Durty Nelly's

Rebecca: Durty Nelly's is an Irish pub with a great atmosphere and great food. Unfortunately we couldn't nab a spot on their lovely patio, but the bar inside is quite nice.

I saw the most delicious looking burger go by on a server's tray. It had onion rings sitting atop it, and the entire thing was speared with a large steak knife. It was served with hand-cut fries. "That's what I want," I decided.

Yup.

This burger is called The Bigger Better Nelly's Burger ($12.99). From the Nelly's menu: "Hand made patty seasoned to perfection loaded with double smoked bacon, Guinness cheddar cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, red onions, and mayo on a sesame seed bun. Topped off with two onion rings." How can anyone pass that up? The burger was juicy, delicious, and quite intense - definitely something you have to be in the mood for. I thought the pricing of the menu items was reasonable - however, the drinks at Nelly's are very expensive.

Ben: Rebecca VERY strongly recommended the Grilled Chicken and Baked Brie Panini, so I that’s what I ordered, with a garden salad on the side. As usual, her taste buds did not disappoint – this thing was really good. My only complaint was that the cheese wasn’t as melty as I had expected, but Rebecca assured me this was a one-time mistake. Insufficient meltiness aside, Brie is delicious on whatever it is added to, and there was plenty of it on this sandwich. The other ingredients were all really fresh, which is maybe not what you would expect from pub food. The homemade garlic mayonnaise, however, is what really made the panini stand out; I’m a sucker for homemade mayo, and this went really well with the Brie. The side salad, however, was a pretty standard garden salad – I prefer salad to fries though, especially on a hot day. I should also mention, finally, that this meal was somehow flagged as “healthy” on the menu. I’m not sure how that’s possible, given all the cheese; I suspect they may have stretched the definition of healthy, but I can’t know for sure.

Looks healthy enough...

But look at that cheese

Elements on Hollis – Guest Post by Michael Sandoval

            While with family as we visited Canada, we stopped over in Halifax for a meal, among other things. Being tourists, we had no idea which places were good, which were new, etc. So we drove around a little and saw Elements on Hollis, pulled in, and hoped for the best. As for what we got, let me begin with how I see the typical dining place:

            The average restaurant, no matter where you go, tends to be very conservative with their offerings. Sure, some small businesses use locally grown ingredients, but what they make is very normal for the area - for us Americans, a burger, fries, maybe some steak, some grilled pork... Not so with Elements on Hollis - they mix local support with a very diverse menu! Sitting there and reading that menu was both tantalizing and stressful - in an "oh God what'll I choose to get?"- indecisive kind of way.

        Once I had gotten over myself and made a choice, I went with the Apple Cider Pork Chop - not too far from what I'm used to, but it definitely sounded like quite the adventure:

    I was thoroughly impressed with the flavor of the chop, especially considering pork chops are not usually among my personal favorite foods. Moreover, I found it to be very tender, and thus easily chewed.  While the price escapes me as I write this, I was completely satisfied with it and found my decision worth it nonetheless. The only complaint I have is that I don't have an infinite stomach to try the rest of the menu!

Michael Sandoval is a caterer from California.  He is the online community manager for Better Cater (www.bettercater.com)  During his free time he enjoys traveling, discovering new restaurants, and BBQ.    

The Fickle Frog

Like many university students, Rebecca has gone home for the summer months to work and be with family. I, however, am a born and raised Haligonian, and won’t be going anywhere any time soon. I’m stuck here, moping around until Rebecca returns in September…and for me, moping means a whole lot of eating. This is the first edition of Lonely Benjamin Blog.

(Now we do have a few extra posts saved up from the school year, so this won’t be all you get this summer. Wouldn’t want things to get too melancholy)

A few nights ago a couple friends and I wanted to go for a drink. Our first idea was Rockbottom, but they had a band setting up, and sometimes we just want quiet while we get our drank on. We were also lazy, so we decided to just cross the street over to the Fickle Frog, a great place for some laid back conversation, cold beers that aren’t Molson or Coors Light, and surprisingly delicious pizza.

Last summer, Gatsby’s, a Halifax staple, went through a much-needed facelift, renovating and rebranding itself as the Fickle Frog. I remember reviews from that period were mixed – Haligonians don’t always like change, after all, and the frog mascot annoyed more than a few people at first. The daily specials, however, immediately caught my eye; from Toonie Tacos to $7 unlimited spaghetti, each day of the week means a different deal. Rebecca and I used to love going for the $7.50 steiners of Sleeman’s on Fridays after a long week of school.

Look how pleased she is.

This was a Thursday night, so pints of Sleeman’s were $3.75. We opted for the pitcher and pizza deal for $20, however, since we were feeling a little peckish. I had heard from my dad and sister that this pizza was fantastic, so I had to try it myself. And it didn’t disappoint! We got the works, which had everything you would expect – green peppers, mushrooms, ground beef, bacon, onions, etc. The sauce was sloppy and got everywhere, but it was still delicious; not exactly gourmet, but better than Pizza Hut for sure. The cheese didn’t stretch an outrageous amount (one of my pizza pet peeves), and didn’t fall off the slice. It was thick crust, of course, but who really wants a gourmet pizza as they’re sitting over beers after a long day?

Possibly the worst picture I have ever taken

Apparently you also have the option of making the center of your pizza garlic fingers. This intrigues me, but I’ve heard it needs to be done with one of the larger pizzas. Oh well, I’ll just have to go again sometime when I’m hungrier.

Armview

Rebecca: We decided to go get us some Armview after having seen it featured on the Food Network Canada's new series entitled "You Gotta Eat Here". According to the episode, the Armview is under new management, a duo of young Greek entrepreneurs who love fresh and healthy food. Our meals at Armview were indeed fresh and healthy (the "healthy" part excludes the two large milkshakes we drank). Looking around the restaurant, the majority of other diners had opted for items from the Armview's expanding Greek menu. These people (most likely faithful Armview regulars) know what's up. The Greek selections were absolutely delicious, and likely contributed to the Armview winning the prestigious title of "Best Diner" in the Coast's 2012 Best of Food survey.

I got the Souvlaki Wrap ($10.50) with marinated chicken, onion, tomato and tzaziki. The wrap was huge and piping hot. It came conveniently wrapped in tin foil, so there was no mess or fallout. The chicken was moist and flavorful; each piece was brushed with a marinade of various seasonings which brought some serious spice to the chicken. But, not to worry: any heat was offset by the creamy tzaziki. As you can see from the photo, I chose french fries as my side. Why, oh why didn't I choose the Greek Salad? Sometimes I lay awake at night regretting this awful decision. The Greek Salad at Armview is the real deal - no lettuce, just tomato, cucumbers, green peppers, red onions, Kalmata olives, and big chunks of feta all drizzled in olive oil. When I was in Greece, it was safe to say that I became very closely acquainted with Greek Salad. For only $2 extra at Armview, you must upgrade your side to Greek Salad.

Wrap: delicious. French fries: I can't even look at you right now.

Ben: I had a lamburger ($10), something I’m always tempted to order at restaurants just for the pleasure of saying the word. It’s a simple sandwich: marinated free-range local lamb on ciabatta topped with lettuce, tomato, onion and tzatziki. This is obviously a more “virtuous” burger than some of the others we’ve reviewed; lamburgers typically are leaner than beef burgers and don’t often come smothered in ketchup and cheese (not that that’s always a bad thing). Despite the drawback of being reasonably healthy, however, this burger was not at all lacking in flavour. The patty was thick and juicy, an important attribute as ground lamb can often be quite dry. In addition, even though it’s little more than yogurt and cucumber, tzatziki is a more-than-adequate substitute for mayo or whatever other artery-clogging sauce you like on your burger. To add to my healthiness, I chose rice as the side to my burger. The only problem I had with the rice was that there was way, way, way too much of it. I have a huge aversion to wasting food, but I was forced to leave some on the plate.

Ben is healthy sometimes.

In case you were worried I was going soft, we balanced out our “virtuous” meals with thick, high-calorie milkshakes ($3.50). The menu gives you the option to spike your shake with a shot from the bar for $4 more, but we thought it was a little too early in the day for that. This milkshake recently placed third in The Coast’s Best of Food contest, falling behind Darrell’s and the Chickenburger.  While the flavours of the milkshakes weren’t as inventive as at Darrell’s, the quality was similar. What you want in a milkshake is uniform consistency; too often milkshakes are just chunks of ice cream floating in a sea of ice cream soup. Our only issue was that they didn’t bring us the extra in the mixing cup, so you don’t get as much bang for your buck as at Darrell’s or the Ardmore. All in all though, this was a great tasting shake from one of the nicest places we’ve eaten so far.

Eating healthy at Armview was fun while it lasted. Mmm, milkshakes!