Blue Point Restaurant (Wayzata, MN)
Blue Point is a nice restaurant, but it isn’t cheap. Appetizers range from $9 to $12, and entrees are twice that. A Maine lobster will set you back $27 to $82, depending on size. For those prices, we expected consistent excellence: fresh fish in good preparations. What we got wasn’t as excellent as we’d hoped, and not nearly as consistent.
It’s a nice dining room. The restaurant is pretty without being stuffy. There’s a lively bar and several different dining rooms. The minimalist decor makes the room quiet enough to converse in. The menu is loaded with fresh fish and changes regularly. It’s a fun place at which to eat.
But ordering at Blue Point can be a gamble. Some of the dishes are very good, while a few miss the mark. Most of the dishes are decidedly middle-of-the-road: nothing wrong with them, but nothing to rave about either.
Appetizers are a case in point. The soft-shell crab was juicy and delicious. It’s prepared simply and well: served on a salad. We recommend that anyone who has never tried the dish order it, as good soft-shell crab is an absolute delight.
On the other hand, if you order the crab cakes, ask for them plain. The crab meat was fresh and good, and the cakes were well-seasoned, but the red pepper sauce overpowered the delicate crab flavor.
The lobster and mussel St. Jacques comes with portobello mushrooms, thyme and parmesan cheese. It’s a good dish, as is the oysters Rockefeller. Even better was the New England clam chowder, which was chunky and creamy and full of clams.
We also liked the shrimp gumbo. Loaded with andouille sausage, shrimp, crayfish and okra, it had a great taste.
Of course, we recommend the fresh oysters. They can get expensive if you order a whole plate of them, but Blue Point always has a nice selection.
It’s interesting to taste the difference between, for example, the tiny Kumamotos from Washington State and the larger and more delicate Malpeques from Prince Edward Island in Canada. You can do that at the bar, too, if you don’t want to have an entire meal there.
Our favorite entree was the blue nose sea bass en papillotte: cooked with asparagus, mushrooms, roasted tomato, bell peppers, herbs and white wine. Everything was wrapped together in paper and cooked, sealing in the flavors.
The fresh shellfish linguini sounded good on the menu—mussels, clams, lobster, tomatoes, mushrooms and a brandy cream sauce—but the actual dish was uninspiring. Similarly with the seafood risotto.
Better was the grilled yellowfin tuna. This dish was served with bok choy, napa cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, ginger and a snappy wasabi sauce. Our only suggestion is to ask the kitchen to use less soy; it’s too salty otherwise.
Service can be mixed. It looks to us as if the waiters have too many tables assigned to them, which resulted in slow service. During one visit, our entrees sat on a serving tray while our waiter was elsewhere. Yes, we’re being picky. But at Blue Point’s prices, we think we’re entitled to better.
Blue Point Restaurant
739 E. Lake Street, Wayzata
(952) 475-3636
www.bluepointrestaurantandbar.com
Cuisine Type: Seafood
Hours: Lunch: Tues. – Fri. 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Dinner: Sun. – Thurs. 4:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Fri. – Sat. 4:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Reservations recommended
Attire: As you are
Prices: Dinner entrees: $15–$29
Diet Choices: Almost all seafood
No vegetarian options other than salads and side dishes
Children: Children’s menu available
Nonsmoking section