I have been here a couple of times and the location is great and the big commercial bar vibe acceptable. I'm a real fan of Amsterdam Boneshaker but not so much their other brews. On this visit we were encouraged to try an experimental brew that was interesting but not necessarily totally successful. Amsterdam gets full marks for trying new taste profiles.
But I had a poutine here that was... awful. Maybe more that awful, it was a criminal act, a slap in the face, a farce wrapped in a cruel joke served with some-sort of gravy. Dusty fries, gravy that was trying to be fancy but flopped, and the cheese was melted on the top - it had been under a broiler? Who does that to poutine? I am no poutine snob but I have had my fair share of it and this was unacceptable.
The reason I know for sure that this dish was objectively, and demonstrably bad was that I was out on the patio on a cold spring night, and I was starving. I would have loved literally anything that came my way.
I recall having lunch here a while back and thinking that the food was passable but no great shakes. What is about restaurants whereby proximity to the lake front is in inverse proportion to the quality of the food? Do they think everyone will be distracted by the view?
The service was good, considering that the place was very busy.