Coastal Café

Ben: Coastal Café is typical of North End Halifax. Located at 2731 Robie Street, it's packed every day with artsy students, cute couples and young families. We decided to be one of those cute couples on Valentine's Day weekend, choosing a quiet Sunday breakfast instead of trying to compete for dinner reservations downtown. We got there 15 minutes before it opened at 10am; this was a wise choice, as 15 minutes after it opened there wasn't a free seat in the place. Coastal Café is tiny and is only open from 10-3 on Sundays and 8-3 every other day. I think the owners are proud that their restaurant is always packed, but it can actually be quite irritating – we saw many disappointed faces trudge back out into the snow after being turned away. I'd be willing to bet being open an extra hour every day would make a lot of customers very happy.

We approached the counter to order, as is the norm at Coastal. Everything on the menu looked delicious, but we had planned ahead in order to avoid annoying those waiting behind us. We ordered, paid, sat down – and then noticed the small sign behind us advertising the 10% student discount. As a stereotypical cheap Dutch person, I was devastated. The girl at the counter assured me that students miss the sign all the time, but told me that she unfortunately could not reimburse my 10%. Since this is a pretty pricey place for poor students to eat at, I have one major recommendation for Coastal: Get a bigger sign please!

Now on to the food; I had the "DeeeLox," which cost $12.75 – a little more than I would normally like to spend, but oh well. It's certainly more than enough for a typical breakfast: two poached eggs served over a smoked salmon, avocado and cream cheese bagel panini with new (young) potatoes and micro green salad. The eggs were absolutely perfect; I had them poached soft in order to be able to sop up the yoke with the last bit of bagel, but I'm told some find that practice disgusting. I'm a sucker for smoked salmon, so the bagel panini was right up my alley as well. The creaminess of the avocado so wonderfully complimented the sweet sticky salmon that the cream cheese almost didn't even need to be there. The new potatoes were the part I was most suspicious of, since don't really like combining egg with potato in breakfast, but these were actually quite good; new potatoes have really thin skin and are a little waxy, which makes them a surprisingly nice partner to the panini. The greens were nice and fresh, a refreshing break between bites of meat, egg and potato. Altogether the breakfast came together really well  – each part was delicious on its own, but combined they left me full and satisfied well past lunchtime.

 It's more food than it looks like, trust me.

Rebecca: I had literally been craving waffles for months, so my only request this Valentine's Day was to be taken out for some delicious homemade waffles. I of course ordered the Elvis, which consists of peanut butter, bacon, and bananas sandwiched between two waffles and doused in syrupy goodness. Apparently Elvis Presley used to order this, hence the name - and let me tell you, the King sure had good taste in breakfasts.

These waffles were so warm, soft, and buttery that I would have been satisfied with them alone. However, the bacon and peanut butter were a delicious combo (reminiscent of the Darrell's burger I had a few posts back). The bananas and syrup added sweetness to the dish, but not too much so that it became a sugar overload. The dish featured all kinds of textures - soft, sticky and crunchy - it was truly a breakfast experience that I have never had before. Served with some fresh fruit on the side, the Elvis was an amazing and unique breakfast definitely worth the somewhat heftier price tag ($10.50). It's no wonder that Coastal Cafe receives a Best in Food award every year from The Coast for it!

The Coast needs a category just for waffles.

As Ben mentioned before, the restaurant was packed and the seating was pretty small and cramped. It was also chilly in there, so dress warmly if you plan to dine-in. The door was  opened and closed constantly by hungry customers which brought a cold draft throughout the entire place!

The Elvis is the classic Coastal dish and I highly recommend trying it. In fact, all the breakfasts on their menu look intriguing, especially the Mexican-infused dishes and the Frere Jacques breakfast poutine (this was probably going to come out sooner or later, so here is my confession: I LOVE POUTINE). I'll have to try that one next time for sure!

Two If By Sea

Rebecca: As big fans of the Two If By Sea Dartmouth location, we were overjoyed to hear that they were opening a location here in Halifax in the Historic Properties. We decided to take a walk down for a hot beverage and a baked treat from this great local café. 

Take that, winter.

Two If By Sea has an awesome selection of giant cookies, sweet and savoury croissants, and cinnamon rolls. I went with their Pain au Chocolat, because a friend who studied in France with us told us that they were the real deal. In fact, she said that their croissants were better than France. And you know what - she was right. The croissant I had was as big as my head. It was buttery, flaky, and oh-so-chocolatey in the middle (they use a very high quality chocolate as well). My croissant was sprinkled with icing sugar and I made a huge mess while eating it. It was so huge that I couldn’t even finish it all, so I gave the rest to Ben. It had been so long since I had last seen Ben’s face all covered in French pastry, so this made me miss France terribly. 

All over Ben's face.

I got a regular tea which was pretty standard. It came served in an adorable Two if By Sea mug, so that was a plus. They keep fresh lemon water on tap that customers can help themselves to, which was a nice way to finish off our snack. We left with little Two if By Sea buttons for our backpacks and Valentine conversation hearts, all of which were also free.

Two if By Sea is my favourite café in Halifax - I just wish they would open one closer to the Dal campus! 

Ben: I got a hot chocolate and a really giant cookie. I have a pretty huge adoration of chocolate, so this was absolutely perfect for me. The hot chocolate was made right in front of me – it was a little surreal seeing the large tattooed man swirl a heart into my drink. He knew what he was doing though; the drink was extremely thick, rich and decadent, leaving a satisfying choco-mustache on my lip. 

So thick you almost have to chew it.

The cookie was also phenomenal, and was far more than a snack. Normally giant coffee shop cookies are a little dry I find, but this was soft, warm and chewy, making me require large gulps of lemon water in between bites. As Rebecca mentioned, I finished off my snack with (as usual) the other half of her snack. Apparently I made a bit of a mess – I hope Two if By Sea took that as a compliment.

I am the cookie monster.

We'll be returning to Two If By Sea once it comes time to study for exams! I'm sure it will be just packed with students distracted by pastry.

Bicycle Thief

We apologize in advance for the lack of food pictures in this post – we went here before we thought of starting a blog. All future posts will have mouth-watering pictures.

Rebecca: In order to celebrate our one-year anniversary, we decided to save our money for a couple of months in order to enjoy a delicious meal at the much-talked-about Bicycle Thief, located in Bishop’s Landing on the waterfront. When we arrived at the restaurant, dressed in our Sunday best (turns out there’s no dress code), we were lucky to have a reservation because the restaurant was loud and packed. After a brief wait at the bar, we were escorted to our table, which was tucked in a corner beside a window next to a giant bottle of Moet. Our coats were whisked away and drink orders were taken quickly.

We be classy sometimes

As a mojito lover, I went with the Blue Mojito, a spin on the traditional drink that featured a blueberry flavored alcoholic base as well as fresh muddled blueberries. Ben went with a Chilean Chardonnay. As we contemplated the menu, our drinks came served up with delicious, warm baguette bread and a substantial amount of spicy tomato spread.

For our appetizer, we decided to go with the snails ($10) as an homage to our time in France. It’s important to emphasize that these are snails, not escargots. To be honest, escargots are what we were expecting - snails cooked in-shell with a garlicky, buttery taste. These snails, however, were nothing like the snails we had had in France. We have never tasted snails so meaty in texture - it was almost like biting into a Portobello mushroom. In true Italian fashion, they came served in a tomato, prosciutto and mushroom sauce. After we had devoured the appetizer, I commented on what I thought was a skimpy portion of snails.

‘You know, I have to say that I was disappointed in the number of snails in our appetizer,’ I said. ‘There were only 4 snails in that thing… I only had 2.’

Ben’s face turned the same colour as the sauce. ‘I had 4 snails.’ he muttered.

It turns out there were 6 snails in total in the dish, which is great value considering the $10 price. To be clear: the Bicycle Thief had not skimped out on the snails at all – my boyfriend had just eaten all of them.

For my entree, I ordered the organic chicken breast loaded with ricotta (they aren’t kidding when they say loaded). The chicken breast ($25), which was hefty in size, came served with piped mashed potatoes, an assortment of vegetables and two little baked tomatoes. My first cut into the chicken breast caused a pocket of ricotta, finely chopped almonds, spinach and garlic sauce to come oozing out. Talk about amazing. The combination of perfectly cooked chicken with the textures of creamy ricotta and crunchy almonds got better and better with every bite. Meat stuffed with things never disappoints.

Ben: I ordered the pork tenderloin stuffed with caramelized Honeycrisp apples and raisins, topped with pan jus spiked cider and mascarpone (also $25). The pork was juicy and flavourful; like the chicken dish, the stuffing spilled out after the first cut. The unbeatable sweetness of the (local) Honeycrisp apples contrasted beautifully with the mascarpone, upstaging the meat as the most memorable part of the meal (no easy task). Once again, meat stuffed with things never disappoints. As with the chicken, the pork was served with piped mashed potatoes and vegetables, although the baked tomatoes were wisely omitted as they would have overwhelmed
the sweetness of the dish. There are some meals you can still taste weeks after they’ve vanished from the plate – this one will leave you salivating for months.

The menu was a modern twist on Italian cuisine but also had hints of traditional Nova Scotian fare. Both of us have been to Italy, and the Bicycle Thief is certainly heartier than what you can get from your average Italian trattoria in terms of how many meat dishes are featured on the menu. However, for the traditional pasta lovers out there, don’t fret - they’ve got you covered too (I’ll be trying some of their pasta next time for sure). All of the dishes are unique and thoughtful, and feature high quality ingredients which definitely justifies spending a little bit more than what we would normally. The ingredients were fresh and local; service was quick and professional. It was a true fine dining experience; only the atmosphere was fun and loud.

We decided to finish off our meal with 2 scoops of gelato, the same gelato served at Il Mercato and A Mano. We went with Raspberry and Chocolate – the gelato was pretty standard, but nonetheless a nice way to finish the meal.

The Bicycle Thief is definitely a contender for our new favourite restaurant in Halifax.

So long for now Bicycle Thief...until we have salaries someday

Indochine

Rebecca: Last Sunday we attended the NDP Leaders Debate and decided to get a quick lunch beforehand. We chose Indochine, a small Vietnamese soup and sandwich bar that also has great flavours of bubble tea. Indochine is on South Park Street (close to where the debate was being held), it's something different that we don't normally go for, it's healthy, and bubble tea is awesome.
(For those not in the know: bubble tea is a thick fruity smoothie with little gummy balls of tapioca sitting at the bottom. You drink it through a fat straw and chew on the flavourless tapioca pearls as you suck 'em up one at a time. It's so weird, but so awesome.) 

We did.

I got the Buddha sandwich ($5.95) on white baguette. The Buddha contains grilled tofu, pickled daikon, cucumber, shredded carrots and a really spicy cream sauce. The tofu was flavourful and grilled to perfection. It was a big, bright and colourful sandwich that was so spicy I had to take breaks in between bites. (I don't do too well with spicy foods).
However, the Buddha was delicious and I'm looking forward to trying some different items from the lunch menu. 

Delicious, but...

Yeah, that spicy

I went with a Strawberry Banana bubble tea. I was confused at first because I kept getting a strong taste of pineapple with every sip. The girl at the counter, who was very sweet and friendly, told me they had run out of banana milk that day and had substituted it with pineapple juice. That sounded alright to me (there were still banana pieces in it), although I was a little disappointed that the strawberry and banana tastes weren't as prominent as I would have liked. Next time I think I'll try out a mango and coconut combination!

Ben: I got the Lemongrass pork sandwich, or Banh Mi as the Vietnamese call them. I don’t really have much to add to what Rebecca wrote – the ingredients on my sandwich were exactly the same as those on hers, only with Lemongrass pork instead of grilled tofu. It was a really hearty and flavourful sandwich, which made me want to chow down as fast as I could. However, it was also rather spicy, which meant I couldn’t. I think spice is the chef’s way of defending their work against people like me who can’t resist eating really fast.

Normally this wouldn't last 45 seconds

I ordered mango bubble tea, because mango is always a pretty safe bet. Bubble tea really weirds me out; I’m not sure why I like it, but I do. The tapioca globs on their own are disgusting (I tried eating a stray one after the liquid was gone – do not do this), but for some reason they’re very pleasing in context. I don’t know why this strange drink exists, but it does, and for that I am grateful.

Not the manliest of drinks

We do recommend Indochine, but come prepared; it’s spicy, and bubble tea might not be what you’re used to. However, if you want to be both healthy and a little adventurous, this is an excellent choice. We will certainly be returning!

Darrell's

Note: we’re trying out a new format here where we alternate POVs within the post. Our original idea was to alternate the POV of each post – let us know what you think in a comment!

Rebecca: Darrell’s is a family-friendly Halifax favourite that is famous for its milkshakes, but more importantly, its Peanut Butter Burger ($10.59). It sounds a little wacky, but trust me, after trying one of these you will be putting peanut butter on your own burgers for the rest of your life.

It was my first time eating at Darrell’s so I knew I had to try this famous burger. The restaurant was packed, despite the fact that there was a snowstorm outside. We were seated downstairs and our drink orders were taken quickly. Ben went with a creamsicle milkshake ($4.09) that literally tasted like pure liquid creamsicles. The consistency of the milkshake was thick and just right; the orange flavouring was tangy and mixed perfectly with the creamy vanilla base. They even bring you the “remnants” in the frosted metal mixing cup that didn’t fit into the glass!

This milkshake brought Ben to the yard.

When my burger arrived, I inspected the toppings. Mustard, ketchup, relish, tomato, three strips of bacon, a giant juicy patty, lettuce, and of course, lots of peanut butter. The Darrell’s pickle that sat atop the burger also deserves a mention - it was exceptionally crunchy and delicious.

I assembled my burger and took a bite - I didn’t get much of a peanut buttery taste at first. But my second bite left the roof of my mouth sticky with delicious peanut butter! It was really great how the sticky texture left a peanut buttery aftertaste in between each bite. It’s official - peanut butter and beef go so well together that I can’t imagine them apart anymore. This burger was simply... amazing.

Just a regular burger...or is it???

The secret ingredient!

Ben: I had the “Turkey Cran” ($9.89) in the interest of the blog – normally I would never dream of ordering anything other than the Peanut Butter Burger. I was not at all disappointed, however; the rather boring name does not do this sandwich justice. It’s a croissant sandwich, bursting with turkey and topped with a cream cheese and pecan spread, cranberry sauce, lettuce and mayonnaise. It was the spread that really made this sandwich special, adding the same rich sticky sweetness that makes the Peanut Butter Burger so unforgettable. The sandwich was buttery yet light, with the mix of turkey, cranberries and pecans reminiscent of Thanksgiving dinner. I was stuffed and satisfied, but admittedly jealous of my girlfriend chowing down on my favourite burger of all time. I’m glad I tried the Turkey Cran, but let’s be realistic: When I go back, I’m getting a Peanut Butter Burger.

Not a peanut butter burger.

Rebecca: For our side dishes, we ordered Darrell fries. These fries intrigued us and we weren’t sure if our server would offer up the “secret recipe”. Darrell fries are spicy potato wedges that have a subtle kick and are slightly orange in colour. I speculated that they were seasoned with a Cajun seasoning called Tony Chachere’s, something that I became familiar with thanks to my Louisiana friends with whom I attended Universite Sainte-Anne. When our server walked by, I asked if they were in fact seasoned with Tony Chachere’s. That’s when she told us that “they come pre-seasoned” and she wasn’t sure what the seasoning was exactly. She told us she would ask her coworkers and come back in a minute. This left us a little confused - do the famous Darrell fries come... frozen... and pre-seasoned?!

Our server returned and told us that the fries are shipped to the restaurant from Cavendish suppliers. Well... the truth is out. Darrell fries are not made, or seasoned, in-house. Kind of disappointing, but the fries still taste good. This information barely mattered to us because the Peanut Butter Burger is so good. We’ll be returning to Darrell’s - it’s a Halifax staple and a must-try!