Boat House

I didn’t know that Sunset Park had a place like this. Totally a fan — I’m usually in LES or Williamsburg fishin’ for my Cajun boil, but having a place like this so close makes me change my mind. Boat House is great for people who really don’t mind getting down and dirty for their seafood.
We had Combo E (mildly spicy and Rajun Cajun seasoning), which consisted of a full lobster, snow crab legs, crawfish, clams, mussels, and potatoes, sausages, and corn. The sausages are super bomb btw. The full lobster wasn’t cut, so be sure you have the strength to pull it apart! There was probably the snow crab legs of one snow crab (8), four clams, four mussels, and a heck lot of crawfish. They were cooked perfectly but the fun part is pulling it part and eating it. It is a bit pricy, but not any different from any other place at $ 49.99. Actually, it might be cheaper, just because I don’t think I’ve had such a huge array of seafood for that price. We also had the crab ragoon, but it was actually cheese ragoon (aka cream cheese in a dumpling wrapper that is fried). It was also great.
I really enjoyed this experience. The décor also made it perfect — it has a nice bar vibe, but also the benches as if you were sitting near the beach. The wait service is great as well. I really enjoyed it!

Walking into an empty store on new year night at 7:30pm.
It kinda reminded me of a southern pub because of the dim and lights.
We were seated on wooden benches.
We got the cold green tea, beer, E combo aka seafood mixed pot which includes lobster and snow legs with little neck clams, mussels and crayfish, few slices of sausage, 2 mini corn on the cob and a diced red potato. This was $ 50 with the original sauce of Rajun Cajun– it is spicy for me because my taste buds don’t do well with spice. We also got the fried calamari $ 10 with some sauce that was a bit spicy and Cajun fries $ 4 with ketchup.
The drinks came first. The cajun fries came next — I thought it was a bit crunchy at first but it suited my taste buds well. Next was the fried calamari which I thought that you can eat the calamari without the sauce because dipping the sauce would be a bit much for me.
Later came the main dish — E-​combo
It came in a huge bag, which was surprising for me because it was my first time eating here and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I think the rajun cajun sauce (original) was a bit strong for my nostrils. I’m not sure about the freshness because I am not a seafood expert, but I liked the calamari dish the best. It would be nice if we had better tools to break the snow crab legs and lobster with. They provide you with a mini garbage next to your table so you can dump with shells and whatnot. There is a roll of paper towels if you need to wipe your hands with — which you will need throughout your meal.
After we finished– we were stuffed, this place was full of people so I think people start dining here at around 8pm. The servers were attentive asking if we needed anything or if I wanted a refill for my drink. The staff speaks both mandarin and English so there isn’t a language barrier.

This place is amazing for seafood. The food is great and the service is good. The only reason I’ve rated it 4 stars it’s because they aren’t consistent with the portions. The first and second time I came here they gave a lot of varieties in the seafood mix. The third time I feel like there was a lot of stuff missing. But either way the taste is on point.

Food was alright. It’s a fair hike from the D train and not worth the trek. Service was less than perfunctory. We ordered:
the crabcakes — very oily; had to blot with the handy roll of paper towels on the table
Fried fish basket– fries were crispy and hot, fish was meh, heavily breaded with panko/​breadcrumbs.
1lb boiled crawfish, medium spicy– it was okay, tinier amount of meat than I’ve had elsewhere; specifically ordered the fresh crawfish. It took 45 minutes to arrive; is that typical? I did appreciate the gloves, bib, and roll of paper towels on the table.
Cajun fries– I preferred the regular fries; the Cajun fries were cold and maybe had a smattering of vinegar with Cajun seasoning
Side of corn– this came out at the beginning instead of with the mains, though it’s probably good it came out first since the crawfish took forever. The corn was plain with butter, nothing fancy. I do wish they’d boiled it with the crawfish though.
I was annoyed with the service because she didn’t say anything about the boil taking a while, didn’t check in with us AT ALL except to bring out the food (where she just dropped it off), and then right before bringing our bill. The place was only about ½ full.
In short, not worth it in my opinion. We will stick with Brooklyn Crab.

I had to change my preview review from 5 stars for 2 stars.
The three times I came to Boat House in 2015 was disappointing. I expect to have seafood with flavorful Cajun sauce. The sauce was extremely water down. The sauce is so water down that you can’t really taste the sauce on the meat. The seafood here is also not as fresh as it use to be. Most seafood was frozen and the crab legs are very small. It took me three visits because it could of been a different chef that day but I guess not.
The Boil, Claw Daddy in Manhattan is definitely a great alternative if you want fresh seafood and very flavored sauce.

Went on a Saturday night around 7pm with a friend. Since we were a small party, we were able to get a table immediately. We got the snow crab legs with the whole she-​bang (garlic butter sauce with corn & sausage). The garlic butter sauce was really delicious. My friend and I joked that if we had some bread or rice, our waitress would have been disposing of some pretty pristine bags. The crab legs were tasty, and the corn was really good as well. Not a whole lot of sausage, only a few thin slices, but it’s ok since I’m there for seafood. Also really appreciate the free refills on the soda; the staff was pretty attentive regarding getting you a refill. Will definitely return to try the crab legs with a whole lobster combo.

Decent oyster, nice clam chowder. Everything else is ok, but I won’t order them a second time…
Service is decent, parking is soso.

Many reviewers have already said their seafood is not fresh. And it is not. Shrimps are frozen. Snow crab legs are frozen and small. Blue crabs are frozen. Fried fish is good. Cajun fries are good but it absorbs so much oil. No coke but Pepsi. When I order coke in a Pepsi restaurant, servers normally ask, but not at this place. I want coke, but gave me Pepsi. Food is tasty but not fresh. For a seafood restaurant, it should be. Overall, I will go back only if I’m too lazy to head into the city.

I LOVE this restaurant. Excellent fresh seafood (steamers! lobster!) at a very reasonable price. AND they have steamers, which for some reason you can’t find anywhere in NYC. A dozen Blue Point oysters cost us less than $ 2 each, and were huge! My only complaint is the styrofoam plates and plastic utensils. I don’t need fancy, but I am concerned about non-​biodegradable waste.

We go here all the time. Much less since mister Hotpot but it’s great. I love their lemon pepper wings and fries. The clams are very good too. Their raw oysters and clams are very fresh too.
My wife and son loves their crawfish. Their desserts are decent as well.

I love, love, love this place. My boyfriend and I have been here a bunch of times, and we usually share the big bag o’ crawfish. If I could dip everything I ever eat in their garlic butter, I would. I tend to do that anyway when I’m there. Fries? Dipped them. Fried shrimp? Dipped them? I would definitely recommend this place, if you live in the sunset park/​park slope area.

Boat House is a very unique restaurant in the heart of Brooklyn’s Chinatown. This seafood hut offers a boiled party in a bag and that’s a guarantee. Equipped with an incredibly basic menu consisting of fried basket options, boiled seafood entrées (crabs, lobster, crawfish, shrimps, clams) and a few side items; keeping things easy for large groups. You might actually find yourselves debating which of the three seasonings (cajun, garlic butter and lemon pepper) longer than which of the Little Mermaids pals you are tossing into hot water. Your drink options are only beer or soda but that’s really all you need. I see others mention that their meals where not fresh, which can happen but all you have to do is ask them if your order is fresh or frozen. The staff is wonderful and alert so they will provide you with all the tools required to have you feel like a kid again (bib, gloves, and bucket). Boat House is a dark cozy ship that gives you the chance to roll up your sleeves and enjoy a savory night.
My favorite Boat House order is as follows:
* Fried Calamari
* Crawfish Combo (includes shrimp, clams, sausage & corn)
* Rajun Cajun Seasoning (medium spicy)
* Sweet Potato Fries
* Pilsner or Lager

Love this place compared to boiling crab, in the city. A lot more convenient too and this place is never packed.
Been here more than 4 times and each time we were the only ones there for some odd reason. This place needs more publicity cause the location is kind of in a random spot. Away from the main crowded areas.
This place def deserves more business!
The staff is extremely attentive and friendly!
Our waitress was the sweetest lady ever!
I love everything they have on the menu!
The special combos are great!
The whole shebang is my favorite sauce, in medium!
Canadian oysters are always delicious.
Cajun fries are good.
Crawfish is on point always.
Snow crab, yum!
Clams and mussels are alright.
The corn and potato that comes with each combo are flavorful.

You not digging that 8^th ave odor? Maybe the hordes of Saturday moms coming out from the 1980s are beginning to bug you. Run friends, run — the Boat House is your safe haven. Albeit, I came here on a Thursday night so lucky me, no wait. The place was dead, well actually that’s not nice to say, they had 4 other patrons. I counted, 4 whole people. I cannot attest to how packed they might get on weekends, but I’d put money I would’ve waited at least 30 minutes for a table for 2 based on the small size of the joint.
The service is pretty quick, menus are slapped on the table already. The décor is appropriate, you get the rustic feel of being on a shoddy boat. Walls littered with pictures, pictures littered with smiles of past diners. A decent atmosphere overall.
Onto the goodies. We had standard Old Bay fries and a handful of delish Blue Point oysters which were priced at $ 1.06 each for a dozen. That’s right, for just $ 13, you get tasty mollusks and aphrodisiac as a side effect (or primary effect, whichever floats your boat). We indulged in the Snow Crab leg combo, with their specialty sauce, and added potatoes and corn to the mix. Get more potatoes, they go extremely well with the sauce. The snow crab was cooked modestly, but being a cajun styled place, the sauce is king. Clams and crawfish were standard, nothing to rave about, no complaints.
This place is comparative to the Boil located on Chrystie St but pricing is even better here probably vis a vis the location and cheaper rent. 7.5÷10 would come again — especially on a cold week day.

My sister had been raving about this placefor months. I finally assembled the turtles and we were glad we came here. The restaurant is bare essential seafood. No frills no fancy smhancy. We ordered the Calamari as appetizers… big pieces of calamari … but not seasoned well.
The seafood combos are yum. They come out in a plastic bag with disposable cutlery and plates. The seafood has several different types of flavors from Cajun to lemon pepper and you can mix and match. Two seafood combos can feed four ppl who are moderate eaters. However, I eat with big boys with big appetites lol and they each had their own combo and finished it in one sitting; while I struggled to finish mine and then they began to devour mine lol.
Forgot to add the fresh juices that they serve. Served in Styrofoam cups but still good lol.
I would definitely go back and recommend this place to others. You saw how I threw into the review that they dont have reusable utensils, plates and cups but still we was cold as snow. Where’s the heat lol … no heat zone!

First time my boyfriend bought me here i wasn’t so excited. I have never really been a fan of crawfish and eating messily. We were given gloves and bibs haha. We ordered shrimp by the pounds. With one bite i had changed my mind! The store was aromatic and the food was absolutely delicious. Polaroid pictures were hung all around the store and we asked the waitress if we could get our own. We started off with sweet potato fries as an appetizer. Then we took our sweet time peeling shrimp. We were given a waste bucket that we eventually filled up and the waitress had to empty. Sodas have free refills. Definitely will want to come back :)

Upon first glance, the Boat House looks dark and uninviting, and oddly quiet, what with everyone too busy cracking crabs to talk. But the food here is legit! Loads of fresh piping hot crabs and shrimp. Drenched in delicious sauce. All for a very reasonable price!
I got 6 blue crabs and 1 stone crab (gigantic!) in mild garlic butter sauce, and 1 pound of shrimp in medium spicy garlic butter sauce. We got a side of white rice and steamed corn. My gf kept raving about the corn because it was so delicious and sweet. The whole thing cost ~$ 60 and had tons of leftovers (half a stone crab left, about 3 blue crabs, and some shrimp).
Granted, service was kind of whatever. Why someone wouldn’t automatically give you a shell cracker when you’ve ordered a boatload of crabs (pun intended) is beyond me. And when you are clearly eating with another person, why they would only bring us just one is also baffling. But I won’t hold it against them because well, I expect the same amount of of blasé attitude pretty much anywhere in Brooklyn Chinatown.

Have you been to places like the Boiling Crab in LA or Hot and Juicy in Las Vegas? This place is the NY version. If I am not mistaken a place similar to this opened up off Delancey in the LES.
So the basics: order your seafood in weight. Order the flavoring from garlic, to cajun, to curry and then the spicy level.
And like all the other places I’ve been they give you a bib and the crappiest plastic gloves. Yeah, at first I’m like, no, thank you.
Just wait– the most beautiful mess you will ever make awaits with all the big plastic bag full of your most glorious filled seafood. Which isn’t always the greatest catch of the day but the spiciness makes you forget. My gosh.

The place is cute and very spacious. The people that work here are also very nice. We order the 10 piece lemon pepper wings$ 6.99 and that was good although I was hoping for more crunch/​fried taste. They were a little soggy, but still good. We also got the soft shell crab $ 10.99, but that was so so. It didn’t have much taste =(I’d give this a pass.
We shared the seafood mixed bag ($ 49.99) which came with — whole lobster, mussels, clams, crawfish, snowcrab legs and sausage/​corn/​potatoes. Before I get into the food, we got the garlic butter sauce which was kinda bland =(It didn’t have any taste and I was underwhelmed =(
Lobster — this was the best part of the bag. I wish there was more lobster.
Mussels/​clams — kinda tasteless and very chewy. =(Give this a pass.
Crawfish — not fresh and very tiny! They were hard to take out and had a lot of gunk in them =(The crawfish at The Boil is so much better (big, clean, tasty).
Snowcrab legs — this bag only came with a small amount. It was one cluster which was barely anything! It was not fresh at all and not tasty. Definitely give this a pass. The girl told us we would get 1 lb of legs and it was definitely not 1 lb.
Sausage/​corn/​potatoes — it was ok. This place gets a thumbs up because they give a normal two person portion compared to The Boil. The Boil definitely skimps out on this!
I am more disappointed in the fact that the seafood wasn’t fresh than the taste factor. If seafood is served and it’s not fresh, you can get very sick. I’d rather eat tasteless seafood that is fresh than tasty seafood that isn’t fresh if that makes any season. Overall, this place was okay. I don’t think I’ll be back since the prices are on par with The Boil. I’d rather wait on line for an hour at The Boil for something fresh.

I would’ve given this place four stars because I loved their crabs and crawfish with the whole shabang sauce but I’m only giving them two stars.
I’ve been here a few times and was always satisfied with their food and loved that they were the only place that served seafood the way they did in Brooklyn. But the reason why I’m giving them only two stars now is because the last time that I went, I also ordered the crawfish and crabs and others and I came home with a stomach virus. I think their seafood was not fresh which makes me not want to go there anymore.
Sorry Boat House but you just lost a customer!