The Narrows Public House — Restaurant in Halifax

Never heard of this place until a friend recommended it for three of us to go for a mid-week supper. We arrived at about 4:50 and waited on the front steps behind one other customer, for the place to open at 5. While waiting, a few other groups of people arrived, so we could tell it's a popular place. No sign out front! But surprisingly enough street parking right out front. Anyway, excellent service from Jona. Customer choice of tables so we took one in the dining room off to the right, right in the front window. This room has a couple of higher tables, couple other regular tables, a few chairs at a bar in the back. Great atmosphere full of random relics in a proper Public House. There are other rooms that I didn't really look into, but the place filled up fast and one area does allow you to stand around with drinks. To eat, I had the romaine salad, comes unsliced with tons of fresh grated parm, capers, little flat-bread type croutons, just the right amount of garlicky dressing. The Roasted Vegetables dish was also very good. Bite-sized bits of root veg with peas, fresh greens, goat cheese and some sort of drizzle. Combined, these two dishes filled me. The lemon tart with meringue is small and pretty, tasty and a nice touch to wrap up the meal. I tasted a friend's Sticky Toffee Pudding and it was very good as well. I can't wait for this place to open for lunch in the summer so I can bring work friends, although the evening vibe is great too.

2nd visit: LUNCH! Yay! June 2. Street parking out front was just as available as last time...nice. Arrived about 11:45 and there were a few other customers already, but we had the choice of many tables and opted for the window seat in what I'd call the "middle room" straight ahead from the entranceway. Fireplace, homey, woody, classic, cute touches. Really friendly service again. I tried the potato salad ($9) which was large chunks of potato, microgreens, a dill mayo dressing, fresh, good. Then had the grilled cauliflower, which I didn't notice on the menu when ordering, that comes as a burger! It reminded me of a fish burger, crossed between a homemade Big Mac. LOL Either way, it was quite good, messy to eat, but I wasn't dying full afterwards. This is a good thing when returning to work for the afternoon. My friend today tried the fish & chips and although not his personal favorite in the city, did say it was very good and he'd get it again. His bigger disappointment was that the lunch menu didn't include the hot hamburger, which he had been hoping to order. I said that we'll just have to come back some...

A friend and I were travelling from out of province and really wanted to drop by for Thanksgiving Dinner since they were one of the few places open late with a proper dinner.

I called ahead to ask about their ID situation as we have had a few issues getting into bars with our IDs as some pubs haven’t been allowing us to use our Health Cards as photo ID. To start off, the woman on the phone seemed to be confused if I was asking when the kitchen closed. I repeated the question and she stepped away to speak to someone because “the Nova Scotia laws are finnicky.”

Her response to the question was that they do not allow minors after 10pm so we could come for dinner before that. We wouldn’t be able to make it to the restaurant until 9pm so I clarified that we were of age and were wondering if we could still stay to finish our food if it were to be after 10pm. I also explained that we had ID, but some places in Halifax have no been accepting Health Cards as IDs. There seems to be a gap in the employee training as I was not given a straight answer. A “yes/no we do/don’t accept them as ID” would have sufficed. I go on to have to explain the whole situation of why other places haven’t been accepting them simply stating that some places have LITERAL SIGNS saying Health Cards aren’t considered photo ID.

Instead of a yes or no, or simply asking someone else, she starting asking if this was me telling her our IDs aren’t valid, implying we were trying to use a fake ID. The conversation ended with a snotty “I don’t know what you want me to tell you.” I could hear that someone else was nearby in the background who she could have simply given the phone to.

Safe to say we did not end up visiting for dinner....

It is very rare for me to be that affected by a restaurant and the service within to be driven to voluntarily write a positive review. My partner had visited this particular establishment a few weeks earlier and recommended we go check it out. I have never experienced such a positive dining environment! The fact that they have a no reservations policy made a big difference to us as well. We tend to be free spirited and eat when we want to eat and not be so locked into reservation times and the pre planning that goes along with that. The owners did an absolutely remarkable job renovating their home into an 80 seat pub and eatery and using some of the room upstairs into a flourishing bed and breakfast. I was so impressed how they kept the look and atmosphere so period specific. The decor makes the environment shine and it is such a cozy vibe. Our servers name was Allie and she was simply awesome! So friendly and knowledgeable and you could tell she took pride in her role within the organization. The food was amazing! We had an appetizer and two main courses and dessert. We also had a few drinks from their specialized craft beer and cider menu. The restaurant was completely full while we were there with so many different patrons. There were at least three families, a couple of 6 people tables, a number of couples and not once did I feel crowded or that I was unable to talk to my partner. Now we’re thinking of staying at the B and B upstairs! The prices were fair commensurate to the portions and the freshness, quality and presentation were unparalleled to that price point! I would highly recommend the Narrows...