we've had a hard time finding good coffee and breakfast this week. of course, we find this on our…read morelast day. delicious, fantastic, refreshing, and homey. our dirty chais were perfect, and our server was very sweet. highly reccomended!

I studied 5 years at memorial and never came up to this spot ever to try it, which makes me feel…read morekinda guilty but it is quite a trot. This spot is a lovely place that i'd be happy to bring any visitors although the service is a bit slow and menu is a bit lovely. The interior and exterior are beautiful though! I ordered the Turnip & Potato Soup with a Spicy Chicken sandwich ($13). The soup was a nice bit sweet but not too thick and the sandwich bread was a really nice soft crunchy mix. I'd say come here for the great service and delightful environment inside and out. Food isn't something I'd come here on my own for, but as I said, I'd recommend bring a friend if showing them around town. Decent 4/5 in my books :)

High quality ingredients, friendly and efficient staff and a nice ambiance make for a great…read morebreakfast spot. I had breakfast as Blue on Water this past weekend and really enjoyed the food. The fish cakes were pretty good (I was hoping for crab cakes), the eggs, potatoes and toast were all excellently prepared. The ingredients tasted high quality and were delicious. Overall, a great breakfast!

Stopped in here several times as we were staying upstairs. Drinks were great staff was friendly and…read morethe food was tasty. Had breakfast here one day too and that was a smart move, waitress was very nice. Room was very cool, we stayed here on our 4th and 5th night in St John's and I'm still trying to figure out where I lost my favorite flannel from Pelican Brewing, we were in Canada for about two weeks and the places with housekeeping were definitely hiding my clothes... definitely an awesome place to stay and experience St John's.

Pan fried cod on dinner menu is excellent. Nice vegetables on the side, and fresh lettuce salad…read more Cod was perfect. So nice to find cod that is not deep fried.

The service was fantastic. The cook was careful with my special diet and even came over to talk to…read moreus.

Just walked off the street, Water St that is! I read a lot of reviews and I have to say, impressed…read morefrom the beginning. Had a lovely Newfoundland local vodka, crisp and delicious. Ordered the seared Halibut on a penne bed with chilies flakes . Very , very good! (Not a menu item)

Great food, fast service, clean cafe and reasonably priced. Lots of traditional St. John's…read morebreakfast items on the menu. I had a touton and small beans. My partner had an egg white omelet and we shared an appetizer size fish and brewis because we wanted to try it. The omelet was delicious, but the fish and brewis blew us away! The Classic Cafe was next to the Sheraton Hotel. We went there on our last morning because we wanted to sample an authentic St. John's breakfast. It did not disappoint. We wish we had gone there every morning.

This restaurant is perfect for breakfast and lunch. I had fish and brewis for the first time there…read moreand I will have that again next time. The ambience is diner style and the staff are very friendly. The cost is really good for downtown. Try it

I stopped by here for breakfast because it was close to where I was staying. I ordered the griddle…read moresandwich and a tea. The lady behind the counter explained that it's like a McGriddle but better, and she was right. The buns had the perfect amount of sweetness to balance the aavouriness of the bacon and egg. I sat upstairs and it's very cozy, sort of like your eccentric aunt's living room. I would definitely come back again to try other items or maybe tue dinner.

We had the breakfast sandwich with veggie meat and it was delicious and very filling! The pastries…read morewere all delicious, especially the chocolate chip cookie and the lemon cake. The staff were really positive and friendly! The vibes are eclectic with extra seating upstairs (if the downstairs tables are full). We plan on returning tomorrow!

Everything I had at the St John's Fish Exchange was excellent. It was my first time having lobster…read moreand I appreciated how there were already parts that were cracked to help me out. The server was very pleasant. She was funny and the food came at a good pace. The lobster took longer (15-20 minutes); however, she set expectations up properly and suggested an appetizer for the meantime. The one complaint I had was that we had a reservation but still had to wait an extra 10 minutes after arriving on time for our table to be ready. Perhaps the restaurant was a bit overbooked.

The staff were friendly. The view of the harbour was nice. The server Frani was great. Deb had the…read moresalmon bowl with rice . The salmon was delicious and was very moist. Cooked perfectly. I had mussels again but this time in white wine , sun-dried tomatoes with garlic.. Well they were good but the sauce was lacking volume. There was about 36 mussels I also had small country salad which was good . The over all meal was good but the services were great.

Portage was amazing. I loved the craft nature of their dishes, often using locally sourced (even…read morewild crafted) ingredients. The service is great and attentive here, happy to answer all questions and make off menu beverages. The ambiance is a bit tight and loud unfortunately but the dining experience is still remarkable because of the creative food and excellent employees.

Located near the upper end of Water St just before it turns into offices, Portage's PoMo space is…read morein contrast to much of St John's historical downtown, but it's a refreshing vibe that still feels inviting and relaxed. The menu is on the larger side for a place of Portage's caliber and reputation, with several snack-sized starters and veggie-based dishes, and a leaner variety of proteins and desserts on offer. You know you're likely in for an excellent meal when it's hard to choose what to get, but after some deliberation, my wife and I landed on a handful - smoked olives, the cleverly-named Tongue and Cheek, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower souvlaki, and fingerling potatoes. Note that you can conveniently get half-sized portions of most dishes, although we, somewhat greedily, did not. Unsurprisingly, the smoked olives arrived right out of the gate. The plump green olives came as advertised and while you wouldn't know it from looking at them, tasted more like smoke than olive - and I was all for it! I'm slowly converting to olives, although it's generally only at nicer restaurants and not the olives that come out of obscenely large buckets/cans that get slopped on mediocre pizzas and salads. The cauliflower souvlaki started off our string of excellent veggie dishes. I wasn't sure what the portioning or presentation would be like for these, but they were all a generous size for two people to share, and while they were plated with consideration, it wasn't so much "haute cuisine" as it was "piles of delicious food with complementary garnishes". I was a bit surprised that the cauliflower was served at room temperature, but the charred cruciferous veg still packed a lot of flavour into each tender-crisp bite. Paired up with pickled dates, yogurt, and fresh dill and mint, the dish hit a lot of notes - savoury, lightly sweet, and tart and bright vegetal freshness. On deck were the fingering potatoes. Loaded up with sauteed onions, scrunchion-esque bits of pork belly, and a blessedly-conservative amount of Dijon, this was a dish that harkens to a lot of continental European dishes. The execution of the relatively simple ingredients is where it stood out though, with firm-but-tender potatoes that had hints of sweetness and umami from their toppings, and the crisp bits of pork belly brought some textural contrast to this comfort food classic. The dishes were coming hard and fast at this point with the broccoli, Brussels sprouts and (cod) Tongue and Cheek showing up in quick succession. Brussels sprouts have become a family sight on contemporary restaurant menus in the past 15-ish years, and the crispy, charred veg got the Boomer parent treatment, although melted Cheez Whiz was replaced by a much more natural Mornay sauce. I'm not jaded enough yet by their ubiquity to bemoan the delicious execution of these sprouts, and the cheesy goodness of the Mornay mellowed out the sharper edges of this infamous vegetable. A surprise hit was the broccoli - with velvety smooth and lightly salty ricotta, fresh micro greens and a not-insubstantial punch of heat from chili crisp, our third cruciferous vegetable of the night took top honours of the three, IMO. The Tongue and Cheek is an amusingly tongue-in-cheek play on words, using two cuts of cod that have become local delicacies. Each was fried in a light and airy batter that was only slightly heavier than a proper tempura, with a perfectly generous amount of salt. The tongues were a bit more toothsome, but still tender, while the cheeks almost melted in your mouth. They're one of the more pricey starters, but absolutely worth it. After this sizeable feast, dessert was not on the table, figuratively or literally. Service was spot-on and friendly, without the almost clinical coldness that can come with the precision that some fine dining places have. Portage is understandably representing St John's on Canada's Top 100 list with its deliberate, but unpretentious menu that will leave you wanting more and loosening your belt at the same time.