Sea Smoke Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Halifax

Disappointed. Would not recommend. Overall impression is that of a restaurant suffering heavily from its own success. More to follow. I called one week in advance to make a reservation. After confirming our reservation, we had a placed note to sit outside. Unfortunately, they do not permit outdoor reservations. When we were outside, myself and a few other tables were annoyed by how incredibly low the seating was. It was an extremely poor design. Every single... I repeat, EVERY SINGLE person sitting in one of the outdoor seating areas was either leaning on the side or at the front of their seat just to reach the tables. The problem being that the seats themselves literally do not tuck under the tables. Even for an average height person, it was difficult getting your knees under the table. I get it if the patio seating was only for drinks and snacks, but they were serving food to people outside. It was crazy! You'd think a restaurant manager or owner would pick up on this and do something about it, but they likely don't care. Otherwise, this would never have happened at a "fine dining" establishment like this. When we asked to be seated inside, thankfully, they did find us seats and relocated us. It's for that reason, I'm rating them a 2/5 for service and not 1/5. Our server was either stressed or incompetent because they did not bother removing the extra cutlery from our table after we moved. The other part was that rather than having a drink server, their servers were doing both food and drinks. I would have expected to have had a server for monitoring and refilling drinks and a dedicated server for food and ordering. I rated the food as a 2/5 because in all honesty, it was subpar. One of the prizes of Halifax and the maritime cities is Atlantic lobster. Unfortunately, our lobster was overcooked. What I would have expected as a spongy, "fall out of the shell", succulent, well seasoned lobster was instead a disappointing, dry, artificially sweetened lobster. If I had to describe the texture, it would be like an overcooked frozen shrimp from the grocery. The scallops were cooked quite well, still lacking on seasoning. The vegetables were cooked to perfection. The salad was just terrible as well. A disappointing variation on a Caesar salad with no taste and poor seasoning. Too much olive oil and too much stringed beet garnish. The pears or whatever fruit it was completely damaged and overpowered by the olive oil. The redeeming part here being the ahi tuna which was only lacking seasoning salt. So that brings it back to neutral. The poke bowl was bad. In comparison to those I've had in California and Nevada, this would be of the quality as a 10$ poke bowl joint in downtown Toronto with more stringified carrot garnish than is laughable. It was absurd. Super dry and in the wrong type of bowl. Not to mention, the chopsticks were completely inappropriate. They were providing Chinese-style thick chopsticks rather than traditional Japanese style chopsticks. If you're reading this review and don't know, search the difference on Google. It makes a difference in and should be expected of an establishment of this calibre. Another disappointing part is that they were charging 25 dollars for 5 dollars of ingredients, not including any meat. You cannot be calling it a "vegetable poke bowl!" It's a "meatless poke bowl." The redeeming part here for the food is the vegetable curry. I'm giving the food a 2.5/5 mostly because of this. Of the 4 dishes we ate, it was the best. Creamy, rich, and lime to cut through. My only complaint here being that the rice portion was small. Rice, being literally free in bulk, should not cost 5+ dollars per bowl. That's ridiculous. The atmosphere was decent but the short tables, absence of closed umbrellas, and no heaters, killed it for me. The Aperol Spritz I ordered was a total disappointment again. Mostly ice and WAY too much grapefruit juice. Tasted more like a sad Paloma. For these reasons, I would not recommend this restaurant. I am opening to re-reviewing in the future at the...

In two weeks big differences…You can see my first impression in the comment below. How I was happy to find somewhere like this…However yesterday , I'm deeply disappointed by the stark difference in experience upon revisiting the same place with excitement after a pleasant first encounter. It's disheartening to see that as a solo diner and a regular customer, the treatment varies. While those who walk in directly get seated without waiting, there's no one welcoming customers outside. All tables are set, fires are lit in the middle, and there are plenty of staff, presumably to cater to the increased demand due to the nice weather and a solar eclipse, but the lack of organization is evident. They seem unaware of each other's actions. Initially, I was told the table I wanted needed cleaning, only to witness it being given to someone else without asking me how many people I was. Moreover, it should be remembered that sometimes, a single diner might spend more than a group of three. We ended up being three, yet we had to ask for the bill three times and waited for over 20 minutes. While another manager-like person came to apologize for the delay and added another 10 minutes, no one came to the table, and as I searched for someone to pay the bill inside, it was a disappointing experience overall. This level of disorganization shouldn't exist in such an establishment.

At Sea Smoke Restaurant, the dining experience is a symphony of flavors and artistry. From the daily fresh oysters, likely sourced from PEI and tantalizingly adorned with lime, to the perfectly seared scallops shared amongst friends, every dish is a testament to culinary finesse. The main courses are no exception; the Roasted Halibut with Champagne Honey Sauce boasts an Atlantic halibut fillet perfectly complemented by the delicate sweetness of the sauce, while the Rack of Lamb, marinated in garlic and accompanied by Japanese goma sauce, is a savory delight. The attentive service only enhances the experience, ensuring every need is met with grace and efficiency. Even with a strong sweet tooth, the dessert, aptly named Magic Mushroom, was a bit overwhelming in its sweetness, but the professionalism with which the feedback was received speaks volumes about the dedication of the staff to their craft. Sea Smoke Restaurant not only delivers exquisite cuisine but also demonstrates a commitment to excellence that sets it apart in the realm of...

This was an unpleasant dining experience. I made a reservation at the restaurant through the OpenTable app, intending to book a dinner slot. However, it showed that dinner was fully booked, with only a 3:30 pm slot available. The reason for the reservation was to celebrate a birthday. When we arrived at the restaurant, we found that it wasn't busy at all. Including us, there were only two occupied tables in the entire room. During the hour and a half we were there, only one additional table was occupied. I really don't understand why the reservation app showed that all slots were fully booked. When we arrived at the restaurant, throughout the entire dining experience, not a single staff member wished us a happy birthday. In contrast, at another restaurant we booked through OpenTable, we were greeted with birthday wishes as soon as we walked in. The waiter also offered birthday wishes when we ordered, and they even provided a dessert with a candle on top. It was really heartwarming. On the other hand, this restaurant was even more absurd. We arrived at the restaurant before our reservation time, and after we placed our order and were waiting for the food, I received a notification that the restaurant had canceled my reservation. But we had already been seated for over half an hour! Even if they thought the reservation holder didn't show up, they should have called to confirm, but they didn't do anything and just canceled the reservation. We ordered five dishes in total. After finishing four dishes, we kept waiting for the fifth dish, but it never came. We thought it must not have been ordered. However, when we were settling the bill, that dish appeared on the bill. If I hadn't checked the bill carefully, we would have ended up paying for an extra dish. It was truly frustrating. To be honest, even though our dining experience was terrible, the food still tasted...