We came to Water Polo for dinner on our first night in Halifax, and I couldn't have picked a better…read moreplace to celebrate my birthday a few days early. If you're celebrating a special occasion, this restaurant knows how to make it feel special. The atmosphere is absolutely beautiful, especially if you're seated outside overlooking the waterfront. One of my favorite touches was that they provide cozy blankets for guests on cooler evenings. They also have bonfire pits outside, and after dinner Peter let us move over to one so we could enjoy our dessert by the fire. It was such a thoughtful gesture and made the evening even more memorable. Peter was our server, and he was phenomenal. He was enthusiastic, attentive, and offered great recommendations throughout the night. I originally came specifically for the Nova Scotia Lobster Roll because the photos looked incredible, only to find out it's normally only available on the lunch menu. Peter offered to check with the kitchen anyway, and they were kind enough to make one for me. I was so happy, and it ended up being one of my favorite dishes of the meal. We ordered a half dozen oysters (2 Northern Belle from PEI, 2 Blue Nose from Nova Scotia, and 2 Shandaph from Nova Scotia), the Nova Scotia Lobster Roll, the Heirloom Tomato Salad with fresh Nova Scotia lobster added, the Umi Kaze Roll, Spaghetti Alla Chitarra, Grilled Branzino, and the Caramel Sundae. The food was outstanding. Every dish was fresh, incredibly flavorful, and beautifully presented. The only miss was the Branzino. Unfortunately, it had a very fishy taste, and after one bite I couldn't continue eating it. I genuinely think we were just unlucky and received a bad fish rather than it being an issue with the preparation. Peter noticed that I hadn't touched it, asked if everything was okay, and when the bill came, he had removed it without us ever asking. That level of customer service really stood out to me. While they don't offer a complimentary birthday dessert, if you order one they'll make it festive with a sparkler, which was a fun touch and made the celebration feel special. Between the exceptional service, thoughtful hospitality, beautiful waterfront setting, and outstanding food, Water Polo completely lived up to its reputation. It was the perfect way to kick off our trip to Halifax, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for one of the best dining experiences in the city.

Absolutely delicious! The service was amazing, the waiter was very friendly and giving us advice on…read moreneat places to go in Halifax! The restaurant is beautiful, right on the harbour!

One of the best fish and chips places in the HRM. Located in Dartmouth by the ferry terminal…read more There's seating and a patio with take out as well. All the seafood is fresh - you can also buy some if you want to make it yourself! But eat here, save yourself the hassle. Always get the fish and chips. Two piece if you are hungry - three if you are famished. Their coating is different from most places - more of a breading versus beer battered. Family run. Fantastic place

Ordered seafood chowder to go. Two bowls cost $20 each. They each came with a fluffy dinner roll…read more While the chowder was full of haddock, tiny scallops, potatoes, bits of lobster and maybe salmon?, the broth was a watery but still flavorful. A little costly in my opinion, yet the seafood was cooked to perfection.

When Halloween came around and my wife and I were looking for some easy eats before the onslaught…read moreof trick-or-treaters, admittedly, R&B Kitchen was not our first choice. Unfortunately, many other people had a similar first choice as us - pizza - and 40 demoralizing, failed calls to Yeah Yeahs nudged us toward our backup plan. Ordering was easy on Skip, with about ten options to choose from. The offerings are mainly Caribbean - oxtail and jerk chicken-based dishes figure prominently - as well as some Southern influences. We ordered a mix of things to try as much as possible, going for the jerk chicken, ox tail, and Canadian loaded mac and cheese. Our order was ready very quickly, barely longer than the drive to get it. Even with said drive, we probably got our food an hour quicker than a slammed pizza place would have been. It's hard to say which dish was the clear winner, as as all were well executed, but the loaded mac and cheese got the most oohs and ahhs. Topped with a hefty dose of Brothers pepperoni, bacon, ground beef, mushrooms and green pepper, it was like a works pizza on mac and cheese, and it definitely worked! The jerk chicken had a really good pop of flavour from its complex mix of savoury seasonings, including a zesty heat that definitely made itself known, but didn't set off any smoke detectors. The meat was deftly cooked as well, with the thigh and two drums tender but not dry and overcooked. A generous serving of rice and peas, coleslaw and cornbread rounded out a container that was on the edge of needing further structural support! My choice was the ox tail - I love the fatty, beefy mix of meat and sauce, and the pinwheel-like tail bones are weird and fun to me. R&B's ox tail was a very good rendition, checking every box. Some very large beans showed up to bulk up the dish even more, and rice and peas soaked up all the saucy goodness. R&B likely cheats a bit with their cornbread and adds flour, but it was light, fluffy and delicious, so hard to complain about. On my next time darkening their doorway, I was dining solo and opted for the BBQ ribs. When you pick up a takeout container and it's got some heft to it, you know you're in for a hearty meal, and while this dish might not check a lot of boxes on Canada's Food Guide, you're not going to be hungry afterward! Three large ribs were nestled on top of a heap of mac and cheese, with a dark glaze that was savoury and sweet - but not too sweet. The ribs were meaty, and bites came away in easy chunks, signaling a spot on cook. Not to be outdone, the baked mac and cheese was well-executed and while not as over-the-top as the loaded version, it was still a great example of this comfort food classic. The green beans were a tasty surprise because I didn't know that they not only had garlic in them, but they had a *lot* of garlic in them. Vampires take heed! A large chunk of cornbread completed the meal with a golden brown crust on top, and pleasant crumb. It wasn't quite as fluffy as a cornmeal-only cornbread, but I can't begrudge them some wheat flour to help hold things together. Consider this review a song of praise, because R&B Kitchen is hitting all the right notes, and next time we order, they'll be second fiddle to no one.

The food is delicious and the staff is professional and friendly. We tried their ribs, jerk…read morechicken, mac and cheese, and red beans and rice. I cannot wait to go back and try their other dishes. So yummy.

The portable grill formerly known as Mamak, Asado re-branded in the mobile food off-season, and now…read moreseems to be focused on southern BBQ, rather than a tenuous Malaysian theme. For the past couple weeks, they've been set up on North Park Street, just a short walk across the Common for me, so after a failed attempt after they closed early on a previous day, I hit them up on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.  Their new smoker/grill is an impressive get up, with wheels and a hitch so that it's easily hauled by a truck. They have a fairly compact menu for streetside eats, with ribs, chicken, corn on the cob and drinks available, and rustically displayed on a pallet/menu. On this day there was protein only (sorry, not sorry, vegans), but since I'm not a corn fan, I was indifferent. At $3 for a full chicken leg or rib (4 ribs for $10), I went for the half-ish rack of ribs and chicken. After a quick finishing swab of BBQ sauce on the ribs, I was on my way back home to eat my carnivorous delights in the sun on my back deck. The ribs had a noticeable pink smoke ring, which was encouraging. The flavour matched, and they had a good bark as well. The meat was a marginally overcooked, as it didn't quite come off the bone in clean bites, but it wasn't appreciably dry. Note that these ribs aren't St. Louis cut, so they have the gnarly knuckles on one end. The sauce was good - not too sweet and with a hint of spice. My chicken was just as good, with a nice smoke flavour and I thought the sauce was a bit spicier than the ribs, but I could be wrong and they could use the exact same one. This sort of stuff makes summer days in peninsular Halifax what they are - a combination of beautiful weather (when we get it...), nice surroundings and easy access to entrepreneurs like Asado. Keep on smoking, folks. PS. Asado has an impressive catering menu on their website, full of many southern BBQ delights.

Mike and his team were amazing. We can't stress enough, we'd make the choice to go with Asado for…read moreour wedding a million times over. So organized, and really easy to communicate with. We got married at the Hubbard's Barn and it was a seamless occasion. Worth every penny! We are already encouraging our friends and family to choose them for their next event.

TL;DR/The Short Version: Delicious soft serve ice cream in…read morecool flavours at this seasonal pop-up on the side of Stillwell Beer Garden. The Longer Version: So The Dairy Bar is a seasonal pop-up shop that's only open during the summer-ish months (we were there end of September and they were still open). The window is on South Park St, just south of Spring Garden Rd. My husband and I stopped by and shared a large Ginger Molasses soft serve cone ($6). The large is really tall, like comically so and we loved it for that, lol. It was creamy and had a potent ginger taste to it, which we really enjoyed. They were quite busy when we were there. You order and pay and they ask you to stand on the sidewalk behind the numbers 1, 2, 3 or 4 that they have marked off using tape on the sidewalk. Then when your order is ready, they call out your order and the number where you are standing. They only take more orders when one of the spots is empty. So if the spots are full you have to wait in line to have your order taken. The system seemed to work well. It was busy, but it was orderly and customers were served pretty quickly. I hope they're still around the next time we're in Halifax. Would love to try more unusual soft serve flavours. (187)

The list of local businesses co-operating continues to grow, with former home-based cater Manual…read moreFood and Drink setting up a dairy and coffee hut inside Stillwell's new beer garden on the corner of Spring Garden and South Park. The hut conveniently has a window on South Park, bringing much needed summertime refreshments back to that corner after DQ was inexplicably usurped by Eastlink. Bonus, this time around its local, homemade stuff instead of coming off the back of a Sysco truck. The dairy bar has a compact menu befitting its physical size, with caffeinated offerings like espresso and cappuccino, as well as a new-to-me concept - nitrogen-infused coffee, which gives it a slight effervescence and head like Guinness. On the dairy side of things, there are frequently changing selections of soft serve, in cone and cup formats, even fancier sundaes, as well as locally made popsicles. On their first day of being open (yeah yeah, I'm a keener), I popped by on my way to catch the bus to the strip mall capital of Halifax, Sackville. I kept it simple, going for the creative black sesame seed soft serve cone. It seems like crushed seeds were added directly to the soft serve, as it had a grey hue, as well as some being sprinkled on top. It was smooth and creamy like a great soft serve should be, easily giving way to my licks. The sesame seeds added some additional pops of nutty flavour, and just the tiniest crunches. I'm looking forward to hitting up both Stillwell and the Manual Co. Dairy Bar over the course of the summer, as they bring more vibrancy (re. tasty food and beer) to downtown Halifax.

Great food (love the clams) and friendly service. My friend had fish and chips and was very happy…read morewith his order.

Excellent fish! We got the light batter and it was great! Excellent service! Nice mom and pop local…read morerestaurant.

The best lechon paksiw in Halifax!…read more They have daily fresh cooked food and the service is top notch. Very welcoming!

Stopped in here today for lunch. Blink and you'd miss it, this place doesn't have much in the way…read moreof signage but you can find it by looking for the Filipino flag in the window. I was greeted by two friendly people working there, they don't have a menu and I'm under the impression that it's because their menu changes on a day to day basis. They had 6 dishes including a grilled fish with vinegar sauce, pork skewers, pork blood soup, and fried chicken skins. They also have a variety of different Filipino groceries/desserts which I'll have to try in the future. I played it safe and got 2 pork skewers with rice. It came to $6.90 for a decent size plate of food. They also gave me a free sample of chicken skins to take home. The pork skewers are really really good. The rice is just plain rice but the sauce on the skewers is flavorful enough that I just mixed the pork with the rice and it was delicious. I think I like it better than Rocky's which I didn't think was possible. The chicken skins were also tasty and my mom and boyfriend tried one too, both agreed they were tasty and flavorful. I'm really excited to come back to try a few different dishes on the menu! Don't miss out on this place!