The boat: Clean, elegant and you can get a workout during dinner by opening the door (kidding but I’m ripped today!)
Boat score: 9/10
Staff: I’m going to try and keep this short as I could go on and on about Enrique. My wife and I celebrated our anniversary and Enrique really made our evening amazing. He was so genuine, super personable and I can confidently say he made us forget about the food (see below) entirely. I grew up in the restaurant industry and I feel my experience allows me to say this: he needs to be cloned. The way he interacts/converses with your patrons would make any restaurant owner/manager proud. He also has a very casual way of upselling and from a margin perspective - these transactions are key to the business. We were educated on the offerings, given personal recommendations and trusted his opinion. Ironically, his recommendation was the only thing we finished - can’t screw up raw shrimp can you! It would’ve been better if they chilled the shrimp and didn’t add seasoning to the shrimp but overall it was a successful upsell for the business. The rest of the food was disappointing and we didn’t each much of any of the 3 courses. Enrique’s keen situational awareness kicked in and he noticed we weren’t liking the food but we also werent complaining as nothing could ruin our anniversary and we’re not the type of people to complain. Instead, we just don’t try that restaurant again. He approached our table, was very apologetic (not his fault!) and offered to fire up other dishes for us to make up for it but we politely declined as the quality was due to be just as underwhelming. I cannot emphasis enough that Enrique made/saved our anniversary dinner and we left very satisfied with our experience. Keep up the great work Enrique!
Enrique: 12/10
Food: I want to caveat that this meal was $400 and for that amount of money - one would have high expectations. The issues I had as a patron are easily correctable with good leadership and accountability. The food lacks any real passion and the result was bland and mediocre. This screams that the chef/management team doesn’t taste anything before it goes out the kitchen. If they didn’t taste the food - that can happen sometimes when the kitchen is moving fast for a dinner rush (boat was 40% occupied so very unlikely). If they did taste the food then your problems aren’t QC - your problems are talent in the kitchen. There was just no creativity. Siracha shrimp Cocktail sauce - just why? Water melon salad.. old dry watermelon (cheap or lazy), bottom shelf feta cheese (cheap or just don’t care) and needed much more dressing. This makes me confident that either there is no QC check or the standard for quality is low in the kitchen. The entrees (braised beef and Cod) we’re both bland and the plating of the dishes was “fine dining” circa 1995. Lastly, it seemed impossible but somehow dessert was just as bad. The chocolate cake was old and stale. The cheesecake was store bought and old. As a customer, i felt as if the kitchen thought we were idiots and we wouldn’t recognize that it wasn’t fresh… Again, this meal was $400 and we didn’t even eat. I understand your seasonal business model is likely geared towards the experience and most of your patrons are tourist (repeat customers aren’t a priority I bet) but the least you can do is have some pride in your food and represent Chicago the right way. We are a food town.
Food: 2/10
Overall: I would recommend the experience to others as it really was a beautiful boat with fantastic views of the city and uniquely romantic for couples. However, I would caveat my recommendation with a warning that the food is mediocre - be sure to eat a late lunch that day.