Slaymaker & Nichols Gastro House — Restaurant in Charlottetown

WOW Slaymaker & Nichols is such a fabulous establishment in Charlottetown, PE. It’s a small place nestled just outside of the core with a lovely little patio in the summer that offers a boujii upscale yet quirky and elegant dining experience. The menu changes with the seasons and offers the best cocktails on the island, in addition to many locally sourced items that the chefs masterfully tie together in fresh and flavourful dishes. I don’t think there is anything on the menu that isn’t a showstopper all served with absolutely exceptional service that is attentive, professional, and friendly. They know their stuff here, familiar with the menu and the food and all the drinks making for a great visit be it brunch, lunch, or dinner.

First off, cocktails are a MUST here! Offering both alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages, the mixology that Slaymaker is putting out is something else! Fresh muddled ingredients and perfect combinations of sweet, citrusy, tangy, and even spicy. My favourite drink was the Door to Nowhere, served in a mule cup with a citrus spice of lemon, pomegranate, apple, and ginger with gin and house Za’tar syrup. Def try!

We ordered the burrata as an app and what an amazing dish to start the night! A gorgeously presented fresh burrata cheese with almost a poached maple citrus pear that paired so smoothly with the prosseco basil vin and the sweet and spicy candied walnuts and fresh raspberries. Even the fresh olive oil toasted bread it came with was great!

Mains that we split were the Pistol Pete Lobster sandwich, carrot toss, and the potato crusted haddock and all were awesome! Pistol Pete a generous serving of fresh lobster on a nice bun with a kick of spice served with an amazing fresh lemony and dill potato salad. The potato crusted haddock was so perfectly cooked, crispy exterior and flaky inside and the freshness that makes good seafood so good! It was served with a crispy potato layering and seasonal veg and fennel sauce for a truly delightful meal. The carrot toss is a lovely veg dish, coloured carrots over a rich smoked lemon ricotta with pomegranate, pickled radish, and fried capers with maple tahini sauce and WOW fireworks in my mouth! Get your veggies in and order the carrots!

Lastly, we of course had to order dessert after having such amazing meals so carrot cake cheesecake and crème brûlée were the decisions and certainly did not disappoint! Like all the food here, all the flavours are so well balanced, so the desserts were perfectly sweet without being overwhelming and great to share at the end of the meal. The smoky coffee notes in the crème brûlée were amazing and the the fresh fruit and creaminess of the carrot cake was fabulous.

Plating of everything is stunning and even with the slightly more upscale price tag, everything is absolutely worth its value! Slaymaker & Nichols is definitely a dining experience on the island you need to try! Will be coming back again and again! Lucky me I live...

Came in on Saturday night. Food/drink was good, though margaritas were half full. Restaurant was nicely decorated. Service was tough, however. The bartender, was...something...

Had a reservation for 4. We were sat at a pub table right in front of the main entrance, but sometimes that happens. What was good was, we were in view of every server, bartender and hostess in the place.

After 15 minutes of sipping on waters, a server came by for a drink order. 10 minutes after that, a different server came by and took our food order. Shortly after that, the other pair we were with got their drinks. I watched the bartender make our drinks and I watched them melting on service bar. The food came, still no first round of drinks. Still melting on service.

Our drinks came shortly after food was delivered. I mentioned that food before the first round of drinks was odd, and the bartender, who was running our food (but not our drinks that he had to pass to get to the kitchen??) snaps, "it's because you all came in at once". I'm not sure how a group of 4 should arrive, but perhaps two of us will wait outside next time until the first two order and receive their drinks.

From there, the same bartender, directly in my view, took every opportunity to glare at me for the entirety of our first experience at the restaurant. Entirely uncomfortable and immature, but I did my best not to make eye contact or engage, but could feel him glaring and would be caught by his stare every so often. What an odd thing to have to think about while trying to enjoy dinner.

But, the food was good and, he made a decent margarita (though only half full for some artsinal reason) so there's that. But the service, for the price point, was just not up to par. And a nice place like that, with a bartender so obviously interested in his image and the show he's putting on, should be better aware of his optics and approach to customers. And the drinks he so carefully makes, melting on his...

I recently stayed at Slaymaker & Nichols (in the General Scott room) while in town for the annual Island Tides Yoga and Wellness Festival. This was my fourth festival, and I've stayed somewhere different each time, but this is the first time I felt compelled to write a review. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay. S & N is in a central location that was very convenient to all the festival venues. Breakfast/brunch was included, which was a welcome bonus. All the staff were very friendly and helpful, often asking when they saw me whether I needed anything. The rooms have record players and a communal record collection. (I never could get the record player to work and kept forgetting to ask about it. Perhaps I'm out of practice, not having used a record player in 40+ years!) The homemade granola is delicious. and on my last night, I splurged on a delightful chocolate mousse for dessert after dinner elsewhere. The General Scott room has a cozy little balcony, which was great for relaxing (and dousing myself with bug spray each morning!) I also enjoyed the classic clawfoot tub. The room was beautifully decorated.||I have two minor suggestions for the staff. First, although I appreciated the tea kettle in the room and all the tea accessories in the cart outside my room (also used for breakfast charcuterie boards), there were no tea bags. I soon received some when I asked, but it would've been nice not to have to ask. Second, I didn't see any USB ports for charging. I couldn't charge my tablet in the room, but this (like the lack of tea) was a minor inconvenience.||I thank the team at S & N for making my stay...