Subtitles section Play video
hey guys samuel and audrey here and today we're taking you on a massive food
tour of the beautiful seaside city of halifax nova scotia canada
this summer we had the chance to spend a week exploring halifax in partnership
with tourism nova scotia and the cuisine was a real highlight you
hungry oh yeah me too our quest for a taste of the
maritimes led us to all sorts of restaurants
breweries distilleries pubs and outdoor patios
and we're going to be sharing them all with you in this video
someone was a little stuck we'll dive into the seafood scene with dishes
ranging from lobster roll to risotto with scallops and seafood linguini to
fusion mackey rolls we'll taste the beloved halifax donaire
which is the city's must try dish in a great street food snack we'll also visit
a few different craft breweries go on a sunset wine cruise and
do a spirits tasting inside the citadel so join us on this halifax food tour as
we check out some of the best canadian food in atlantic canada
the following is our halifax food guide so bring your appetite
okay so for today's dinner we are eating at the waterfront warehouse and we have
gone all out on the seafood we ordered their
seafood platter or two i would go as far as to call it a
seafood extravaganza yes it's got a little bit of everything
a full cracked atlantic lobster local oysters you get a shrimp cocktail
chilled crab marinated chilled mussels solomon gandhi house-made chutneys and a
cocktail sauce all served on crushed ice oh yeah
that's what we're eating but before we dive into the food
we have to show you our drinks i took this as an opportunity to try my very
first caesar this is a bit of a savory
cocktail featuring vodka tabasco worcestershire sauce and clamato juice
which is clam and tomato juice i really liked it and would recommend
trying it even if it's just once it's got pepperoni and olive
a pickle lemon lime a string bean that's a lot of variety
cheers husband cheers i'm having garrison irish red
which is a local beer very excited to try this one
it's a red one that's just the hair it's nice and refreshing i love it it's
gonna go great with the seafood
then it was time to eat first up oysters let's do this oysters gonna squeeze
some lemon juice on there cheers to you let's hope this works
always tastic
next up some lovely looking shrimp the shrimp o'clock guys and there's marinara
sauce look at that plump
succulent shrimp and it pairs perfectly with the marinara sauce
so apparently this next dish is called solomon gandhi i don't know if that's a
halifax thing or a nova scotia thing but it's pickled herring with capers and
red onions and they told me yeah i can put it on a cracker
grab some capers sour cream to cut the acidity of the pickledness
that's good yeah i thought you'd like it i've had something like this before
i do like them i love pickled harry i feel like we ate this when we were
traveling in northern germany along the baltic coast
we sure were eating pickled herring yeah we sure did we had a pickled
herring sandwich check out these big mussels
in here
let me tell you after my uh lobster incident in grand manan in brunswick
i need one of these you do i i don't think anyone's ever
sprayed as much lobster juice on themselves as possibly i have things
have been cracked already guys look i just have to tear off a piece and
it's good to go what are you gonna dip it in kosher how
about the aioli sauce yeah garlicky
i just love lobster i don't think we needed dessert after that meal
but you know us we decided to indulge a little with a slice of the pecan flan
with caramel and blueberries and the strawberry rhubarb crumble with
vanilla ice cream i think our food envy over here very
decadent and just dense
that's a winner for sure we ended that delightful first meal in halifax with an
evening wander along the waterfront
next up we're going to take you to the bicycle thief where we had one of our
best meals in halifax this is another restaurant situated on the waterfront
and they do north american food with an italian soul for my entree i ordered the
local scallops with a herb crumb crust lemon white wine and garlic butter they
were a thing of beauty and a wonderful explosion of flavors
i paired the dish with tidal bay a nova scotia white wine
is that what scalloped dreams are made of it sure is
so tender and how about your wine my argentine red
oh yeah sam's having a what yeah gold medallion a one we're familiar
with how's that how's the white it's so good
it's like refreshing and crisp perfect for seafood wonderful wonderful
wonderful meanwhile for his entree sam went for
the jumbo shrimp sauteed with garlic cognac and charred grape tomatoes with a
splash of cream it was an excellent start to the meal
shrimpy is my friend not just any kind not of any kind a jumbo shrimp
well dig on in oh i thought you never asked
okay i'm speechless that is so good yeah give
me a giant plate of that i know we still have pasta coming
i know we do the sauce is just amazing it pairs so well with the shrimp such
juicy succulent shrimp now time for the main dish the pasta
so i got the linguini with nova scotia lobster
this looks amazing it also has cherry tomatoes garlic
a splash of cream twirl that pork a piece of lobster
mandatory
i say oh my i love the chunks of lobster there's a lot of that in there guys i'm
going to try this if you come to halifax
so i am having creamy risotto with scallops dusted with pistachio and it
has lemon zest and mascarpone oh
kind of just feel like living at this restaurant and having them serve me new
dishes because everything's so good
after such a great lunch we couldn't resist trying a dessert or two
sam went for this lovely shortcake with caramel and pecans while i opted for the
lemon meringue pie
another halifax restaurant we enjoyed is salty situated on the harbour front
they offer both casual and fine dining and they have a nice outdoor patio
we opted for a casual lunch and grabbed the seed indoor since it was a bit windy
that day first up let me show you our drinks so
i've got a local india pal ipa yes thank you and i have a
cider yep and i accidentally ordered one from
toronto hometown representatives oh you get you
get mine is not intense mine is 95 points for
that it's really good though it's a brick
works yeah i'm pretty sure i've been there in
all fairness it was the only cider on the menu yeah so and it's so nice
i'm going local over here for our appetizer we got the bacon wrapped
scallops of the homemade cocktail sauce bacon and scallops is that what dreams
are made of green seriously that sounds like such a great combo and
my happy food place happy food place happy food dance done
raise the roof and we also ordered the nova scotia smoked salmon with sour
cream capers red onions and
this bread amazing smoked salmon it makes for the perfect appetizer because
you get several bites of it but you're not going to fill up too much
then on to our mains i chose their seafood chowder with a mix of local fish
and shellfish for his main sam decided to try a
lobster roll with a bit of a twist so this is a bit of a unique one it's on
the croissant can't wait to try it last time we had a bit more like a like
a submarine type of scene yeah yeah this is different
i could hear you bite into it it was so buttery and
flaky i know that i mean i'm just gonna say i wasn't
necessarily sold on the croissant form but now that i've bought it
like bitten into that buttery croissant just complements it so well
yes there was dessert once more i don't even know what to say
we have a bit of a sweet tooth we got a blueberry cake with vanilla ice cream
and whipped cream and it was the perfect little treat
now let's hop over to dartmouth for a look at the food scene just across the
water dartmouth is located on the eastern
shore of halifax harbor and it's just a 10 minute ferry ride over
they have an awesome foodie scene with lots of restaurants cafes and plenty of
craft breweries to choose from
time for another meal today we've crossed over to dartmouth on the ferry
and we are eating at the canteen it's going to be a light lunch because
we've been over indulging a little bit so i've ordered the crobster roll
crab and lobster oh yes i'm having both and you went for you're going for a snow
crab dip snow crab which includes cream cheese and crab
obviously my lie in the meantime some orange juice and a
little ginger beer for sam ginger beer you know
what ginger beer to me is the king of sodas
the king of sodas it's my favorite soda i mean second would be root beer
but ginger beer like a really good ginger beer is my favorite and i can't
wait to try this one because it's a local product
um it's from propeller and it also features ginseng as well
so i'm hoping it has lots of bite it's my first step
oh yeah that's a really good one you know what our server was telling us that
if you add some rum make it a little stormy it's even better
now this is a lobster roll i am proud look at that thing of beauty
look at the size it is overflowing with lobster and crab
it's a cropster so let's just bite on it look at that look at that i
know you're gonna be hearing that perfectly
toasted i'm insisting you share it looks so good
oh my gosh is that the lobster roll that dreams are made of
most definitely um the bun is so buttery and it's just loaded
loaded look at that it's jacked jack jack this is one of
those instances where i don't want to share
but you're going to i'm so excited to be trying
the snow crab dip and guys this is beautifully presented check that
out it's got olive oil drizzled on top with some different seasonings this dill
and of course it has plenty of cream cheese and these are
like homemade bread crackers if i had a choice between this and
hummus and i love hummus this is like 10 times better
the combination of seafood and cream cheese is just so amazing
once again we could not resist dessert are you noticing a theme here
so we got the carrot cake with roasted coconut and cream cheese icing
what can i say i think sam's face says it all
after that lovely meal and exploring a bit of dartmouth on foot we decided it
was time to hit up a brewery we chose brightwood brewery hello
greetings from dartmouth brightwood brewery
we're going to be having a flight of beer a flight i like to call it
sliders apparently it's actually called a flight of beer
there's seven different ones to choose from uh-huh i've taken
i've got four of them okay and we're also having the famous pies that you've
been telling me about yeah bumble pie humble pies they're what
new zealand style pies yeah savory pies savory pies but before that
i thought we'd try the beers here are some thoughts on the beer sam tried
first up vermont is for lovers a new england ipa
are you feeling the love i like the mom the citrusy
apple next was minutes california common lager
oh this one's sweeter i'm sure this is one that you i think would like
okay good to know then made me blush rose
ipa no this one you'd like even more oh yeah it's less um i mean i i prefer a
stronger beer and lastly bmac ipa memorial beer that
was pretty good too well i have to say the winner for me
right here hormones is for lovers sam is more of a stout and porter drinker when
it comes to beers so these were definitely more up my
alley but don't worry we drank them all now let's move on to
the pies humble pie is a popular pie shop in dartmouth specializing in savory
new zealand style pies quite a few people had recommended them
to us and we were planning to head there right after trying a few beers
but then we noticed that brightwood brewery had humble pies on their menu so
we got two of them we really enjoyed their beef and bacon
stroganoff pie with strips of beef in a rich and tangy mushroom gravy with
smoked bacon they have all sorts of pies to choose
from like butter chicken barbecue pulled pork chicken cranberry
brie and more so don't miss out on some humble pie
when you visit dartmouth that was a huge bite but that is so good
the meat is so tender and just like melts in your mouth it's really tasty
so for tonight's dinner we came to sea smoke
it's amazing for sushi and if you order enough rolls they'll prepare it in a
boat like this yeah so we got six different rolls i've
been going to town on it for a while and we've got our work cut out to finish
this um it's amazing i just love the different combinations and there's some
local ingredients too you can get lobster yeah it's just awesome
sea smoke was a recommendation from a local and it sure lived up to our
expectations this restaurant is located on the
harbour front and focuses on sushi and asian-inspired seafood
we opted for an assortment of makis after seeing a photo of their sushi
boats online we did three of their fusion rolls
including holy dynamite with tempura shrimp and barbecue eel
sea smoke with smoked salmon and black mamba with tempura shrimp and lobster
the mackies were super creative and bursting with flavor
aside from that we also got some of our favorite rolls like the spicy salmon and
the philadelphia roll we may have gotten a little carried away with all that
sushi but guess what we had for breakfast the
next morning
one really cool foodie activity we did in halifax was go on a winds on the
water tour aboard tall ship silva
so this evening you're doing a really fun tour this is called
wines on the water we're going to be out sailing for two hours
sampling five different nova scotian wines
perfect weather nice little breeze i'm on glass
number two and the scallops have just arrived
digby scallops this is one of our little
appetizers
how are you enjoying this saturday oh it's great so relaxing so fun
festive environment great wines great food
everyone's having a great time
we got to cruise along halifax harbor and up the northwest arm while enjoying
a charcuterie board grilled lobster tail and scallops and
various white and red wines from nova scotia it was a really fun evening out
and it ended with a dance party
of course no visit to halifax would have been complete without visiting the
alexander keith's brewery this brewery was founded in 1820 by
alexander keith himself who emigrated from scotland three years prior
this place is an institution here in halifax they weren't offering tours when
we visited but we still got to do a little tasting
sam went for the red ale and i couldn't help myself with the raspberry beer
it had such a beautiful bright pink color and it was tart
yet sweet and that's got a really nice tart
balance with the raspberries and the sour of the beer
cheers
oh that is good oh yeah that's right up my alley seriously
that's the one i'm going to order once we go inside yeah
let's go ahead cheers so i'm trying the stag's head red ale
so excited
is delicious we've been kind of walking around all afternoon so i've been
craving a beer for a while it's a great little sampler and in fact
now we're gonna go and order a bigger pint and also maybe a proper
sampler yeah maybe as well like flight of beers
yeah for sure so this next pub we visited has sadly
closed since our visit 2020 has been a tough year for many
businesses and the red stag officially closed
its doors at the end of summer but we still wanted to include it since this is
where we sampled some more alexander keith's beers
and we also tried some unique nova scotian pub food that you should be able
to find elsewhere in the city sami jj what are you drinking today i
have exactly the same as you with these two
so the seven five seven nine also have the red but of course i'm
swapping out the pilsner with the stout probably gonna be my favorite i'll start
with that cheers cheers
i love that one it's like it's like a meal in a glass and it has
that i always think of a good stout kind of has like a
gingerbread aftertaste this one has that okay onto the red
that's a really nice one not overpowering by any means
nice flavor to it you drank lots of red beer and patagonia
yeah yeah that's true and last but not least seven five seven nine
a little bit um citrusy fruity so these were actually arranged in in the
order of how i like them one two three but they're all good
but the stout is my favorite okay first time
trying macaroni balls this is just mac and cheese balls yeah macaroni
shaped into a little ball yeah why don't you try it with the dipping sauce
oh my gosh wow that's talking more eating right
oh um that just came out of the deep fryer that was piping hot
wow it actually reminds me of an italian dish really remember the rice balls
yes that we tried in venice oh yeah this feels like
the north american version instead of rice and cheese baby
mac and cheese yeah i like it it's pretty tasty
gotta say i do like it just don't take such a big bite like i did or
you'll burn the insides of your mouth well we've been told this is a super
nova scotian dish both of these yeah so deep fried
pepperoni trying this for the first time in my
life which is awesome looks like it's a kind of a honey mustard in here
dip it in
it's delicious so basically imagine thickly cut pepperoni slices
just lightly deep fried i thought it was going to be the whole 60 fret
yeah yeah it's just a little bit crispier
than normal kind of the perfect like pub snack or pre-meal snack and so uh
yeah i really like it then for the main i got the pale ale battered
fish and chips with the fresh haddock seasoned fries coleslaw and a chipotle
tartar sauce it was really tasty and the portion was huge
fish and chips oh yeah i'm gonna dump that in the tartar sauce
oh yeah right in there
good that was pretty good you like the beer batter nice and crispy oh yum
after all the appetizers we ordered we could have easily shared this but no
sam also ordered a fish burger this was the garlic and herb crusted haddock on a
brioche bun with mixed greens cucumber and a roasted
garlic mayo yeah this is just any hamburger this is
a haddock burger fish burger fish burger check out this
guys it's almost like having fish and not
fish and chips but like the fish you get from the fish and
chips in the burger i mean if you're craving fish it's even better than a
hamburger during our visit to halifax sam also
went on a solo mission to garrison brewing to sample some more craft beer
this place is located just across from the halifax seaport farmers market
and they have a nice outdoor terrace
sam got a flight of five featuring the sasquatch hop smash pale ale
irish red deja moo milk stout ginger and turmeric relax ipa and the
tall ship east coast ale i know he didn't say much
but hey he looks like he had a good time right
continuing this halifax food tour sam went to piatto for a taste of naples and
the heart of halifax the pizzaiolo here uses ingredients and
procedures regulated by the italian governing
association so you know you're getting the true flavors of napoli
sam went for the classic margarita pizza with tomato sauce mozzarella
basil and extra virgin olive oil now that looks good
another fun place to eat in halifax is the stubborn goat beer garden on the
harbor front this spot serves up east coast food and
all of their drinks are made here in nova scotia canada you can't go wrong with a
craft beer and a poutine they also have another location on
grafton for when it's too cold to drink and dine outdoors
now let's do breakfast we decided to kick off one of our mornings and halifax
with a tasty breakfast at the arms public house which is situated inside
the lord nelson hotel
this is an english-style pub with a dimly lit interior
dark furnishings and tin ceilings that create the soft glow
and just make it feel super cozy it's the kind of place that has lots of
character and makes you want to linger i opted for something savory while sam
went for something sweet okay so the food has arrived and i went
for the arms breakfast this is their classic
and i got it with two sunny-side up eggs bacon instead of sausage some whole
grain toast hash browns and i also have some fresh
fruit some pineapple melon watermelon cute little bottle of ketchup
so yeah i think this is going to be a very tasty meal
shall we again
guys this is what i've been waiting for just absolutely
awesome three pieces of french toast locally sourced blueberries come along
with it we've also got a little bit of strawberry melon slices
and also watermelon and the best part too is
it's pure canadian maple syrup to add on to that which is a part of
having a canadian breakfast i mean i would even put maple syrup on on the
savory items that's how good it tastes that's how canadian he is guys yes
i'm gonna pour it over all three slices and you know what they gave us give me a
generous jar and i intend to use it look at it
overflowing like that that's totally awesome and that's the
best kind to use for french toast
now let's talk about donaires this legendary halifax dish consists of
shaved slices of beef on a pita topped with diced tomatoes and onions and a
sweet and garlicky sauce made with condensed milk
we grabbed one to go at johnny k's authentic donaires the moment we've been
waiting for this is halifax's official food if you didn't know that
you might have thought oh maybe it's lobster or something no it's actually
the donaire and the donaire first came to halifax in
the 1970s when they first tried to sell it
it wasn't that big of a hit because people vocals didn't really enjoy the
lamb and yogurt-based sauce so they modified it to include like beef
and chicken and they also included a sweet sauce which was more to
the local taste and it's been an institution in this
city ever since i'm trying not to make too much of a mess oh i can see yeah
there's a lot of a lot of sauce filling out oh yeah i could not believe the
amount of sauce you put two ladles of salt in there oh like that is
that is what this is known for so saucy affair i think the sauce is the
main ingredient really
that's sweet sauce my goodness you can taste the donair meat as well
it's also got onions and tomato which makes kind of like the
ultimate late-night meal here in halifax or
a lunch or snack for that matter
so we've talked a lot about wine and craft beer but now let's move on to
spirits for our next drink experience we made
our way to the halifax citadel where compass distillers aged their spirits
we joined their raise your spirits tour we met at the entrance of the citadel
where we were welcomed by a highlander who shared a bit of history about this
fortification and also shared a bit about the role
alcohol played in rallying the british troops
in fact in the early 1800s the southern part of brunswick street was referred to
as knock him down street because of the number of taverns
and fights that broke out there
we then got to see where the barrels are kept and learn how the various spirits
are aged
and then it was time to do a little tasting we tried a total of three
spirits the noon gun gin the fort george
jennifer and the daily ration rum this was paired
with a lovely charcuterie board featuring an assortment of meats
artisanal cheeses and bread it was a fun evening and a unique way to
experience the citadel at night another halifax restaurant we ate at is
the mercantile social this is a really trendy spot with a cool
design and a ceiling that's covered in paintings so don't forget to look up we
went there for happy hour and a light bite
sure cheers happy hour at the mercantile mercantile that's right and
i've got disoros which is a local red wine
yeah it's so nice to be chilling out here during happy hour
and we've got some delicious bites coming up soon too so i got the gin
ricky it's happy hour here from 4 to 6 p.m
first time drinking a gin ricky this one's like very limey
kind of zesty tiny bit sweet i like it so this is my early dinner today guys i
got the soba salad which looks so good it's got
mushrooms edamame beans tomato avocado prawns and pure prawns and
a soy based sauce i believe oh look at that look at that doesn't that look nice
it looks amazing it's like a refreshing very summer salad very colorful and yeah
tastefully presented too look at that swirl that fork very light
there you go
how's that these are like jumbo shrimp and they are
so plump it's so good could i have one too please
yeah thank you that one's yours look at this
a tower of a burger a tower indeed pickle on top i'm just gonna
take this off for a second so i can show you what we got onion ring tomato
double hamburger cheddar cheese lettuce bun
how does one even attempt to eat a burger no one even holds such a burger
my jaw does not stretch big enough but i will attempt
that's pure delight for the double patty the juiciness of the onion ring it's a
delicious burger we also ordered a mini cheesecake and a
scoop of ice cream just a little something to share
and that is our halifax food guide these are all the places we ate and drank at
for a taste of the planted canada we hope this video gave you some ideas
of restaurants to visit and dishes to try on your own trip to halifax
once again thank you for joining us on this halifax food tour
and we'll see you soon with more travels and canadian food adventures across nova scotia canada
bye
you