Bluwater Bistro Kirkland

Oops… guess this review is too late. Came by last week for lunch and discovered they’d moved on to that giant restaurant in the sky…
Really enjoyed their «Tollhouse Magic» dessert — a gigantic chocolate-​chip cookie served in a cast-​iron skillet, topped with vanilla ice cream.
Au revoir, Bluwater!

Ugh! Don’t go here. I’ve been here twice, and that was two times too many.
It was over priced, NOT good food. Had the lobster/​steak combo and the steak was ok, while the lobster was just old and overcooked. The service was eh and not attentive.
Just overall, very very unmemorable experience with disappointing food.
Oh yeah! The mashed potatoes were actually cold in the middle! I don’t know what that means, but that is not ok for an expensive restaurant. Or any restaurant, actually.
If you want a good view of water, there are views aplenty in Seattle! Go to Ray’s Boathouse, or Ivar’s Salmon House … or freaking picnic at Gasworks Park!

Heh, they must have known that I was going to give them a one-​star review and closed in advance! After that terrible lunch, their best service was ‘justice’ when I saw the empty restaurant the other day.
Still want a nice treat on Carillon? Bin Vivant is $$$ and still working out some things since opening. I can’t recommend them yet, but hope to in the near future. In the meantime, you can always grab a cup of coffee at the Starbucks and enjoy a walk amongst the yachts or catch some sun on the stairs by the bells.
Sometimes life’s simplest pleasures are the true 5-​star experiences.

I’ve been to Bluwater Bistro on several occasions. Mainly the branches in Kirkland and East Lake area and each time the food was somewhat disappointing. Their redeaming factors were their hours (open till 2am) and the spectacular view it provided (especially for the Kirkland branch).
I ordered steak last night from Bluwater Bistro in Kirkland and it was a big mistake.
I’ve eaten steak at many restaurants around the US. Everything from the higher end Joel Robuchon, Nobu, Rovers, and Il Mulino to the mid high range Barking Frog, Daniels Broiler, Mortons to lower end Black Angus and Outback. The cowboy ribeye steak my partner and I ordered at Bluwater bistro was «the worst steak I ever ate in my 30+ dining experience». That’s a serious claim and I know… it was just that bad. The meat was so hard and tough it felt like I was chewing on a piece of cardboard. My jaw and my partners jaw was in pain after going through a fifth of the 12oz steak we didn’t bother finishing it.
The waiter was extremely nice and the service was professional so it’s a shame that their steak was so incredibly bad. I still tipped the waiter 20% for a job well done. However I cringed at the thought of paying the kitchen for the horrendous dish they served out.
This will be our last visit to Bluwater. I would give the kitchen negative stars but I’m giving this establishment 2 stars for the effort the waiter put in to try and make things right… (Although in the end it didn’t help much.)
You’ll be better off dining at Dennys if you must dine past 10pm.

I used to work in the area so have come in mostly for happy hour, Once for dinner.
A few positives.
1. They are one of the few places open late Monday through Thursday, in the Kirkland area and getting off work after nine its always nice to have a few options, and with a late night happy hour that offers $ 5 pizzas; yumm cant be beat.
2. They accept prime card, so with two entrees and a few glasses of wine you can still walk out with only spending $ 30
3. Great views of the water. And the bartender has always been excellent
Cons:
1. Service is usually slow, when I have gone there have probably only been a couple others in the restaurant so I cant imagine what its like during dinner or lunch rush. Which is what gives it it’s 3 stars.
But, after a long day I recommend going in for late night happy hour, ordering a glass of wine and sharing some chocolate fondue; the best!

All right. So I work right around here, and I had to pick up lunch for some coworkers who couldn’t get out of a meeting. It involved a free lunch for me, so I was all over it. I called BluWater around 12:15, hoping to place a quick take-​out order then run over to pick it up. I was told that they were too busy to take my order, but they would take my number and call me back in ten minutes. I waited about twenty minutes of not hearing from them before calling back; again, I was told they were too busy to take my order. I asked if I could just walk over, and he said yes. I asked if someone would actually be able to take my order and give me the food, and he said, «I think so.» Awesome.
So I wandered over and placed my order. They did seem busy, but not ridiculously so — people were wandering in, but there weren’t crazy lines or anything. I got the impression they were short-​staffed that day, however, so I don’t know. I waited for about fifteen-​twenty minutes and got my food — it was about 1pm by this point. Kind of a long time to wait for what should’ve been a quick takeout order. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it was all a little annoying.
The food was good — and they remembered to give us the salad dressings/​sour cream/​etc on the side like we’d requested — but the total did come to about $ 68 for FOUR SALADS. It wasn’t coming out of my pocket, so no tears here, but it was a bit pricey. I’m not sure I’d go back with any regularity, even though it’s so close to work. The outside seating area seemed nice, especially on such a sunny day, so I probably have to go back for an actual sit-​down meal before forming a final opinion.

I came here with my family because my parents are big users of the Prime card. Why can’t I seem to find a decent place to eat where the prime card is accepted?
I’ve been wanting to try this place for forever because the fam comes here for happy hour all the time. The location is great and the views of the water are beautiful… but besides that, the trip was unremarkable.
The service wasn’t great. Our server was attentive, but messed up my order — I had ordered a turkey sandwich and tomato soup and ended up with some kind of halibut burger. The sandwich was covered in lettuce, etc., so I didn’t notice until I took a big bite out of it and realized to my horror that it wasn’t turkey. (I HATE HATE HATE HALIBUT WITH A PASSION. Don’t judge me.) The server apologized and came out with the turkey sandwich pretty quickly and said something about how he’s used to people ordering the soup and sandwich with the sandwich of the day!?? Okay, whatever.
The halibut, obviously I didn’t like, but for people who actually do like halibut, I don’t think you’d like it either. It was very burnt. It tasted fishy and charred. Maybe that’s what it’s supposed to taste like, but BLECH. The tomato bisque was delicious and was probably the best part of the meal. The sandwich was good — a little greasy — but adequate.
Oh, scratch the part about the soup being the best. The tollhouse cookie with ice cream dessert is worth it. I rarely order dessert because I’m usually too full by the end of the meal, but it is worth saving room for this one.
All in all, I’d give the ambiance a 5, the food a 4, and the service a 3. It was a pleasant meal, but nothing that truly made it any different than most of the other places on the water. That is all.

Microsoft Prime 2009 – 2010
Ambience: 5
Food: 3
Value: 4
With a lovely view onto Yarrow Bay and Seattle (lilies in the water and plenty of boats), as well as outdoor seating with heat lamps, Bluwater Bistro is a nice romantic place go goto.
Yes, the service can vary greatly. (I’ve been there twice and service has not been a problem; they’re a little snobbish, but you’re not there to make friends with them, are you?)
Yes, the food can be mediocre (Their taco salad was way over salted, but their Ruben was excellent and their fries were tasty)
However, their happy hour is quite good (avoid the wine, but there’s a good selection beers for cheap); they have it both early and late.
Plus an after dinner stroll out onto the pier is so very lovely.
All in all, with a 2 for 1, it’s a pretty good deal.

Everyone seems to think that the service here is bad. And I agree with them. We were seated when the restaurant was fairly empty and yet mysteriously ignored by the waitstaff for some time.
When our waitress arrived (and for the moment we mistook her for another patron, since the waitstaff don’t seem to have a uniform of any kind), we were very distracted by her shirt, which had been unbuttoned to the point of displaying a vibrantly colored bra. Should we say something? We didn’t, and the table of teenagers next to us tittered.
The food isn’t great, either. I ordered seared ahi with wasabi mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes arrived in an enormous, lukewarm blob with far too much wasabi and the seared ahi was more stringy than tender. Nothing looked or tasted fresh.
At least the view is nice. If you just want to, say, have a drink and stare at the lake, this place might not be bad. They have two-​for-​one entrees with the Passport discount, too. I mean, that’s something, right?

How not to win Carly over:
Let’s sit Carly and her date on the deck, sun drenched, in the middle of a rare heat wave. I mean, really? We didn’t request to sit outside, and luckily we were able to snag a shady table after I felt like I was going to melt, which would not be a great way to impress my date (a first date at that). The inside does NOT have air conditioning, in case you wanted an A/​C place.
Our service besides that was wonderful, my salad was huge (and it was a small) and my date enjoyed his sandwich. The iced tea got refilled a plenty as well as my date’s lemonade.
I am glad I discovered they had no A/​C because I am sure as shit that I won’t be back til the leaves start changing in the fall.

My boyfriend and I ate here twice in the last month and we most likely won’t be back. The food is ok, but the service is somewhere between strange and annoying. The first time, it was rather late in the evening, we had a reservation, and couldn’t find the hostess for the life of us. Finally one of the nice bartenders showed us to a table. Our server disappeared for long periods of time, just about to the point where we got up and went looking for her. The food was decent, and we chalked it up to end-​of-​shift, so went back earlier on a Sunday evening two weeks later.
Again, we had a reservation, and had hostess issues. There appeared to be one or two hostesses, but whenever they showed someone to a seat, they disappeared for a really long time. No idea what they were doing, although one of them bussed our table later. Odd. Anyway, we finally got seated, then more confusion started. We seemed to have somewhere between 3 – 4 servers or helpers or something, because different people kept coming by and asking us the same thing (do you want drinks, do you want more bread?). It got pretty nerve-​racking, being interrupted every few minutes. Also, their salmon is Atlantic. Blah. Not to sound like a salmon snob, but it’s copper river salmon season, fer cryin’ out loud. The food was decent, but not very memorable. The view is nice, and validated parking a plus, but it certainly wasn’t the relaxing dinner overlooking the water that we had hoped for.

I just need to stop making this mistake… I stopped going here for anything other than brunch and now even that is forgettable.
Food is just average and cannot save the total lack of service… server’s outfit was just filthy and everything took way too long for a half full restaurant.

Great location, average food, overpriced, with HORRIBLE service. The location is good (beautiful view across Lake Washington) but be prepared to overpay for a very average meal.
The worst aspect of this restaurant is the service… we waited 35+ minutes for our drinks (they arrived AFTER the food) and we waited 45 minutes after finishing our meal for them to come back to see how we were doing. My advice — give this place a miss… there are plenty of nicer restaurants with good water views.

Yay! Great valentines dinner, great food, average service. We each had the clam chowder and shared the «Surf and Turf». 6oz filet mignon and 6oz lobster tail. YUM!
The only thing I would suggest is to use less butter in ingredients, but the taste and other ingredients were great! Prices are awesome too!

The food is ok, depending on what you order. The Crab Rangoon appetizer that I ordered was HUGE! and very good, The salad I had for lunch was very, very basic and uninspiring… The view from our window seat was very nice :)
They just don’t seem very well run, which is a shame, because it would just take some caring by management to make this place very special. Go and have some Rangoon…

We chose this restaurant for a birthday lunch because we wanted to have a view of the water during our meal. On that point, BluWater definitely does not disappoint. Looking out at the boats and the lake while you dine is sublime. On a sunny day it would be fabulous to be outside on the deck for lunch.
The other thing I loved about BluWater was the service. Every single employee we encountered here was friendly and went above and beyond. What a nice group of people! The only point on which I was not completely satisfied was the food. I just wasn’t crazy about what I ordered. The Tuscan bean soup I had on the side was pretty good, but my chicken sandwich entrée was greasy, uninspired and topped with so much cream cheese that the whole sandwich just tasted like cream cheese. The people I was dining with were definitely lukewarm on their food, as well. I think BluWater should do a total revamp on their menu, because if they did this place would be awesome. For now I give it 4 stars for location and service, 2 stars for food and average it out at three.

PASS.
Occasionally, I’ll walk here for lunch w/​an interview candidate.
This is not because it is good but it is close to the office and usually isn’t too busy. This isn’t surprising since the food is lackluster and overpriced.
Given the great location and views from Carillon Point, they could do much better.
Do yourself a favor and drive the 5 minutes to downtown Kirkland for lunch.

I’ve been here many times for HH (especially in the summer since they have a nice outdoor patio) but today was the first time I had been for brunch. I ended up there this morning after church with my family to celebrate my grandpa’s birthday.
After sitting down and glancing at the menu I was stoked to see that Bloody Marys and Mimosas were both only $ 3 a piece! Rock on! :o) We ordered a round of Bloody Marys and coffees, ordered our food and enjoyed some conversation and the water view while snacking on some spice bread they sat at our table. Because they weren’t super busy (I was surprised by this), they even changed one of the tvs over to golf for my Dad.
We got our food quickly (I had the avocado scramble) and it was nice and hot. It was so good that I completely overate & a couple of us even took leftovers home.
I’m not sure if it was normal, but our coffees ended up being free and the restaurant bought my grandpa’s bloody mary for his birthday, so the bill only ended up being $ 85 w/​tax and tip for 5 people!
Affordable and delicious — I will be back!

Oh, it’s not bad, and the outdoor dining is really nice. It’s just a bit too expensive for what you get. The $ 7 clam chowder didn’t taste any better than Ivars. And for $ 19, I expect crab lasagna that’s a little more inspiring. Maybe a harsher way to put it is that BluWater seems to me like Applebees’s older sister. She’s grown up and gotten much better taste, but she’s also far more high maintenance.
Now, happy hour is probably worth going back for. Pints are cheap, and there are a few appetizers on the menu. Add the view and it’s compelling competition for the $ 4 mussels at Beach Café.

We went to the recently opened BluWater Kirkland on a recent Friday night visit with my family (wife and two children), to enjoy the sunset over Lake Washington. I’d enjoyed earlier visits to the BluWater on Lake Union, but those were not with my family.
Apparently we were not the only ones with the idea of heading to a restaurant with a water view that night. The restaurant was very crowded, and so noisy we could barely hear each other. The service was extremely slow — we waited 30 minutes for the drinks to arrive and the first food did not arrive until 50 minutes after we sat down. The food was good, but not great (I’d rate it 3 stars), and hardly worth the wait. I was particularly disappointed in the blue cheese salad, which I remember as being far better at the Lake Union location. The wine list was pretty good, though.
We will never go back there again, due to the noise and service. Next time we want to watch the sun set over Lake Washington, we’ll revisit the Yarrow Bay Grill /​Beach Café.
[Update, October 2008]
I wanted to qualify my earlier statement about never going back to BluWater Kirkland. My wife and I had breakfast here on a beautiful Sunday in August, after having enjoyed a delicious dinner at the bin vivant restaurant and staying overnight at the Woodmark Hotel.
Breakfast was actually pretty good (posting two photos), service was reasonable, and the view was outstanding (on the patio), so I’m raising my one-​star rating, to a 2-​star rating. I might return for breakfast sometime, but would [still] never return for dinner.