The Clove Hitch Bar & Bistro — Restaurant in Port Hood

Wow. What an incredible find on our vacation! This restaurant is a true gem and one we returned to four times over two days. This July I visited Scott Archer's luxury glamping domes along with my aunt and my 17 year-old son. We did no real planning and relied on Scott's recommendation for somewhere local to eat. To be honest, I wasn't looking for or expecting much in a small town area. Little did I know that we would find our favorite spot, surpassing even the places we ate in Halifax during the second part of our trip.

The Clove Hitch manages that perfect balance between unpretentious and upscale. We felt just as comfortable and welcome in jeans and shorts as diners who had dressed up a bit. At the same time, the atmosphere and food always made it clear that we were treating ourselves to a nice restaurant rather than just somewhere to stop and eat. The service was friendly and attentive each and every time, staying consistent whether we came at peak or off times.

As for the food, we tried many dishes across different meal times and were never disappointed. I have to start with the best fish and chips I've eaten in my life (I'm 52). This recipe uses a rice flour to achieve a crispy coating that manages all the benefits of a perfect fry with none of the grease. I substituted for the sweet potato fries, which were my favorite, but my companions also loved the hand cut regular fries. Also huge hits with our group were the bistro Caesar salad (the house dressing is to die for), The Smashburger, the wings (my son proudly noted that he was over one percent body weight of wings by the time we left), the fried pickles, the lobster roll (delicate and fresh), the chicken sandwich with hot honey drizzle, the pasta Alfredo, The lemon semi Freddo, and the tiramisu.

Finally, the scones deserve their own paragraph. We tried both the blueberry lemon and the raspberry multiple times. They are made fresh daily and we caught them warm more than once. These were perfect with both a coffee bar visit and as a sneaky dessert. My aunt has mentioned them no less than six times since we've been home. They could run a successful business just shipping these.

The clove hitch is a true delight and I feel so lucky to have experienced it. It's newer to the area but aside from the stunning scenery and the friendly residents, we considered it the best part...

Avoid at all costs. It’s unfortunate that this place doesn’t have much for competition because it would have been put out of business long ago. Has to be the worst customer service in Eastern Canada which is too bad because the food has potential. Waited 20 minutes to get seated in a half full restaurant and it’s small, yet 5 staff were working front of house. We were here a week earlier and it was brutal but thought we’d give them the benefit of the doubt and try again….. mistake !!

Sat next to a young family with little children who waited over an hour for kids meals. They were extremely displeased and the staff knew it but did nothing to compensate them.

The table on our other side waited over an hour for food and left before it came!! The staff seemed annoyed with this !!!

5 staff in front of house doing absolutely nothing. I actually yelled across the room twice at the bartender to get me another drink as we tooooo were ignored by staff !!

I ordered chowder. Which means they ladle it in to a bowl and microwave it. Why did this take and hour and come last !!!

So much potential as the chowder was decent and Brussel sprouts were amazing.

I have never not tipped before but this was a first.

They do not deserve your money with this...

Worst service and food in the Maritimes.

It was Sunday night and the manager warned us it might be 45 min for food. Fine, no problem, there was live music and we could have some drinks. It took almost 1.5h for any of the food to show up, in which time we were checked in on once.

When the food arrived, only 4 out of the 5 people in our party got their dishes. Worse, the waitress didn’t even seem to question or comment on that. The food that did arrive was bland and not particularly enticing, definitely not worth one of the higher price points we’ve seen here.

Finally, when everyone else finished eating, it became clear the final dish wasn’t arriving so I asked them not to bother and just give us the bill. The ghost dish did somehow manage to show up on the total so had to ask for it to be corrected. No discount on the rest of the meal or even as much as a biscuit so I wouldn’t have to walk out hungry. Luckily the lovely hosts in our B&B left out some cookies so I didn’t have to go to bed on an empty stomach.

We’ve seen the positive reviews so it was a natural choice for dinner. Sadly walked away with the biggest/only disappointment in our otherwise great 2-week trip across the...