied, "Well, they were wrong." She asked for our name and handed us a beeper/buzzer. She said, "You can go to the bar inside or you can get drinks out here and go down to the tables along the water's edge." I sort of shrugged and we went to the outside bar.
Actually, the outside area was rather nice. They had a number of tables with umbrellas that overlooked the lake. The tables and chairs were a heavy duty composite that was impervious to the elements. The bar area was pretty small and for some unknown reason they only had two of the tappers working that evening. Cindy had asked for a mai tai and the bartender told her, "Well, let me look to see if we have the stuff to make one for you." She hunted around for a bit and then came back and said, "No, we're missing creme de almond and the sweet and sour mix. I can go in and see if they have that at the inside bar." Cindy decided to cut her losses and ordered up a UV Blue and lemonade. The only beer they had outside was Bud Light and Blue Moon on tap. I got a Bud Light, which was overly flat. Instead of going down to the tables along the water, we found a nice high top ledge near the bar to look at the setting sun.
Our little square buzzer began to vibrate about 15 minutes after we got there and we were shepherded to a table along the far perimeter of the outside seating area. It was a beautiful evening, as I said, and the sun was just beginning to set behind the trees across the lake. Actually, we had hoped to watch the sun set into Lake Michigan, but Holland is a little bit inland at the widest part of the huge lake. Where we were at that evening was fine with us.
Our server for the evening, Leslie, came over to greet us as we looked through our menus. She was being tailed by another young girl who was obviously learning the ropes at Boatwerks. I asked if they had any Bell's Brewery products available and she told me they just had Oberon Ale, a wheat beer that I don't care for much at all. I asked if they had the Bell's Pale Ale and she said, "No, we don't. But we have the Founders Centennial." (That beer is a robust India Pale Ale that had just become available in Iowa a couple three months prior.) I got one of those and Cindy got a glass of white wine.
The menu at Boatwerks is an extensive mix of seafood, pastas, steaks and chops, as well as sandwiches. They also feature a number of gourmet pizzas with toppings that include lobster, smoked beef brisket, and a chicken and broccoli pizza that uses an alfredo sauce instead of the red pizza sauce. Cindy knew she wanted some sort of fish entree, but I was torn between a number of things on the menu.
A few of the things that caught my eye were the Tournedos Alaskan - small beef tenderloin filets topped with a mixture of shrimp, sea scallops and lobster meat and finished with a bearnaise sauce. The macaroni and cheese option was interesting as you could add things such as smoked kielbasa sausage, beef brisket, lobster, bacon and a couple other things. They had three different sizes of prime rib on the menu including a 16 ounce slab for $24.95. They had a seared ahi tuna filet that they rolled in sesame seeds and grilled it rare. I'm not big on sesame seeds with tuna, but I'm sure they could have held back the seeds had I asked.
One thing that caught Cindy's eye was the Boatwerks version of a Spanish paella with saffron rice mixed with chorizo sausage, chicken, mussels, sea scallops and shrimp. But she ended up ordering the Boatwerks' signature Lake Superior whitefish that is topped with an almond crust, then baked and served with a fresh dill cream sauce and veggies. I was torn between two things - tri-colored parmesan cheese-filled tortellini tossed with shrimp, sea scallops, lobster meat, and mussels in a cream sauce; and the crabmeat-stuffed flounder topped with a hollandaise sauce. I ended up going with the seafood tortellini. I also got a glass of white wine to go with my meal. Cindy also wanted to get Boatwerk's baby wedge salad and wondered if I'd help her eat it. Sure!
The wedge salad was rather interesting. Instead of half wedge of lettuce, they serve a half-sized small lettuce head along with the bacon bits, tomato chunks and bleu cheese dressing. Then they also chop up carrots and green onions to put on the top. The salad was very good and it was a perfect size for two. Also, I can't forget about the fresh bread rolls they brought out with the salad. They were warm and chewy. They were very good.
The sun had just set when Leslie and her helper brought our food to the table. Cindy's whitefish had a thin crust of chopped almonds on it - I don't care for almonds, but Cindy certainly does. A pool of the fresh dill cream sauce laid beside the fish with the fresh veggies on the other side. She gave me a bite and even the taste of the almonds weren't all that overpowering to me. She said it was very good.
My seafood tortellini was top notch. About the only quibble I had with it is that the mussels were a little fishy in taste (one of them didn't open) and the shrimp they used were the ultra small-sized ones that are pretty insignificant in taste. But the cream sauce was wonderful and the tortellini pasta was cooked perfectly. The parmesan cheese inside gave each tortellini a nice chewy taste. But the scallops and the lobster meat were very good in the mix. It had been awhile since I had gotten a seafood pasta dish and I wasn't disappointed in the least.
The other thing that I wanted to point out was that they serve wine in what are more like tumblers rather than in stemmed glasses. You can see the wine glass in the picture with Cindy's fish. They were actually sturdy, but not heavy, and very easy to drink out of. They felt good in the hand. I am now on a quest to find glasses like that for our home.
For not really knowing what to expect from Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant, I'd say that we were pleased with our meals on our first visit. Cindy loved her whitefish and other than a couple minor problems with my pasta, I thought it was very good, as well. Leslie tried to tempt us with some dessert, but we were way too full and it was getting too late for a sugar buzz. She did a fine job taking care of us. Just being able to enjoy a nice meal on the deck overlooking Lake Macatawa was worth the trip to Holland. But we had other adventures that long weekend that made it even better.
Comments