Harbour City Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Halifax

Please note the date of this review, because this is life and things change.

The reason I can only give four stars on my score for the Harbour city Bar & grill is because I've never had a five-start dining experience (and am unlikely to unless I marry a wealthy widow).

However; I have had several four-star experiences and this was the best among them. I went to this in-hotel restaurant, because the menu looked interesting, it was close and I was tired. I checked the prices with nearby stand-alone restaurants and the costs were comparable.

The wait staff were kind and easily engaged, something I'd expect of a hotelier (but not always met).

I ordered a liter of the house red because I hate not having enough wine with a meal and/or waiting for a refill for a glass. Also, I'm too cheap to order labeled wine by the bottle. The wine was quite nice, would work with any dish, since it did not overwhelm the taste of the meal.

The dinner started with an unexpected amuse-bouche that had a piquant after-taste that gave me an appreciation for the chef's ability to assemble a dish.

For the main course, I had chili-marinated chicken breast with several vegetables on the side. I ate the vegetables first because cooked vegetables can soon loose their appeal. These veggies were steamed (I think) to perfection and had a bit of the chicken sauce to make them totally delicious.

The chicken itself was excellent and the bit of skin left with the chicken had a suburb flavor.

For desert I had a locally-invented dish, named for a small town on the opposite side of Canada. The presentation was phenomenal and the slightly coconut-flavored coating over the ice cream and chocolate was very-very nicely balanced.

So my suggestion is, if your are in the harbor district of Halifax and are looking for a great place to have a meal, look no farther than the Harbour City Bar and Grill at the Delta...

Unfortunately, the food and service completely missed the mark. Our server, although very nice, was responsible for our group of about 20, all alone. Drinks were delayed, bottles of wine were corked (uncorked but recorked and we had to remove), menu descriptions were wrong when asking, food (like halibut) that was on the website menu, were not on the menu.

Generous portions of food, but the risotto bed for the haddock was way over garlicky and was a pretty mushy risotto, even for risotto. The haddock had a "pea" crust in a very unappetizing yellow colour and was dry. Our winter salad, when asking came with no greens and was to be a warm winter squash salad... it came heaped with greens and mine with barely any squash!

Lots of confusion, but that could be because of only one server for the entire group... maybe one server for drinks and one for food?

Cuisine and service improvements need to happen, and updating a menu online should be instant, especially these days.

Sorry for the harsh review (not for our server), but you really must up your game, especially being in one of Halifax's...

Visited here tonight with a group for work. The service was excellent, our server, Greg, was very knowledgeable, had great recommendations and was very personable. The majority of us, by Greg's suggestion, had the Chef Grill, which was a prime rib steak and scalloped potatoes. My god was it good. Steak tender enough to melt in your mouth, potatoes were perfect and all served beautifully. We order several appetizers for the table, and after a few wings and some nachos, I wished I could have lived in Halifax, only to have more! To top off the great service, the head chef for the evening came out, checked on us to see how we enjoyed supper, spoke with us and that little touch really made the night for us. Usually people don't think to try the in house restaurant when staying somewhere, but I know I'll be coming back here next time I'm in the city, even if this isn't my hotel. I highly recommend this restaurant, and I can't praise the...