The Seafood Rest by Which Others Should be Judged
My favorite seafood dining experience since 1980. Great seafood -- awesome mussel bar.

Great service, great wine, great atmosphere. That about says it all.    [19 Jan 2003 05:57:55]

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Recommended Dishes: swordfish (when available) and all others

     ­Anonymous   

Great Restaurant!
Very comfortable atmosphere, food was delish, very accomodating for a special occasion!    [16 Jan 2004 16:06:56]

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Recommended Dishes: vegetarian lasagna

     ­Anonymous   

I'd Love to Love this Place.
This is the place everyone sends the tourists to for seafood. Too bad the seafood is just average. Fortunately, most people who live away from the sea think it's the best they've ever had (and they're probably right).

However, the service is great and the mussel and salad bar deal is about the best choice on the menu. It's an older building and can feel kind of dark and crowded, but not really in a bad way.    [25 Nov 2004 19:52:38]

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Recommended Dishes: mussels and salad bar

     ­gravytrain   

Biggest disappointment in years.
Visited Halifax for the first time a couple of weeks ago. We were told that THE place to go for seafood was The Five Fishermen.

Our seafood platters consisted of dried, overcooked seafood. The scallops, in particular, were terrible. They were leathery and rubbery as if they had been cooked too long, then left under a heat lamp even longer.

The meal was inedible.

We complained to the waiter, who offered us each a free side order of scallops to compensate. We accepted.

While waiting, I said to my wife "I'll bet we get a large serving, and they will be perfect". No such luck. They were just as bad.

As we told the waiter, we were sorely disappointed. They brag about being the best seafood restaurant in Halifax for so many years. As we told the waiter, the best thing we tasted was their salad dressing.

We received an apology and were not charged for our meals or drinks, but we would have much preferred the excellent meal we were led to expect.


The next night, our 30th wedding anniversary, by the way, we went to the Grafton Street Dinner Theater, which surpassed our expectations. Pretty good food, excellent entertainment, and a fun experience all around.    [31 Aug 2005 19:59:11]

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Recommended Dishes: The house salad dressing

     ­Disappointed   

Great Place..Excellent Food!
Came to The Five Fishermen after hearing about it for years. Was a little scared as I heard it was a tourist trap with fried fish and an all you can eat mussel & salad bar..but, I decided to give it a go with some friends when we came to Halifax. So, the inside is a little off putting..very dark and nautical; could use a major face lift BUT the food was awesome! Very local which I enjoyed, with a flair and tons of flavour! It seems the restaurant acquired a new chef last year..and it's a woman! Good on them..she came to our table and impressed us all not only with the fact that she's a tiny sprite of a thing, but that she was very modest and explained that it isn't all her, but her amazing kitchen team. Well, I don't care who cooked our food that night, it was memorable. My only complaint is that they should get rid of the mussel and salad bar    [05 Jan 2008 10:50:12]

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Recommended Dishes: Ribeye with an oxtail & braised beef shortrib ragout

     ­Feisty