On the way to Peggy's Cove you'll notice that there 1. isn't very much around other than houses and 2. The one restaurant that kinda stands out just before West Dover. This is Shaw's Landing. The first time I went here I was actually backpacking in Halifax and just eating around everywhere. Since this place had the "Best Fish & Chips" I had to try it out. The final verdict? This place has the best fish & chips I've ever had. Better than anywhere in Halifax, better than London England; just the best! Why is the fish & chips so good here? It's because of the batter. In my opinion, batter either makes or breaks your fish & chips. You'll either have a giant panzerotti kind of batter which makes you feel like it should come with tomato sauce or you'll have it too crunchy where it makes you feel like it was encrusted with doritos. The batter that they use at Shaw's Landing is delightful. Light and fluffy texture, and just the right amount of coating (not really over battered). The fish was fresh, but then again, it's Halifax... Where are you not going to have fresh fish? I have often boasted about the fish & chips in this place and a lot of people were skeptics before I brought them here. Now that they've tried it, they know exactly what i'm talking about now. To be honest I haven't really tried anything else on the menu. I have the same thing every single time I come back. But the reason why I come back is good enough to order again and again. At half an hour out of halifax, it's a little bit of a mission... but it's worth every bite. read more

My husband and I ate dinner here while staying near Peggy's Cove last week. We enjoyed our dinner! I ate as much seafood as I could on this trip and our visit to Shaw's was no exception. I went for the fried clam strips. Very tasty. I barely touched my fries and demolished the clams. So good. Husband got fish and chips and scarfed those down, too. For dessert we shared the Coconut Chocolate Pie with a scoop of ice cream. It was served warm and the chocolate section on the bottom was more like cake. Cakepie. Loved it. The restaurant has this terrible country music station playing and after we finished dinner, my husband said "did you notice that we forgot about the music while we ate? For a moment, it disappeared..." So true. Ambiance is what you might expect from a roadside seafood joint. Tacky decorations, bad music. There's a bunch of crap you can buy up front near the register. Again, touristy. The staff was very friendly and the service was great. When we were heading outside to sit down for dinner, one of the waiters advised us to head indoors since the mosquitoes would be coming out soon and we "came to dinner to eat- not be eaten!" Well played, my friend. read more

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Welcome to my first Yelp Canada review. And to all of my Canadian friends I say "Eh"? to you. Shaw's is a typical Canadian looking, wooden house right on the edge of an inlet off the Atlantic Ocean. You can eat while enjoying the panoramic view of the surrounding waters and islands at the same time. Shaw's has a dock for canoers and kayakers so sportsmen can paddle in and sit down on the patio for a relaxing meal. The owner of Shaw's smokes his own fish using his on brine recipe of maple syrup, whiskey and other ingredients which he refused to reveal, finished over a long day or two over hardwood smoke. Now, because I was there three years ago I forget if they had a sample platter or I was just being the ugly American glut and demanded a sample platter made up. I had smoked salmon, smoked trout and smoked mackerel along with eggs, bacon and coffee. The smoked fish is the superstar here. It's the best you'll ever taste. Better even than any smoked salmon you can find in NYC. The rest of the food was good as well. I can't imagine Shaw's has gone down in quality unless of course a Yank bought it and decided to put his own spin on things. Shaw's is one of the few (and I mean sparse) restaurants in the Peggy Cove/West Dover area, which not only has a great atmosphere but great food as well. read more

Shaw's Landing - I'm the Volvo with the "got to have me a real lobster trap" and my trusty Cannondale on top, heading home. - Seafood Near Me - West Dover, Nova Scotia

Stopped here for supper on the way back to Halifax from Peggy's Cove and saw their "Beer and Lobsters - enough said sign". Jammed on the brakes and parked the car. We chose to eat on the deck outside and as soon as we got out there saw a blue heron hunting for his supper in the shallows - very cool. This restaurant is dog friendly. My wife and I split two dishes - Lobster Grilled Cheese and pan fried fish and chips. There was a surprising amount of meat on the lobster grilled cheese and the outer crust of the sandwich has garlic butter and parsley making it resemble garlic toast - it was delicious. The haddock fish and chips were fresh, cooked perfectly and the light on the batter. Our server was hilarious. One of the people travelling with us wanted to order the chicken strips of the kids menu and the waitress earnestly asked if she wand the juice box that came with it... I died laughing. I nearly sh*t a squirrel when she asked our friend if she wanted the freezie that came with the meal for dessert 30 minutes later... A life long inside joke for the 4 of us - thank you for that :) Good selection of draft beer and one of our top 5 scenery/settings for this simple restaurant of all time. Late evening, still water and lobster boats docked alongside. Add a blue heron fishing for his supper and you have a hard to beat ambiance. This place has the look of a roadhouse from the road and a deck that you never want to leave once you get settled in. I will return to this place the next time I am in N.S. read more

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The place is charming, and the lobsters were full! Lobster lovers will understand what I mean. The staff is very friendly; couldn't ask for a better spot for lunch on a sunny day. read more

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Wonderful Food! The Best Fish Burger I have ever had! The batter was as light and crispy and awesome We also had Calamari which was Great also! Lobster roll was excellent. So lucky to have found this gem. read more

We had an amazing dinner: fried scallops for an app, a fish and chips, and a salt cod fish cakes dinner. Even the coleslaw and tartar sauce were fresh, homemade and delicious! The salt cod cakes were like potato and fish cakes that were amazing! The fish and chips was huge and perfect. Also, the waitress was super friendly. read more

Shaw's Landing - Seafood Near Me - West Dover, Nova Scotia

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Stopped by on our back to Halifax from Peggy's Cove. The food was delicious!!! Well worth the stop. The fish and chips are huge and amazing. I highly recommend the lobster grilled cheese, Best grilled cheese ever. read more

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A nice spot for lunch after seeing Peggy's cove. The boys said their fish and chops were 5 star. My lobster sandwich was good. The bread was not the best for the sandwich though. It was a bit too dense, don't get me wrong it was delicious bread. I just had to take the top piece off and eat it open face. read more

We traveled from Ontario and were recommended to stop in here while staying at Peggy Cove. Staff is friendly and put in the extra effort. Fresh lobster and haddock blow away anything from what we have had at home in Ontario. Worth the visit and experience. read more

Stopped in with my family after visiting Peggy's Cove. Most had lobster roles and especially enjoyed the version with butter although my son had it with Mayo and said it was good but tried his girlfriend's with butter and said it was better. My wife had the platter and seafood chowder and was delighted with both. My littlest had a chicken burger and was asking for a second d she enjoyed it so much. Quick and friendly service and reasonable prices. Great option for a group. read more

"Don't get a Lobster Roll, I'll take you to a place that serves a Lobster Sandwich!" -Our Tour Guide Al We stopped at Shaw's at the end of our tour out to Peggy's Cove. It was an awesome tiny spot that has fresh fish delivered daily. I had the lobster sandwich and it was delicious! Another in our group got the Fish and Chips and it was just as good if not better. Worth the drive out for. read more

A nice hole-in-the-wall place on the way to Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia. My family and I stopped for lunch on our way back from Peggy's Cove, it's a family run operation that is right on the water. I had an excellent lobster roll accompanied by a cup of seafood stew just like my mother made when I was a kid, my wife and daughter both had grilled haddock sandwiches which they both raved about. Strongly recommended! read more

Wasn't expecting much, but the food is actually pretty good. I got the lobster roll with butter and it was a bit too rich for me even though it was delicious. Tried the pan fried haddock as well, and it was good too. Unlike some other places, they give a good amount of breading on it so that definitely helped. read more

Today was a beautiful sunny day and the four of us had a tour scheduled, the four being Alan, me and Rick and Martha, the couple we met on our South America cruise. When they found out we were going on this one they signed up and by happenstance are right next door. We drove around the city and then out to Peggy's Cove. The scenery was lovely and we had a fine time. Peggy's Cove was crawling w/ tourists, but it's probably worse now, later in the day. Our guide was experienced and knowledgeable and was able to recommend the less crowded bathrooms and other valuable bits of information, including Shaw's Landing for lobster rolls. Shaw's is a small, family owned place. We all ordered lobster rolls, which came w/ either salad or fries. Each couple ordered one of each side so we could split. Martha and I ordered iced tea and the guys had water. The lobster rolls were good, all meat and no filler. They were served on hot dog rolls rather than traditional pull-apart lobster rolls. The fries were terrific, hand cut and well cooked. The salad was fresh, although the house vinaigrette was astringent, even for me. The coleslaw was excellent, finely chopped and tasty. I would have liked more. The view of the bay was lovely and sunny. Service was homey and friendly, probably one of the owners. We were pleased. read more

Don't get me wrong, I *LOVE* mom and pop joints where you can find some of the best home cooked meals on the planets and enjoy great conversations with the locals. So, yes, I admit...i can be a sucker sometime for the road side diners. Somehow I convinced my wife to go here....on a whim no less. After seeing such acclaimed adverts as "Superb Seafood Chowder" and "Best Fish & Chips"...I was hooked. All I can say after this awful food experience is "Caveat Emptor". The ambience was fine....the "landing" is more of a nice clean shack set off the road with a good size gravel parking lot. You can enjoy a spectacular view of the bay leading out into the ocean. There were already 2 more couples eating when we arrived - so it wasn't exactly "hopping" this early in the season (May 22). Service-wise, it was mostly fine. The server was a bit absent minded, but apologetic. She did mess up our orders but replaced it fairly rapidly. My main gripe was the food and the amount of money we had to pay for this mediocre food. We had just spent 2 lovely days in Halifax enjoying the restos to be had there and were both surprised at the quality of seafood for the price we were paying. So....expecting something at least on par, we didn't balk when we came across the limited menu with a $15 price tag on pan fried haddock with 2 sides or a $10 small cup of lobster chowder. Boy, were we wrong! First, the haddock was a thin sliver of fish pounded flat to where there was literally only skin and bones. The 2 sides? The cup of veggies was a 2 ounce cup of frozen peas and carrots, and the fries were literally the highlight of the meal. Her lobster chowder was more filler than anything else - full of rice and corn starch with 3 tiny pieces of lobster for $10??? Come on folks! I could make better 'soup' without the "lobster" from a 25 cent packet of instant soup! Overall, I'm really saddened to write this review....b/c we've had better food just in the last 2 days stopping off at points along Cape Breton for less money and better ambience. It's hard to tell if this place has gone down hill since the last review in 2008....but for now, I think Haligonians and visitors should just bypass this place in favor of the 20 minute drive into town for much better fare to be had. read more

Shaw's Landing - Shaw's Landing's self advert facade.... - Seafood Near Me - West Dover, Nova Scotia

Had the whole lobster special. Price was ok but lobster over cooked. Very tough. Would not recommend the lobster. People at the table next to us had fish and chips looked very good read more

We visited Peggy's Cove earlier in the week and got a recommendation from a local store to try the lobster sandwich at Shaw's Landing. The story of the restaurant captivated our group. I haven't read the other reviews so this may be repetitive. The story goes that after the tragedy of Swiss flight 111, a father who had lost his daughter on the flight came to Peggy's Cove and started the restaurant in her memory. He lived and worked at Shaw's landing and left after 8 years. The restaurant is a popular eatery in the area. The back patio overlooks a lovely stretch of water, colorful small buildings. On the day we visited it was misty, the light diffused and perfect for outdoor photos. All the dishes we had were delish: the lobster sandwich, seafood chowder, mussels, salad and the amazing gingerbread cake. And the service warm. read more

Beautiful location and dining on the patio is so peaceful! The service was very good - prompt delivery of the food and friendly staff. Food was just ok. We shared the seafood platter which was plentiful yet over cooked. The homemade carrot cake was not good. It was over baked and dried out so even the cream cheese icing could not save this cake. read more

Having spent a long weekend in Halifax, Shaw's Landing will definitely be memorable for the great seafood we had a chance to enjoy here. In particular, the fish and chips were simply outstanding. We arrived here after visiting Peggy's Cove and were seated on the outdoor patio. We had a fairly sizable group, so we split ourselves among 2 tables. The girlfriend and I started with the oyster appetizer (6 oysters) and almost immediately upon finishing, decided it was a must that we order 6 more. For our main, we actually ordered and shared the seafood platter, consisting of fried haddock, clam strips, breaded scallops and shrimp with fries. The fish was simply delicious. Pairing all of this delicious seafood with a cold glass of Keiths made for a great afternoon meal. read more

Good lobster taste like lobster. I had lobster good fries. Good tasting water. I had had some fish. The lobster was red read more

Shaw's Landing - Seafood Near Me - West Dover, Nova Scotia

This is some amazing seafood. The lobster is awesome, the scallops are awesome, the shrimp are awesome and the calamari are even better! I love the batter on the haddock as well. It is light, crispy and delicious! read more

One of the best meals I ya e ever had and wonderful ambiance. Worth the drive past Peggy's Cove! Much better food and cheaper with a lot very deck. I will come back here if I return to Nova Scotia for it was the best and most fresh food I've had in my one week here. We had the breaded scallops, seafood chowder, and two-piece fish and chips! read more

Wanted to go to Ryerson but it was close. This place was a pleasant surprise. Nice views. Good food. Friendly Service. Prices are pretty darn good too! Had the lobster grilled cheese and it was great. The chowder is fantastic and the platter is good as well. read more

Shaw's Landing - Lobster grill cheese and seafood platter. - Seafood Near Me - West Dover, Nova Scotia

Shaw's Landing is situated, conveniently, in a tourist area with woefully few dining options. They have a lovely outdoor deck with a fabulous view and a laughable begging seagull or two. We had the seafood chowder and the broiled haddock. Both were served up quickly. Both were passable at best, with small portions for the price, but the service was great! We too experienced the $10 mini bowl of chowder and the flattened haddock with frozen chopped veggies that Dan C. has mentioned. A bit sad really. They could do so much better, seeing as they have a captive audience there on Route 333. Nice enough place to ingest a quick meal and take some pretty photos. read more

I'm pretty sure they catch the fish shortly after you order it! Yes it's that fresh and that good. The fish is a healthy portion, and only lightly breaded, so as not to mask the great taste. Not only were the fish and chips excellent, but the service was friendly, and the prices were very reasonable. read more

We stopped here on our way from Peggy's Cove. Great food, atmosphere and beer! Staff was very friendly. Food was delicious, the best oysters, so fresh. Lobster roll and mussels were outstanding. Coming from the US we really got the Nova Scotia feel, beautiful views from the deck. read more

Perfect! The location, staff, and lobster were all outstanding. Short drive from Halifax and then on to Peggy's Cove. Had the lobster dinner and a beer... like they say... enough said! read more

The sign made us jam on the brakes too, and as it was close to closing we weren't sure they would accommodate us, but they couldn't have been more welcoming. I was happy with a beer and a very filling, tasty bowl of chowder, full of seafood. My wife's fish and chips were cooked perfectly. Lovely view, friendly staff, fresh and tasty. read more

This is the best place to eat if you are headed out to Peggy's Cove. The seafood is super fresh and the portions are enourmous! I really liked the salt cod fish cakes, fresh oysters and clam strips. The fries were okay - I like mine to be crisper. I found the seafood chowder a but watery but still tasty. read more

Really a fabulous place to have dinner I would highly recommend it. The good the service the view all really wonderful read more

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My lobster sandwich was the third best thing on my plate. When you finish the fries instead of finishing the lobster sandwich... that is a very, very sad commentary the food. Four others were also underwhelmed. There was only one person in our group if 6 who actually left without regretting their order (he had the fish cakes). read more

What a nice surprise to stop in on our way to Peggy's Cove. Open seasonally, unassuming and a tad kitschy in decor, the friendly service and the super fresh local food make it a must-do when in the area. Everything on the menu is very good, don't miss it. read more

Great food. But they were out of ginger cake. The fish burger was great and the seafood chowder had lobster in it. Prices were not as high as was expected. read more

You know when you impulsively and randomly stop by a roadside restaurant, and it turns out to be one of the most amazing dining experiences you've had? Well... this didn't happen at Shaw's Landing. After seeing a few signs advertising "the best fish and chips -Debbie S", and "superb seafood chowder - Jack L" on the highway to/from Peggy's Cove, my husband and I curiously stopped by to see what the hype was about. It turns out it was false advertising, or maybe self-advertising and the food quality was terrible. A restaurant like this should not survive in Nova Scotia, where every other restaurant serves the freshest-caught seafood from the Atlantic. We entered and sat down to ponder the menu and settled on two relatively expensive -but hopefully delicious- choices: small lobster chowder appetizer ($10) and a pan-fried haddock filet with fries, a side of veggies, and coleslaw ($15). Nearly ten minutes later, there was no sign of the waitress/ owner returning to take our orders. She finally arrived and said cheerily, "Oops, I'd forgotten about you. Sorry!" This, despite the fact that we were the only customers present since two tables had left in the interim. This happened again a few minutes after ordering, with her returning chirping, "Oops, I forgot to ask you what you wanted to drink. Sorry!" Yep, we were still the only customers in the restaurant. The food arrived 15 minutes later, and it looked sad and pathetic. The waitress had mistakenly given us a very small and wrinkly baked potato instead of fries, and "veggies" was approximately 2 tablespoons-worth of frozen mixed vegetables in a ramekin (seriously??). The "lobster chowder" was a tomato-based soup that was ladled out into a small bowl into which they mixed three small lobster pieces (yes, I did count each precious morsel). The worst part was that the haddock was clearly not fresh but FROZEN as evidenced by its tough and chewy texture. When we reiterated our order for fries, the waitress apologetically took the potato back, although I wondered to myself what she was going to do with the rejected baked potato. With only an appetizer and an entree, we walked out having spent $32 for terrible food and bad -but friendly- service. Sorry David B, it looks like the restaurant has gone far downhill in the two years since you last reviewed. As mentioned, there is much better seafood to be had almost anywhere else in the province. Best to keep driving past.... read more

Okay. I have eaten fish and chips across Canada. This is in my top three best I've ever had. Serving was huge so be hungry when you come. I usually don't like tarter sauce but the homemade stuff they make is incredible! Friendly staff and great local beers. Someone else had the lobster sandwich which was also stellar, came on homemade bread. Get away from the crowd at Peggy's Cove and eat here! read more

It's a good stop on way back from your visit to the South shore. I believe it is open on a seasonal basis.

Good food but order water to drink. Their ice tea is $2.50 for a small glass and there are NO FREE REFILLS. Each ice tea you order is $2.50.

I recently took the Greater Windsor Concert Band on a concert tour of Nova Scotia and PEI. The tour company was going to have us eat in Peggy's Cove but I insisted that we go to Shaw's Landing (having been there 15 years ago). We were a group of 34 and were Not disappointed! We took up the whole deck and probably sampled everything on the menu. Best meal of the whole trip! The tour guide thanked me and said they would use Shaw's from now on. Food is amazing, view is amazing, service is amazing. Go there. Lobster, Beer, enough said!! read more

Great little local spot with fresh lobster and fish options. Very well priced too. You get a lot of food for the price. My wife had pan fried haddock and could not finish it all as there were five prices at least. Highly recommend. Right on the water too so a nice view. read more