Peacock Wine Bar — Restaurant in Halifax

IF YOU HAVE AN ALLERGY, DO NOT EAT HERE. I have celiac disease and recently went to Peacock for New Years Eve, where I was served gluten for two full courses. I have been sick for two days now. When making my reservation I specified that I had an allergy, specifically celiac disease. When I arrived the first thing the waiter said was that she was aware of an allergy and asked me about it. She clarified that it was celiac and not just a gluten allergy. The waiter went on to assure me that they would treat the allergy very seriously and they had lots of experience with serving celiacs and others with allergies. The waiter walked me through the entire 7 course menu (taking about 10 minutes to order with me) and explained how items would be made gluten free if they weren't naturally so and if I needed to avoid order certain items all together. I was served a first course then on the second course (which was comprised of two dishes) which came with bread. This made me nervous. I immediately asked the waiter if the bread was gluten free. She went back to the kitchen and allegedly confirmed that the whole bread was not gluten free, the rest of the two dishes were and that was why the bread was on a separate plate (for my non gluten free partner to enjoy). Of the second course, I ate the broccolini dish and finished the entire thing which was doused in a creamy sauce. Then I went on to the beef tar tar and immediately felt something crunchy. I looked closer and it appeared to have croutons in it. I asked the waiter about it. She said that there was a pickle crunch in the tar tar. When I insisted she check if the dish was gluten free someone from management came out (I think the assistant manager). The assistant manager informed me that the broccolini dish was covered in a sauce that had gluten in it and when I asked about the croutons in the tar tar she informed me this also contained gluten. While the assistant manager was apologetic, the waiter came across insincere and blamed the kitchen. I later found out there was NO note whatsoever indicating an allergy/celiac/gluten free on my order. I was informed that the manager was there and was given his business card, James Pottie. However, Mr. Pottie did not come over to me at any point to apologize and has still not contacted me. This was the absolute WORST dinning experience I have ever had at a restaurant. No one with an allergy should feel comfortable eating here as their wait staff clearly does not understand the seriousness of allergies and the health implications that follow. They did not make us pay for the meal, however we were not offered anything else. They took my phone number but no one from the restaurant has contacted me...

We frequent the Freehand Hospitality restaurants (Drift, Bar Sofia and Café Lunette), and often bring guests to all three. We were so excited for Peacock Wine Bar to open, so I booked a reservation as soon as I could and brought our out of province visitors with us, they had an early flight the next day so we reserved for 4pm. We arrived at the scheduled time and the staff were all still eating dinner when we walked in; the GM was audibly angry that we were there saying, "who are they?" to one of the staff who said "they are our 4pm reservation", and he returned with "it's not 4pm yet!" while holding his dinner on a plate. It was in fact, 4pm. They then held their staff meeting in the corner by our table while we looked over the menu. This obviously tainted our entire experience.

The by-the-glass wine list is no different from what you can obtain elsewhere in the city. I can't speak to the bottled list as we didn't order from this. Our server didn't know about the wines when we asked for more information. The food was good, but heavier than we expected - we ordered the focaccia, crispy shrimp, east coast oysters, crystal fried oyster mushrooms, bufala mozzarella, potato & parmesan agnolotti, and the papardelle.

Not to be boastful, but with our visitors here we spent over $1500 between the four Freehand Hospitality restaurants this week. I was very disappointed at how we were received by the staff at Peacock, and we most likely...

When a new place opens is easy to fall for the hype and good reviews (usually from friends and family) so here is my honest review of my time at this restaurant: There is absolutely no reason to give your money to a business that’s going to treat people based on their looks. While my friend and I were treated very well, I could witness how they treated an older couple that was dressed more casual. If you advertise as a wine bar, people will expect to go there and get to try different wines that what they can find at any other restaurant, and while you’re allowed to charge whatever price you want, the extra cost of the same offers for no reason just seems non sense. Food and cocktails are just good. Good is not bad right? Except when you present yourself as a high end option in the city. You don’t want to spend more than 80 dollars for a meal and give a big tip when staff is not properly trained or they don’t even know how to respond to basic questions about the food and drinks. I really want this place to thrive and give us another option for a wonderful experience in the city but unfortunately as it is now it just seems like expensive...