ottawa foodies

Haven't been out to PEI/NB/NS previously. Headed out that way this summer and will spend a few days in Halifax.

Looking for some recommendations on must try foods. I understand seafood is great. But what exactly, and are there any suggestions of where to have it? Am I going to find Lobster rolls?

I hear the Halifax donair is supposed to be great, so that's on the list. But aside from that I'm not too sure what else. We'll be driving so anything between here and Halifax is game. Ideally some suggestions for Moncton too!

Many thanks. Cheers

I just got back from out east on Sunday. Halifax has tons of great restaurants and the seafood is amazing (I am not even a huge fan of fish!).

We stopped at Fundy National park, to camp, on our way to Halifax for a couple of days. It was supper cool, whale watching, Flower Pot rocks, etc. If you do stay there, in the town of Alma go to Tides Restaurant and have the fish and chips, they are to die for! Also there is a bakery with famous sticky buns, I thought their doughnuts were even better. It's called Kelly's Bakery, a must see.

In Halifax there are tons of places to go to. If you are looking for a pub type place on the waterfront I will suggest Hart & Thistle. They have some cool beers and great food. Share the mussels as an appetizer and Josh's Redfish Crunch. I would stay away from the Waterfront Warehouse. Food isn't great and a bit pricey. If you are visiting the public gardens, there is a cafe that has great local coffee and tea and treats. For Donair try King of Donair on Grafton. I would also recommend taking the Alexander Keith's tour. Not a real brewery tour, more of a historical re-enactment. Lots of fun and you get some beer at the end!

If you head out to visit the Fortress of Louisbourg and want a good lobster feed, stop in at the Lobster Kettle. My grandfather took us there on the last day of lobster season for that area and it was amazing. The fisherman who catches the lobster works at the restaurant too!

I am going to post some more info on my blog in the next day or two if you want to check it out or send me a msg if you want more info.

Hope this helps!

If you travel to the west coast of Cape Breton, the Beach Cafe at Inverness Beach has a delicious lobster roll made in the classic way (for this area) in a top-sliced hot dog roll. It is generously stuffed with fresh lobster chunks, a little lettuce and just enough mayo but what makes this particular roll really yummy is that it is buttered and toasted before being stuffed with lobster. It’s a take-out cafe but has tables set up outside on a little patio beside the dunes. It’s open on “beach days”.....weather dependent.

Another hidden restaurant treasure is the Big Intervale Fishing Lodge located at the end of a bumpy dirt road high up in the Margaree Valley. Run by a Swiss couple, they offer a varied menu including garlic soup, bratwurst and rosti, Atlantic salmon, Margaree trout, and curried chicken....all home-cooked with fresh ingredients. Their website: bigintervale.com/

One of the best restaurant meals I've had was in Fredericton - a gnocchi and roasted wild mushroom concoction, no cream in sight, made me swoon. Palate, the restaurant, was an unknown gem that we happened upon. Guess it's better-known now: see www.tripadvisor.com
Another resto worth spending time at is Chives in Halifax - see www.tripadvisor.com We were there this spring and I had a lobster risotto that was delish and a maple creme brulee that turned my crank for days after.
Had a really good burger and some fine Garrison beers at Durty Nelly`s in downtown Halifax too see www.tripadvisor.com
Also had a good meal and beers in a pub/resto in Cole Harbour, Sid the Kid's hometown, just outside Dartmouth, but can't remember the name. They had wonderful overstuffed leather chairs that we sat in to unwind, drink and eat (they have some lap trays for the eating part).

PS lobster rolls can sometimes be found in unlikely places - I`ve had them at McD`s years ago when travelling with kids in the Maritmes and my dw found one at Subway yesterday in Nfld - it beat by a large margin what Air Canada had to offer (a 14 g bag of KK pretzels)!

Ravi, don't know how extensively you're traveling around PEI, but here's a couple suggestions:

- lot30restaurant.ca - Our splurge on our last trip - a bit spendy, but well worth it.

- www.gahan.ca - opposite end of the cost spectrum is Gahan House - Ctown's local brewpub. Not my favorite all-time beer, but tasty enough, good pub fare and super friendly atmosphere.

- www.bluemusselcafe.com - on the north side of the island (N. Rustico) partner really enjoyed Blue Mussel Cafe. We camped nearby - BMC is where she went 3 days straight to inhale various scallop and mussel plates. Nothing fancy, but emphasis on local (duh!) and a style that emphasizes the freshness (not buried in batter, etc.). Awesome potato salad (PEI potatoes tasted great!)

Finally, are you taking the ferry from / to Pictou (NS)? An unexpected surprise was the discovery of Tak's Thai, a tiny take-out hut on the waterfront. You eat at the picnic benches overlooking the harbor - its not palace/high-end Thai, but a happy take-out.

Go here: Ryer's Lobster in Indian Harbour just past Peggy's Cove. This is a real lobster pound. Walk into the front of the warehouse, order lobster and oysters, enjoy.

Corner of Ryer's Road and Peggy's Cove Road. Click on the link and go to street view. It's the white warehouse with the truck outside.

maps.google.com,+Indian+Harbour,+Nova+Scotia&hl=en&ll=44.514494,-63.935055&spn=0.001966,0.010525&sll=44.514494,-63.935060&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&layer=c&cbp=11,1.41,,0,-1.48&cbll=44.514495,-63.935059&gl=us&z=17&panoid=DSHo0obGlFoD6SGnwwMf6Q

Downtown diner.. sorry for the silly question. But how exactly is the seafood cooked/served?

Thanks for all the suggestions. We're in Halifax for three days. I'm wondering if we have enough suggestions to fill those days. We're thinking of stopping in Quebec City on the way back for a day.. but mainly to eat and wander about.. anything we should experience in terms of food?

It sounds like a boat load of drinking will be done on this trip lol.. So as we're staying in downtown halifax I hope the pubs/food is nearby usually.

Any amazing bakeries?

The lobster is thrown in a big pot of boiling water then served on a plastic tray. The oysters are served raw with a little lemon. Shucking took time since the owner ate a few himself. :-) These are no fancy digs, but it was a fun experience and some very fresh seafood. You would need a car to get there, but the drive along the coast is a nice as it gets.

For fancier fare, we tried the Five Fishermen on Argyle downtown. The Press Gang is also supposed to be good. As a beer lover, I enjoyed my visit to Garrison Brewery near Pier 21. Maxwell's Plum, Henry House, Hart and Thistle, Rogue Roost also all have good beer.

The lobster pound at Hall's Harbour is an annual stop for me:

www.cameronseafoods.ca/

The visual: www.novascotiawebcams.com

Lots of great little restaurants in the Annapolis Valley. The Tempest and Acton's in Wolfville are favorites of mine.

@refashionis omg that place looks so yum!

@Downtown Diner, many thanks. I have put Garrison Brewery on my list. As I just learned Alexander Keith's is just a museum kinda show.

Question though, do they give you something to dip it in? Or do people just eat the boiled lobster plain. I've eaten lobster made two ways.. at Red lobster where you dip it in this oil butter/garlic concoction and at every asian wedding or event. The asian lobster dishes I enjoy quite a bit. The red lobster boil and dip in that butter bit I can't say I enjoyed at all.

It looks like Halifax has some good southern style bbq joints. I've put them on my list.. the SO says.. we're going for seafood not bbq! But Ottawa has no real bbq joints yet. So I'm excited to enjoy some. *There is apparently two proper bbq smokehouses opening in Ottawa August/fall if I recall correctly.

Ravi, if you're in Halifax over a weekend a visit to the Halifax Seaport Farmer's Market may interest you: halifaxfarmersmarket.com/ The Saturday market is the big day but there are other market days that may interest you (see Opening Hours). As you're not likely doing any cooking you could just check out The Fish Store to whet your seafood appetite; I'd suggest buying some cheese to bring home or snack on from That Dutchman's Cheese shop (gouda with cumin and Dragon's Breath Blue are my faves) and some baklava made by a local Arabic family with a small booth at the market.
If butter (and garlic) is what you get with your lobster I suggest that you bring a lemon or lime and a knife with you so you can squeeze some into the butter if that would help. We were at a lobster boil a couple weeks ago that had only melted butter and no-one complained; we just noshed away at the meat, eggs and liver - yum!

Had a great lobster roll at a Irvine truck stop on the way to Halifax just out side Edmundston Newbrunswick. Tried another roll at Peggys Cove restaurant and it was meh. All mayo and a little lobster.

Just got back from a trip to the West coast. Selling east coast lobster in restaurants for $54.00 total rip off. But customers were eating them anyway. Victoria also way over priced when it came to seafood.
We stuck to the out of the way small restos that gave good food at a fair price.
Had great crab cakes at Pecatori's just beside the Fairmont Empress hotel, recommendation by the bellman.

Last time I was home I tried Heartwood on Quinpool. Tasty food, under $20 price ranges, lots of options for food allergies/ intolerances, good service and doesn't try to be all fancy/ snooty.
I'm interested in trying The Wooden Monkey on Grafton when I'm there in August; they've got a nice selection for vegetarian or omnivore with local/ organic ingredients, with a fair amount of accommodation for gluten free people as well. It's a bit pricier and looks more fancy dining-ish; I suppose I can allow that for an evening.
My parents swear by Murphy's Fish and Chips in Truro. I'm not a big breaded fish guy so I never really join them when they indulge.

Sheila's !!!

She is located at a beach just southwest of Halifax NS. Near Hubbards on St Margaret's Bay. She gave me three pieces of fried haddock when I only ordered two. Sheila said "One of the pieces looked a little small so I gave you three".

Took me two hours of swimming in the Atlantc ocean to burn off the fish and chips.

PS: The pic was taken by me while on vacation a few years ago.

Here was Sheila's Menu !

Downtown Halifax, i've had a few really excellent meals at this place: www.fivefishermen.com/ They do mean things to swordfish. And i mean that in a good way.

Press Gang www.thepressgang.net/ and McKelvie's mckelvies.com/ are also very good, both downtown.

Just wanted to chime in and say that, quite coincidentally, during my only visit to Halifax (~15 years ago) I also really enjoyed the swordfish at the Five Fishermen! :-)

I would just like to throw in some support for the halifax donair. I know King of Donair has a bit of a reputation but if you find yourself mobile, I suggest checking out Bash Toulaney's -- it was fantastic when I was there last year.

I'll also second the Garrison Brewery. If you happen to be in Halifax on a Thursday night, then check out the Mellotones at the Seahorse Tavern and have yourself the 'Seahorse Special', a blend of two propeller beers which is oddly cheap, but which I thought was delicious.

We were out east two summers ago and there were two pleaces we adored -

The Split Crow in Halifax - an unassuming pub with the best fish and chips from the whole trip

Celtic Corners in Dartmouth - I am not exaggerating - we would fly out east JUST TO EAT HERE AGAIN. It's a pub where all food is made from scratch - corned beef, gravy, hand cut fries - I still drool about the 2 meals I ate there to this day.

Everyone in Halifax recommended Salty's on the water - it was reeeally expensive and the food wasn't that good.

Oh and I third the Garrison's....we might have brought back about 120 bottles of beer...half of which was the Apricot Wheat....

If you're on your way to PEI and driving through Cap Pélé NB (just outside of Shediac) there is Fred's Restaurant that serves the best fried clams around. In Moncton, the best pizza in town is at Vito's (corner of Mountain Rd and Vaughn Harvey Blvd). If you are driving through the Miramichi (Newcastle/Chatham NB) there's a gem of a fish n chips takeout called Esty's on Chaplin Island Rd. Any Irving Big Stop on the trans Canada is great truck stop style home cooking. King of Donairs in Halifax is a must stop for me when I go there. There are tons of small down home style restaurants/takeouts/diners that serve great lobster rolls. Rule of thumb, the closer to the water, the better.

Salty's isn't worth it - ditto Murphy's on the Water. If you really want waterfront dining then I would recommend Hart & Thistle. Otherwise, try to stay away from the touristy places on the water!!!
Old Triangle is one of my favourite pubs - live Irish music and no cover. The Lower Deck is also a good time, especially if Signal Hill is playing.

Magnolia's in Lunenburg, assuming you make it to the South Shore.

Pumphouse is a good local brewpub in Moncton, decent beers too! St. James Gate also had deadly food... a friend brought me there and I was very impressed.

Echo the advice to try Magnolia's in Lunenburg. Scallops that were out of this world.

omg this is great. Though I wonder if the SO is going to be ok with 5 places a day for food.. LOL. Nah I'll probably just stick to three.

Enroute through Quebec city and then up through PEI then back down to moncton for the first leg, moncton to halifax the next day. So I'll aim for most of these recommendations.

From Ottawa to PEI. maybe in around quebec city. is there any recommendations? something preferably close to the road.

To follow up on your earlier question, I think the lobster was just served with some optional sauces (ie tobasco) and butter on the side. But we chose to eat it plain, straight out of the shell. If traveling with family or friends, I suggest splurging on a nice big one rather than getting a couple of small ones. There's nothing quite so gratifying as cracking open one of those giant claws with your bare hands and pulling out a fistful of lobster meat, all the while fending off flocks of pillaging seagulls!. Maybe some others can fill you in, but I think there are some lobster buying tricks like don't buy one with a soft shell because it has less meat per pound.