New Scotland Brewing Co. — Restaurant in Dartmouth

Well…I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but damn how disappointing. I used to love New Scotland brewery and the food there but these new owners, they don’t got it, and I am sad to see them go.

Important to add that I noticed that these reviews are intertwined with reviews from the previous New Scotland Brewery and old owners. I am strictly reviewing the NEW Beaversden. This is gonna be deceiving if you see those high stars and go in to this place.

Four of us went and the only thing that was decent were the pretzel bites. Even the “mustard” that came with it was unpalatable. My sister and her husband ordered a 2 piece fish and chips, assuming it would be enough to share (like most other fish and chips you can get in this city), but the words out of her mouth were; they should be ashamed to serve this in the maritimes. Extremely unfresh fish, soft, rubbery coating and the size was disgraceful. The coleslaw stayed on the plate, but hey, the French fries were actually good! I order the pulled pork tacos, they were bland and incredibly messy, BF had a $28 brisket plate and although the brisket was decent it was only served with a small piece of cornbread and bland carrots. I also had the beet and goat cheese salad but even that just tasted like they coated it in oil (no balsamic flavour from the dressing at all), and I don’t even think that was real goat cheese as that was also flavourless. Two of us ordered Pepsi, and even one of those had zero flavour and was just dark coloured flavour carbonated water and we had to ask for another one. The server was ok, but didn’t seem to know much about the menu, and we were the only ones sitting at a table (maybe 4-5 people at the bar), this honesty should have been our cue to run. Downtown Dartmouth on a Friday night and not a soul there. Don’t waste any of your hard earned money on this bland, minimalistic food, over...

Poor atmosphere, poor service, okay food.

The lighting in the venue is horrible. After sunset it's dark enough that any seat not directly under one of the dimly lit overhead lights will have trouble reading the menu. I had no idea if the nachos I had received had the pulled pork on them or not unless I pulled out a flashlight.

Service was slow. Was it busy? Yes. Was it known that it was going to be busy? Yes, this was a planned event.

We arrived before it was busy, it still took nearly ten minutes to get an initial drink order in. By the time we did multiple soft drinks and beers listed on the menu weren't available. Flights took so long to arrive from the bar that everything was room temperature by the time it was on the table. Soft drinks were consistently flat. Despite asking three times for more water to be brought to the table to help combat the uncomfortably warm venue, the server never brought any.

Food orders were submitted and, despite appetizers being ordered as appetizers, everything was submitted to the kitchen to come out at the same time. The deep fried cheese curds were flavourless mush. The nachos, while listed as coming with hot sauce and sour cream, certainly don't indicate that the hot sauce and sour cream will be poured all over the pile of nachos and not served on the side. Not a fun surprise. As noted above, I wouldn't have known there was pulled pork on them had I not pulled out a light to check.

The event was meant to be a ceilidh, and while the band which was brought in were top notch, they were practically inaudible in the small venue.

When asked to split the bills, the server disregard the instruction and combined bills which shouldn't have been combined.

Overall, an entirely disappointing evening and I see no reason to return to the venue...

This was my first time at New Scotland Brewing, and overall, it was a mixed experience. Walking in, the hallway leading to the restaurant had an unpleasant smell, which wasn’t the best first impression. However, once inside, the atmosphere was really nice. I can see it being a great spot to enjoy a beer, especially when the weather is warm enough for the deck.

We ordered the nachos, and when they say "smaller," they mean it. This was by far the most expensive and smallest portion of nachos I’ve ever had—and I’ve had nachos at many places. They also don’t use traditional nacho chips. Instead, they were thick and crunchy, more like kettle chips. While unique, it wasn’t what I was expecting.

Another odd experience was ordering a Guinness. The menu said it was on tap, but it actually came in a can, which I had to pour myself. It felt like I was my own bartender. Additionally, the waitress had a Guinness glass but gave me one with the bar’s logo instead. On my second order, they were low on cups, so I had to reuse the same one. This was a first for me.

A few suggestions: If Guinness isn’t actually on tap, let customers know upfront and serve it already poured in a glass. And please increase the portion size of the nachos—they are likely one of the cheapest and easiest dishes to make, and customers would appreciate a more filling portion.

Would I return? Maybe for a beer on the deck in the summer, but I’d probably...