Favorites from Halifax Nova Scotia

We were on the Regal Princess for a five night sailing where Halifax was the first port of call. It was the first time for me to Halifax on a cruise ship.  No planned excursions.  This was going to be an "ad hoc" adventure.  One of my favorite ways to explore a new city.  I rely on Yelp alot for recommendations for bars and restaurants, but also like to rely on locals to help guide you through.  I always figure someone who lives here will want you to have a good time.  That came in handy for one of our stops.

We were off the ship about Noon and only about five minutes away was the first stop at Garrison's Brewery. I have never heard of this brewery to was curious to try some of there beers.  The offered a flight which is a small samplings of some of their beers.  Some breweries and tasting rooms will offer flights of four beers of your choosing.  Some will even offer single beers in a smaller than normal size (6 ounces vs 12 or 16).  Garrison offered flights or four, ten or twelve.  We decided on the flight of 10 since some of the beers they had were not interesting - such as a lager and cider.

As you can see, the flight of ten came on two barrel staves and there was a left side and a right side.  Let's say it was very much like a Dicken's novel:  A Tale of Two Cities.   The first five beers were sadly forgettable  The Blond, Tall Ships, Raspberry, Wheat and Nut Brown all lacked any real bite.  They all tasted very flat.  It reminded me of your friends keg party at college.  The next day, that friend would invite you over to "finish the keg".  The first five beers tasted like what comes out of a day old keg.

The next five were more promising.  The Peach Ale had a fresh taste and was very drinkable.   Pucker Up was a good representation of a sour.  The Double IPA (Juicy IPA) was respectable and drinkable without being overly hoppy.    Lemon Drop was my favorite as it had a great tartness, as you would expect from the name.  And the last one called Lucky Punk was a style I had never heard of called a Sour IPA.  It was a nicely balanced beer featured both nice hops and a tartness.

Beer Flight at Garrison's in Halifax

It was past lunchtime and we needed some food!!  Good thing we found the Sea Smoke restaurant.  What drew our interest was the outside seating where each table was a fire pit.   Had never seen that before and since it was a cool day, being able to sit outside in the sun but still be warm sounded like a perfect combination.

One of my favorite types of food is Indian. I like most of the dishes, but one of my favorites is Butter Chicken.  If you haven't had it before, there are many recipes you can find online and it is pretty easy to make at home.   While you would think chicken and butter are really the stars of the dish, they have very little to do with it.  It is really about the tomato based "gravy" that is seasoned with cumin and garam masala (among other spices).  It has so much great flavor that you really need mo meat or vegetables - you would want to just have this on it's own although it is usually served with rice or Naan so you have something to sop up that wonderful sauce.    So to my surprise, this restaurant had a Butter Chicken soup - and of course I just had to try it.

Butter Chicken Soup at Sea Smoke restaurant in Halifax NS

Wow!!  Did this soup deliver on flavor and consistency!!  Everything I love about this dish was incorporated into the soup.  While they did include a few pieces of chicken breast, those were just throwaway additions for me - completely unnecessary.  What was welcome was the crispy garlic bread that still had enough breadiness to be able to sop up the wonderful gravy!!   

I also ordered a Rainbow Sushi roll.  If you haven't had one before, it starts with a california roll and then they build on top of that.  It usually almost always hastuna, salmon and shrimp and then there can be a white fish as well.    The fish is on the outside of the roll.  In their preparation, deliciously briny caviar was added outside which provided a terrific "pop" to each piece.  

Rainbow Roll at Sea Smoke in Halifax

Our last food stop was at the Little Fish Oyster Bar.  We showed up here and it seemed closed.  I am glad we didn't let that deter us!!  I am a huge fan of raw oysters and will have them almost anywhere as long as I have a reasonable expectation that they are fresh.  Since we are in Halifax, I felt reasonable sure these were going to be very fresh.    I was not wrong.

Oysters from Little Fisherman's Oyster Bar in Halifax

We had two different types.  One was Beau Soleil and the other was Ruisseau.  The Ruisseau were definitely more briny and perhaps a bit muddier.  The Beau Soleil had a cleaner flavor.  They were served with freshly grated horseradish and a mignonette of garlic and ginger.  If you have never had a mignonette, it is something traditionally served with oysters.  Sometimes it can be served like a granita (fine ice crystals) more typically it is a very thin sauce made with an acid (usually a fine vinegar) which had been married with aromatics.   In small amounts, it can really compliment the delicate flavor of an oyster.  I alway try an oyster "naked" - that is to say just as it comes in the shell.    That way you will know if you want to add anything.  Many times, an oyster is great on it's own.  Even in those cases, a mignonette can bring out different nuances and flavors of the oyster that you many not have been able to taste without it.  I rarely recommend using the horseradish or cocktail sauce (!!!!!), unles you are eating terrible oysters and need to forget what they taste like and only remember the taste of the cocktail sauce.

The final stop before heading back to the ship was at a local brewery.   While we were at the Little Fisherman's Oyster Bar, the bartender had lots of recommendations.  Many of them would require an additional stay, but we did have time to check out the Propeller Brewing Company and it was well worth the steep climb up to the streets above sea level.  They had many beers to choose from here but we only had a short amount of time before it was "all aboard time".  I tried the Stone Fruit Summer Ale and my wife ordered the Dark Berry Sour.

The Stone Fruit Ale had such a great aroma of nectarines and peaches.  It was as if you had just picked them from a farm.  I don't know if those fruits are local to Halifax, but whoever managed to get those flavors into that beer and also not have it be overly sweet deserves a medal.

The Dark Berry Sour was another winner!!    A great example of how a sour beer doesn't have to taste like a a Warhead.  They can be balanced between sour and hoppy - as this was.

I would definitely come back here to Halifax to stay a few days.  Many of the bars have happy hours which I wasn't able to check out since we had to be back on the ship.    A great little city, many bars and restaurants near the harbor and easily walkable.  Some of the places we went to were a few blocks away from the water. - such as Propeller Brewing.  Those were very steep uphill climbs - reminded me a bit of San Francisco.  So if you do come and want to be adventurous, be prepareed to being comfortable walking shoes.