Living in New Hampshire, one of the things we all look forward to is when all of the waterfront seafood restaurants open for the summer season. BG’s Boathouse is one of our favorite places and this year they are opening for their 41st. season! You know you are going to a great place when it’s family run and owned, and into their 41st season!
BG’s Boathouse is located at 191 Wentworth Road in Portsmouth, NH. BG’s is open 7 day’s a week for lunch and dinner. They have a parking lot in front of the restaurant as well as a parking lot directly across the street. If you don’t want to get there by land, you can get there by water! They have a dock where you can pull right up or a sandy area for kayaks or paddle boats. That’s the way to go for lunch!
We arrived shortly after they opened and the outside deck areas were already filling up. You have the choice to eat inside or on two decks with one of them being covered from the sun. We were seated outside in the covered area right next to the water, that was a great start! Our waiter Jimmy came over, dropped off the menus, and took our drink order of a coke and water for us. They do have a full bar service with many specials. Both Jim and I knew pretty quickly what we wanted and I’m sure you can guess. Seafood of course! Jim started with the seafood chowder with oyster crackers. This was an excellent seafood chowder with a thick creamy broth and seafood in every bite. I swiped a few bites and let me say that rich creamy base was delicious, without even mentioning the abundance of seafood!
For the main course, Jim had the fish and chips, a lightly battered dipped haddock that is goldenly fried served with homemade coleslaw and French fries. The fish was cooked beautifully with a light crisp coating from the batter with the fish being cooked through but still flaky and light. The homemade coleslaw adds a fresh crisp bite with the dressing being just right and not too heavy. The fries are just what you would expect, crispy crunchy outside and soft tender inside. Needless to say, this was an excellent dish and Jim cleaned his plate!
I ordered the baby fried shrimp basket. Boring I know, but this has been one of my favorite dishes since I was a child growing up. I remember my parents dragging us to seafood restaurants, as a young child and even a teenager. I did not have the appreciation for seafood the way I do now. A few times each summer a friend of my parents would drop off some lobsters and steamer clams direct from the water that my mom would cook at home. Although I have never gotten behind the steamer clams, I always appreciated the lobster and the drawn butter, but when it came to going out it was always about the baby fried shrimp basket!
Let me tell you, I have had many, many baby fried shrimp baskets. I really have eaten much more than my fair share and this basket was, the best I have had…it’s one of the very tops! The shrimp were properly cleaned before being battered (that does not always happen as I have had some gritty or not cleaned shrimp and it’s just not good!) The batter is light and super crisp, it’s fried just right and the shrimp holds it’s flavor in the light batter. I had a tarter sauce with mine but they also make their own cocktail sauce that you can have. No matter the sauce, you will enjoy this dish! Oh! It comes with fries too, those are also good but the star is most definitely the sweet tender shrimp!
BG’s Boathouse has a fairly large menu with many items you would expect at a waterfront restaurant. They also have some nice surprises…French fried green beans with ranch dipping sauce, peel and eat shrimp with their house-made cocktail sauce on the appetizer menu. For the main course you again have all the usual suspects but they have the menu broken down in a creative easy way to choose what you like. You can order from the salad section or the light fare too. If you have kids with you they have a menu for the little ones. If you know you want lobster, that too has its own section. I was very pleased to see they also have a great gluten-free menu that includes more than just salads. You can also have many seafood choices, hamburger, and hotdog with gluten-free buns. BG’s boathouse also has a number of house specials so be sure to look for those. They have a website that includes their full menu, as well as a Facebook page they update with their specials. https://bgsboathouse.com/
Although we did not have dessert at BG’s, I have to tell you about one of our favorite ice cream places just down the road from the boathouse. The Ice House is located at 112 Wentworth Road, really just down the street! Although the ice house is not on the water and does not have the views, it does have some terrific ice creams!
The Ice House is open for lunch and dinner and is also a family owned and run business. You can eat inside but if you’re like us grabbing an ice cream from the window and going to the picnic seating area is perfect on a summer night. The Ice House has a large menu not only for lunch and dinner but also for ice creams, sundae’s and shakes to name a few of those cold summer delights!
Jim had a cherry ice cream with real cherries in the ice cream and of course, chocolate jimmies, or chocolate sprinkles for those of you reading from outside the New England area.
I had the black raspberry ice cream with cookie crunch swirl, this was delicious. I would order this anytime! Cool, refreshing black raspberry flavor with a cookie crunch in every bite!
The Ice House is closed on Mondays and only accept cash or Traveler’s checks but they do have an ATM onsite.
I highly recommend checking them out online or on facebook for more information, specials and featured Ice cream creations!
https://www.theicehouserestaurant.com/
Enjoy!
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