Halina Cafe & Bar — Restaurant in Halifax

First time at Halina Cafe and we were honestly blown away! From the moment we walked in, the staff were super warm and welcoming. Service was fast, and the food? Absolutely delicious and high quality. We ordered the beef mami and their sisig—which is our go-to dish at any Filipino restaurant—and we can confidently say, this one tops them all. No exaggeration! The flavors were spot on.

The real highlight, though, was the ube flan cheesecake. It was beyond amazing—definitely a must-try! Funny thing is, we usually take nice photos of our food before digging in, but the moment we heard that sizzling plate hit the table, we couldn’t resist. Everything just looked (and smelled!) so appetizing, we had to dive in right away.

We also had a quick chat with the owners and found out they just opened in January 2025. You can really feel the passion they’ve poured into this place. We’re wishing them nothing but success—they deserve it! Only small downside is the parking, but honestly, everything else makes up for it. We’re already planning our next visit....

My husband and I love Halina. We’ve come back several times and are writing this review to replace the old one!

Food: Seafood chowder is still our fav, but everything we’ve tried here is delicious. Love the way they cook their meat on sizzlers (crispy, juicy, not gamey at all - even pork!). Their garlic rice is so good I could have it on its own. Their soup - flavourful broth and the vegetables are cooked just right. Fried chicken that comes with the waffles is yummy. Usually not a fan of burgers but I like their corn beef burger. I love that their cakes aren’t too sweet, and just right. Lastly, I don’t know how else to put this… I feel like I’m eating at my grandma’s - food made with love!

Service: the ladies and the chefs - everyone is so kind and welcoming

Price: very reasonable!

Portion: Generous! Chicken soup was the only one I could eat more after finishing the dish, but I think that’s because the dish had more vegetables (which is good for soups).

The only wish I have is caffeine free / decaf option for drinks so I can have it with...

Great prices, great quality, great presentation, great flavours, great portion sizes and great service!

Had a great time today for lunch. The only thing that would have made it better is if my daughter wasn’t being a huge brat but alas that isn’t a restaurant issue 😂

My mocha was very sweet, but server offered to remake it (I declined).

Waffles could use a larger portion of syrup, the little pot I used was barely enough for one of my 3 full sized waffles (in a kids portion!!)

Got the pork belly wrap which I think could use a bit more seasoning/sauce, but the crispy pork belly was so crisp and tender! The tapasilog was flavourful and that garlic rice was perfect. I’ll definitely get that again. My partner said the beef was a big tougher than he likes (but he’s a soft foods kind of guy) and will try the sausage one next time. And the fried chicken was so crisp!

We took the ube flan cheesecake to go (see above: daughter) but I’m sure that will...