The Boathouse at Sunday Park

A couple weeks ago I ventured out to the Boathouse at Sunday Park. Tucked into the neighborhood of Brandermill, the location doesn’t impress on paper, until you walk onto their patio. When you are there you feel like you are at an island bar. Nestled on the lake with picture perfect sunsets, you feel like you have escaped to paradise for a few hours.

I was invited to an influencer event where the restaurant group was premiering their summer drink menu. As our drinks were being made, we were introduced to the location by the Healy’s, owners of the restaurant. Both knowledgable and warm, the family welcomed all of us and explained the philosophy behind each of their restaurants. This location, at Sunday Park, was truly meant to be a resort style, mini vacation from the city.

Drinks at sunset

We were then asked to take a seat on the patio where there was a special section set up for us. With live, light reggae playing in the background, I settled into a booth with a friend aka my sister, and a few strangers whom I would get to know throughout the evening. We were served the drinks of the evening - crushes. I chose the grapefruit crush and it was superb. I want to have that every single day. It was amazingly refreshing and light and perfect for the weather (we were blessed with warmth and sunshine after four days of rain).

The first round of food was served - “bar snacks” - calamari, and corn and jalapeno hush puppies. All food was served family style and after a couple dozen pictures, (it was a blogger event after all) we dug in. Both snacks were superb. The hush puppies were warm and served with this incredible sriracha honey butter. The calamari was light and crisp.

Hushpuppies

Next up the “seasonal salad” round. During this round, we were served three different salads - blueberry and arugula, hydro local lettuce and strawberry salad, and garden vegetable and burrata salad. While we were enjoy all three of these salads, we were informed that this was all made with locally sourced ingredients, which is not something I think of when I think about The Boathouse. They grow the hydro lettuce right up until it is plated, the goat cheese comes from a farm about an hour outside the city, and so on.

Blueberry and arugula salad

The salad course really stood out to me. I never, ever say that! All three salads were so delicious. The fried feta in the strawberry salad was something I could eat all night, the goat cheese in the arugula was so creamy, and all the veggies and fruit were so fresh.

Garden vegetable and burrata salad

For our next course, we were served the Boathouse Chilled Seafood Tray. Piled high with lobster, shrimp, blue crab claws, smoked salmon, oysters and mussels, this was an impressive sight. This is what I think of when I think The Boathouse, and it did not disappoint. Once again, we learned the oysters are sourced from the Piankatank River. I was very impressed with the blue crab claws, I had never seen crab served quite like that and it made it very easy to eat in one bite.

Seafood platter

Finally the “sweet treats” round. A pizzookie, salted caramel creme brulee, and banana and coconut parfait were served. I wanted to take the pizzookie and run - cooked rare chocolate chip cookie dough topped with vanilla ice cream. The creme brulee was also a stand out, it was perfectly crisped and cracked perfectly.

Pizzookie

During our meal various other drink samples were served. There were fun juices and punches, but the stand out was really the pb&j drink. The drink featured Gelati Celesti ice cream.

The evening was incredible, from trying new dishes, meeting new people and learning about the locally sourced ingredients the restaurant uses. Heading a few minutes outside of the city is certainly worth it when this is your destination.

#Food #TheBoathouse #SeafoSeafood