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.