Boat House Palm Beach

Good food, bustling ambience, and despite ordering at a central order point, and them then bringing food to the table, it seems to work. Decent selection of wines and beers too

Drove up to Palm Beach on a Monday morning in Winter and sat inside, as outside undercover was full. I absolutely loved everything about the venue, décor and furnishings. There were quite a few people there so I can only imagine how busy it gets on the weekends and in Summer.
Ordered coffees which were nice and poached eggs, bacon and tomato which was really well presented and tasted good. Shared the fruit platter which was a bit of a let down — not all of the fruit was at its freshest point and we had a few pieces which were out of the ordinary. Everything was a little over priced but I expected that due to the location.
Also, if you are a Home & Away fan they were doing some filming next door at the time.

Mixed feelings about this place. Food was pretty good but didn’t live up to the prices you pay — I don’t mind paying for exceptional food but I wouldn’t say this lived up to it.
Service was incredibly slow — not really a huge fan of lining up for 25 minutes to order but then to wait another 40 minutes before any food came out was a bit much. We’d been there over an hour before we even had anything to eat.
We had the burger (really small but tasty), the fish pie (far too rich — couldn’t finish it), trout board (decent but not a standout) — we also ordered one more entrée which I can’t recall but it probably wasn’t exceptional (otherwise I would remember it).
Coffee was reasonable, I enjoyed the milkshake. They ran out of the scones by the time they got to us, but to compensate, they brought out a taster plate of four desserts.
Service is fantastically friendly and warm — no complaints there.
If you can get a seat outside, I doubt you can get a better ambience for a sunny weekend afternoon (they’re in demand though — we ended up inside).
You can probably tell from my review that we enjoyed parts of the experience and felt other parts were lacking. Given how expensive it is, that’s probably 3-​stars in my book.

Amazing food, setting and service. Highly recommend the bucket of prawns, burger and fish and chips! Couldn’t have asked for a friendlier wait staff. We also got to spot a few Home and Away stars sitting a few tables away!

Still an excellent choice.
Smoothies for the kids, coffees for the adults, nice wine list (also for the adults). Lots of seating, including inside on a windy day. I had an excellent burger, small but with lots of adornments. Nice and juicy and messy. The ladies shared a bucket of prawns, which were first class. (I managed to get a sample.) Then as I dawdled and paid the bill, the ladies and the grandkids went down to the beach below. Great location! Big wide beach on a calm ocean harbour, almost empty in early afternoon.

What a great breezy spot this is! Friendly staff great food and the only downside is the queue which isn’t as long as it seems. After taking your first bite of battered brilliance time will stand still as you consume your tasty fish friend while at the same time admiring his home.

After completing a morning walk up to the awe inspiring Barrenjoey Lighthouse, we stopped at the Boat House or a light breakfast and coffee. While it was rather busy, there was a sufficient table available.
It took a short while to order, we choose a ham & cheese croissant and a bacon & egg roll, however there were many other options which got me salivating; including the homemade beans (definitely going to try that next time)!
While we waited for our food to arrive, my girlfriend told of a time she came with her parents and their order had been lost; on this occasion instead of admitting to the eror and reconfirming the order they made a guess and the result was not well received.
After about half an hour (acknowledging that the kitchen was rather busy), we asked a waitress about our order. Amazingly, we found a repeat that our order had been misplaced! We couldn’t believe our luck, however the waitress was very apologetic and handled the situation perfectly! Our order was reconfirmed, and fast tracked in the kitchen, We were also offered a complimentary cake and coffee which we graciously excepted.
The food was good, but not amazing! For $ 10 for a ham & cheese croissant, I was expecting a little more (I back Esther A’s comment regarding paying for the location). In saying this, we ended up enjoying a nice meal in a beautiful part of Sydney.
I would encourage people to at least try the Boat House for themselves, I can only explain our experience as an unlikely coincidence! I can’t wait to head back another time and try more of the breakfast offer, as well as lunch menu! I believe in winter, if you dine out on the pier, you’re provided a blanket to remain warm. I think this is a great touch.

Great place for brekky. If I ever do a list of places with friendly service this will be at the top. These guys and gals are so happy to help its nuts. I made a brand new best mate just by ordering a coffee.
We got a table without trouble. Food was good, GHB’s special order was no problem and brought as requested. Coffee was a bit cooler than usual, I don’t like hot coffee but this was borderline. Mind you there were five of them. D1’s mushroom toast was great. Keeno’s muesli was good. Bacon and poached eggs were perfect.
Higher than expected cost but not outrageous and worth it.

The food is a bit pricey, but let’s be real — you aren’t driving all the way up to Palm Beach for the food. About an hour and half North of Sydney, the beach here is 5x as nice, 10x less crowded and 100% worth the drive. And the Boat House is all part of the experience.
Depending on the weather — you’ll most likely have to wait in a queue. Take that time to read through the menu, but order one of the following:
— The Fish n Chips ($ 26): This is what I ordered. The fish was fresh and the chips were thick, salty and delicious.
— The Bucket of Prawns ($ 36): Expensive, but it really is a BUCKET of prawns. A pretty generous serving — and super fresh.
— The Burger ($ 22): Haven’t tried it, but have heard from numerous sources that it is the bomb.
Don’t order — the Milkshakes (look delish, but apparently aren’t that great).
If there are 2 or more of you in your party. Have one person stand in line and order while someone else stakes out a prime location on the deck.

Gosh what can I say about Boat House that will do it justice? This place is just beautiful. It reminds me of a movie set — like something out of The Notebook.
The cool thing about the Boat House is that it keeps getting better and better — the food is always great but these days you can buy gourmet produce and fresh flowers from here. If you can manage to snare it, grab a table in the waterfront courtyard, order a bucket of prawns and a glass of white wine — closest you may come to la dolce vita. If you really want to top off an afternoon then there is a boat hire place next door — hire yourself a little tinny and cruise around Pittwater — just magnificent.

Let me get one thing out of the way at the start. Yes. the location of the Boat House is fantastic… and on a beautifully sunny day you are going to be hard pressed getting a table close to the water to check out the view. That said… the view from the grassy expanse to the right of the Boathouse is also spectacular.
As for the food, it was… ok… I guess when I am paying as much as I did here I would expect something fantastic, and as such meeting my expectations my be tough. So tough in fact that it didn’t meet my expectations. :-(
We did get there early enough to have breakfast, but decided that a place that charges $ 16 for 1 serving of porridge, might provide better value at lunch. Not so. The fish and chips were soggy, and the fish was layered on the chips making them hard to even get at. The fish pie, was ok… but really… it was a little bland. Overall, if we had brought sandwiches from home and sat on the grass, we would have had the same view with great food.
And the coffee??? Yeah… well… have a look at the iceberg in my coffee (in the pics) and tell me what you think. Other than that it was a little burnt and generally not fantastic.
On positive was the milkshake that came in a traditional milk bottle. My boys loved it!
Next time we go there, we will picnic on the grass for sure. On a side note, the parking there is not cheap either, but be warned, the parking wardens are ever present around this place.
Café Summary
— — — — — — — —
Passion for Coffee — ⁶⁄₁₀
Coffee beans - (unsure)
Crema (1=burnt, 10=velvet) — ⁴⁄₁₀
Special coffees avail? — N/​A
Special Features
— — — — — — — —
Toilets

Idyllic, picturesque, iconic, momentous… all these superlatives come to mind when you first walk through and take in the scene that awaits you out the back of the boathouse.
Quite simply, it is special and it is easy to see why this a favourite function venue and/​or Sunday afternoon (or any day of the week if you’re lucky enough) spot to kick back and wonder in the beauty that is this part of the world.
And then there is the food, which is pretty good too. you can get great seafood, a wicked brunch and something to keep just about everyone happy. Sit out front, inside or if you’re lucky enough to get a table — out back. Its all good. The laid back life of Palm Beach and the magnificent northern beaches culminates at the Boathouse, where you are more than likely see a sea plane coming in to splash down if its a nice day.
I’m not even going to try and describe the view… words simply cannot do it justice. You have to see it for yourself. Unmissable.

Love love love The Boathouse in Palm Beach. Featured in Australia’s soap opera Home and Away, this diner style restaurant is hugely popular. The venue now attracts busloads of tourists thanks to the popularised show broadcast internationally. A cosmetic renovation has done the Boathouse wonders– with customers taking up every table in the house. Diners on the balcony will enjoy panoramic views of Pittwater as they bask in the warm sunshine.
Tap water is available but is self-​service. Ordering must be undertaken at the cash register but meals are delivered to your table. The service is exceptionally fast considering the many customers eating at The Boathouse. Aside from dining, customers can also purchase flowers with a range of beautiful Australian native flora, as well as standard roses and poppies!