I thought the overall experience was not good. the Salmon was over cooked, the salad was soggy and the ribs were hard to eat not sure what cut they were bet were too boney. The beans and blueberry cake was good. I would not recommend this to anyone.
ColleenB1550
Good food served buffet style. Some cover from the rain and portable heaters. Not crowded, Very low benches! Was expecting salmon over an open fire, instead it was grilled on a BBQ but good and nice experience.
Storyteller199062
Gold Creek Salmon Bake was nice. It was very rustic buffet next to a flowing creek with a nice musician playing his own beautiful music. This was part of a larger excursion offered by the cruise line I was on. The staff was very friendly and made sure we all had a good time. The eating areas had tarp above so underneath everything was dry. They provided heavy duty heating units that kept us warm and dried our wet coats! The star of the meal of course was the fresh salmon filets that were cooked over a fresh cut wood fire. They could have seasoned filets a little bit before the glaze to really make the flavor shine! They also featured unique baked beans with reindeer sausage, pork ribs, scallop potatoes, cole slaw, beets, tossed salmon salad and blueberry bread. Some items need to be improved upon like more blueberries in the cake and make the cake taller than 1/4 inch (too thin). For the scalloped potatoes, add more milk so they stay moist and creamy. We did appreciate that they had provided quick transportation every 20 minutes back to our ship. It’s a rain forest so it’s raining all the time and they were good about trying to keep us dry.
atcretired
Couldn't be more disappointed in an outdoor Alaskan BBQ than this location. Salmon was tasteless, and barely warm, even after being taken right off the grill. The rest of the spread was a buffet style BBQ, Cole slaw, Baked Beans and such. During our visit they were serving ribs as the other meat, but again totally disappointed as they were cold. Only items that were good was the coleslaw and the beans. Best part of the visit to Gold Creek Salmon Bake meal was the bus ride back to the cruise ship where we were able to have an enjoyable meal back on the ship. Save your dollars and skip this location.
Nana Dav
Wonderful experience. Good food.
Sandra B
We visited the Salmon bake for a late lunch, after our whale watching tour was cancelled. It was quite crowded (there were 4 cruise ships in that day!), but otherwise the meal was great and the salmon was so delicious. We were treated to a little 'mood' music as well while we dined. After the meal, we walked the short walk through the forest to the waterfall, which was lovely.
Sunshine22542072846
The salmon bake is advertised as an experience, but aside from the food and one lonely guy playing his guitar, it was underwhelming at best. Food was fine, waterfall gorgeous and cake looked unappetizing. We paid $69.95 (booked through cruise ship) and I would have understood if it were $40 but way way way too expensive! Also no one was overseeing the panning for gold station so we had no idea what to do. The only person who told us the basics was the bus driver. The rest was for us to figure out. I’d say to go to one of the restaurants in town instead. I’m guessing their food was just as good or better and less expensive.
SGHGirl
This way way overhyped and mediocre at best. The salmon, the star of the show, was over cooked a slightly dry. The rest of the buffet food was underwhelming. The blueberry cake, the only dessert, tasted like yellow Duncan Heinz cake mix with blueberries thrown in. I’m actually pretty sure it was DH-it had that slight chemical a little too sweet cake mix taste. I had two bites and decided it wasn’t worth the calories. The grounds were pretty though with a path leading to a waterfall. But that didn’t make up for the quite expensive price tag. If I was getting amazing food and salmon, I wouldn’t have minded the price for the experience.
Skcurtis61
We were so excited about this excursion based on reviews and what friends told us. However, it was probably the most over-hyped, under-delivering experience I have ever had. To start, we left for the salmon bake from Mendenhall Glacier and our bus driver told us we had to be back on the bus no later than 4:05pm or he would go off and leave us. He didn't even arrive until 4:06pm. I am not sure what kind of game he was playing, but I found it very irritating. When we got to Gold Creek, a man got on the bus to explain the procedure, but I could not hear him at all, and I was sitting mid-bus. I just had to kind of guess what to do based on what everyone else was doing. First stop was a little kiosk area where you were given a small Styrofoam cup of clam chowder - it was okay, but nothing special and for all I know could have been from a can. Then you go up to a bar area if you want anything to drink other than lemonade, water, coffee, or tea. The bartender was doing a great job and I had 2 Cokes in my hand in a jiffy. Then you go and stand in a long line at a buffet for beans, coleslaw, cornbread, potatoes, Caesar salad, and what I think were bbq ribs. Then you go over to a grill area where the salmon is being cooked. The first thing I noticed was that they were serving salmon almost as soon as it was placed on the grill to keep up with the demand. The salmon isn't seasoned at all and the skin (which is my favorite part of salmon), was flabby. but they encourage you to try this buttery, brown sugar glaze which I guess is supposed to act as flavoring for the bland fish. I have to say the salmon tastes no different than what I buy at The Fresh Market, but the glaze was very good. In fact, I dipped the sweet cornbread in some of the leftover sauce and that was easily the best part of the meal. The worst part of this experience was when we got ready to leave. We were told that shuttles left every 15 minutes, but we stood in a very, very long line almost 30 minutes because there were no shuttles. Finally a couple of small passenger vans and a school bus showed up. By this times people were pushing and trying to get to the front of the line. We were herded to the school bus for a very uncomfortable ride back to downtown Juneau. However, there was a very bright spot to this - we got to see salmon spawning! It was a pretty amazing sight that we would not have seen if we had not done this excursion.
Adventure592689
I booked this excursion as a combo with the Mendenhall glacier and whale watching which were both great. Wish we had skipped this part. My husband loves salmon and the rest of us do not but the description mentioned chicken. There was no chicken. Due to it being a combo exclusion, the salmon bake was our last stop. You could tell we were very late in the day. All the food in the buffet was picked over and one side of the buffet was shut down. The ribs (the chicken substitute) were tough. There was no famous blueberry cake left at all. I got coffee waiting for more to come out. Nope. The most edible thing was the kraft macaroni and cheese. You could tell it was a favorite bcoz there was almost none left. The silver lining is the menu on the cruise is good tonight and it's 3pm so at least we didn't get full here. Also, soda is $2 a can.
Early evening visit to the site. Nice walk up a large well lit path to a beautiful waterfall. This was a very easy flat surface walk along a stream. Able to watch salmon fish make their way up stream. After our walk we were welcomed to a delicious buffet and fresh salmon bake. Everything was great! Many picnic tables under tents and nicely lit. They had a bar open as well as a small gift shop. Extremely enjoyable evening. Also the transport bus person gave a good area information talk on the way over to the site and back again.
Compass20808824055
Food was definitely good and tasty and the rain forest area it is set up in is stunning! The price is too high though.... we paid $67 per person. Even though you could go back for more, a person can only eat so much and it should have been priced around $40. The chicken and salmon and baked beans were the best part.... the clam chowder was kind of tasteless. Walk down to the waterfall and along the stream after dinner, it's beautiful.
sashakeena
We enjoyed a tasty lunch of BBQ salmon / ribs / scallop potatoes / salad / baked beans & a tasty dessert. Beautiful setting along the creek where the salmon were spawning. Worthwhile experience for everyone!
HV Bautista
Great staff, food, and atmosphere! Don’t forget to checkout the waterfalls behind the restaurant.
Brooke A
We had a great experience today at the salmon bake, it was a pleasure getting to chat with one of the shift managers named Jeff! Overall a quality experience.
I thought the overall experience was not good. the Salmon was over cooked, the salad was soggy and the ribs were hard to eat not sure what cut they were bet were too boney. The beans and blueberry cake was good. I would not recommend this to anyone.
Good food served buffet style. Some cover from the rain and portable heaters. Not crowded, Very low benches! Was expecting salmon over an open fire, instead it was grilled on a BBQ but good and nice experience.
Gold Creek Salmon Bake was nice. It was very rustic buffet next to a flowing creek with a nice musician playing his own beautiful music. This was part of a larger excursion offered by the cruise line I was on. The staff was very friendly and made sure we all had a good time. The eating areas had tarp above so underneath everything was dry. They provided heavy duty heating units that kept us warm and dried our wet coats! The star of the meal of course was the fresh salmon filets that were cooked over a fresh cut wood fire. They could have seasoned filets a little bit before the glaze to really make the flavor shine! They also featured unique baked beans with reindeer sausage, pork ribs, scallop potatoes, cole slaw, beets, tossed salmon salad and blueberry bread. Some items need to be improved upon like more blueberries in the cake and make the cake taller than 1/4 inch (too thin). For the scalloped potatoes, add more milk so they stay moist and creamy. We did appreciate that they had provided quick transportation every 20 minutes back to our ship. It’s a rain forest so it’s raining all the time and they were good about trying to keep us dry.
Couldn't be more disappointed in an outdoor Alaskan BBQ than this location. Salmon was tasteless, and barely warm, even after being taken right off the grill. The rest of the spread was a buffet style BBQ, Cole slaw, Baked Beans and such. During our visit they were serving ribs as the other meat, but again totally disappointed as they were cold. Only items that were good was the coleslaw and the beans. Best part of the visit to Gold Creek Salmon Bake meal was the bus ride back to the cruise ship where we were able to have an enjoyable meal back on the ship. Save your dollars and skip this location.
Wonderful experience. Good food.
We visited the Salmon bake for a late lunch, after our whale watching tour was cancelled. It was quite crowded (there were 4 cruise ships in that day!), but otherwise the meal was great and the salmon was so delicious. We were treated to a little 'mood' music as well while we dined. After the meal, we walked the short walk through the forest to the waterfall, which was lovely.
The salmon bake is advertised as an experience, but aside from the food and one lonely guy playing his guitar, it was underwhelming at best. Food was fine, waterfall gorgeous and cake looked unappetizing. We paid $69.95 (booked through cruise ship) and I would have understood if it were $40 but way way way too expensive! Also no one was overseeing the panning for gold station so we had no idea what to do. The only person who told us the basics was the bus driver. The rest was for us to figure out. I’d say to go to one of the restaurants in town instead. I’m guessing their food was just as good or better and less expensive.
This way way overhyped and mediocre at best. The salmon, the star of the show, was over cooked a slightly dry. The rest of the buffet food was underwhelming. The blueberry cake, the only dessert, tasted like yellow Duncan Heinz cake mix with blueberries thrown in. I’m actually pretty sure it was DH-it had that slight chemical a little too sweet cake mix taste. I had two bites and decided it wasn’t worth the calories. The grounds were pretty though with a path leading to a waterfall. But that didn’t make up for the quite expensive price tag. If I was getting amazing food and salmon, I wouldn’t have minded the price for the experience.
We were so excited about this excursion based on reviews and what friends told us. However, it was probably the most over-hyped, under-delivering experience I have ever had. To start, we left for the salmon bake from Mendenhall Glacier and our bus driver told us we had to be back on the bus no later than 4:05pm or he would go off and leave us. He didn't even arrive until 4:06pm. I am not sure what kind of game he was playing, but I found it very irritating. When we got to Gold Creek, a man got on the bus to explain the procedure, but I could not hear him at all, and I was sitting mid-bus. I just had to kind of guess what to do based on what everyone else was doing. First stop was a little kiosk area where you were given a small Styrofoam cup of clam chowder - it was okay, but nothing special and for all I know could have been from a can. Then you go up to a bar area if you want anything to drink other than lemonade, water, coffee, or tea. The bartender was doing a great job and I had 2 Cokes in my hand in a jiffy. Then you go and stand in a long line at a buffet for beans, coleslaw, cornbread, potatoes, Caesar salad, and what I think were bbq ribs. Then you go over to a grill area where the salmon is being cooked. The first thing I noticed was that they were serving salmon almost as soon as it was placed on the grill to keep up with the demand. The salmon isn't seasoned at all and the skin (which is my favorite part of salmon), was flabby. but they encourage you to try this buttery, brown sugar glaze which I guess is supposed to act as flavoring for the bland fish. I have to say the salmon tastes no different than what I buy at The Fresh Market, but the glaze was very good. In fact, I dipped the sweet cornbread in some of the leftover sauce and that was easily the best part of the meal. The worst part of this experience was when we got ready to leave. We were told that shuttles left every 15 minutes, but we stood in a very, very long line almost 30 minutes because there were no shuttles. Finally a couple of small passenger vans and a school bus showed up. By this times people were pushing and trying to get to the front of the line. We were herded to the school bus for a very uncomfortable ride back to downtown Juneau. However, there was a very bright spot to this - we got to see salmon spawning! It was a pretty amazing sight that we would not have seen if we had not done this excursion.
I booked this excursion as a combo with the Mendenhall glacier and whale watching which were both great. Wish we had skipped this part. My husband loves salmon and the rest of us do not but the description mentioned chicken. There was no chicken. Due to it being a combo exclusion, the salmon bake was our last stop. You could tell we were very late in the day. All the food in the buffet was picked over and one side of the buffet was shut down. The ribs (the chicken substitute) were tough. There was no famous blueberry cake left at all. I got coffee waiting for more to come out. Nope. The most edible thing was the kraft macaroni and cheese. You could tell it was a favorite bcoz there was almost none left. The silver lining is the menu on the cruise is good tonight and it's 3pm so at least we didn't get full here. Also, soda is $2 a can.
Restaurantji Recommends
Early evening visit to the site. Nice walk up a large well lit path to a beautiful waterfall. This was a very easy flat surface walk along a stream. Able to watch salmon fish make their way up stream. After our walk we were welcomed to a delicious buffet and fresh salmon bake. Everything was great! Many picnic tables under tents and nicely lit. They had a bar open as well as a small gift shop. Extremely enjoyable evening. Also the transport bus person gave a good area information talk on the way over to the site and back again.
Food was definitely good and tasty and the rain forest area it is set up in is stunning! The price is too high though.... we paid $67 per person. Even though you could go back for more, a person can only eat so much and it should have been priced around $40. The chicken and salmon and baked beans were the best part.... the clam chowder was kind of tasteless. Walk down to the waterfall and along the stream after dinner, it's beautiful.
We enjoyed a tasty lunch of BBQ salmon / ribs / scallop potatoes / salad / baked beans & a tasty dessert. Beautiful setting along the creek where the salmon were spawning. Worthwhile experience for everyone!
Great staff, food, and atmosphere! Don’t forget to checkout the waterfalls behind the restaurant.
We had a great experience today at the salmon bake, it was a pleasure getting to chat with one of the shift managers named Jeff! Overall a quality experience.