Bullock's Bistro — Restaurant in Yellowknife

Bullocks’s is a small but bustling spot in the heart of Yellowknife’s Old Town. The building presents as a ramshackle collection of log cabin construction, quirky, retro posters and handwritten signage.

But don’t judge this book by its cover. This place is busy from opening to closing for a reason. It’s justifiably famous for its fish (pan fried; deep fried; and grilled) & chips, there are other delicious offerings on the menu.

When you walk in you are immediately strick by the close quarters and quirky decor. The walls and ceiling (and a very large, mounted Pickeral) are covered in handwritten notes and business cards, and there are more retro posters scattered randomly throughout. Mix & match tables and chairs are spaced close, the open kitchen is right there, and there’s a buzz of conversations. We loved the vibe instantly!

Fish dishes are available based on what’s been caught by local fishers. On the day we visited Pickeral and Lake Trout were available, so one of us chose pan fried Pickeral. (*Note: they won’t grill Pickeral because the flesh is too delicate) One of us decided on the Bison Ribeye, mainly because the price was much more affordable than this cut would have cost in Toronto.

The Pickeral lived up to its billing. The genrous portion was cooked to juicy perfection, and was accompanied by crispy, tasty french fries and a salad. While they serve a side of house-made tartare sauce we recommend eating the fish as is so as to fully enjoy the delicate flavours. Also, a quick word about salad dressings. They serve a side of a feta cheese-based dressing, which is very tasty. The server recommended combining some of Bullock’s in-house made ginger and herb sauce (which has quite sweet profile) with the feta dressing; we did, but wish we hadn’t. The fish was sautéed in the same ginger-herb sauce, so adding more to the plate made everything too sweet - at least for our palate. Our bad; we should have done a taste test first.

The Bison Ribeye was cooked a perfect medium rare, and was served with the same on point fries and a side salad. While it was delicious, we would defintely order two fish dishes the next time we visit.

Service time from ordering to getting our food was slow, which is to be expected given the small kitchen, single cook and number of customers. We note this not as a friticism, but by way of a heads-up should you choose to visit - which you most defintely should.

Our meal, including two bottles of cider, tax and 20% tip came to $130. Highly...

Of our entire vacation to Yellowknife, this was by far the most underwhelming dining experience we had the whole trip. The fact that this place is listed as a "must-do" or that anyone had ever awarded it "best fish and chips in North America" (something that they boast about quite a bit in their marketing) is frankly baffling. The food is under-seasoned and bland, the staff were unfriendly and incompetent, and the meal itself was overpriced compared to other local establishments.

1. When we walked into the (busy) restaurant the staff seemed simply annoyed by our presence until we said we had a reservation. They then sort of shrugged as they looked around the crowded restaurant which left us stuck sitting awkwardly at the final 2 seats at the very end of the crowded bar.
2. They had run out of bread and most of the fish options by the time we arrived for our dinner at 7pm
3. About 2 feet in front of everyone at the bar sat about 10-12 plates of half-prepped food, where everyone was free to breathe on / cough on / sneeze on (see the attached pic) - this was all food that would end up being sent out to the tables around the restaurant (how is this not a major health code violation?)
4. Our finished food plates sat directly in front of us on the pass for literally 5+ mins while the servers ran around the restaurant dealing with other matters. I had to flag down someone and say "hey is that our food?" before they went "oh, sorry yeah" and handed our plates to us - who knows how long we would have waited otherwise.
5. The food just sucks. The deep fried whitefish was incredibly bland, only palatable when drowned in the tartar sauce they provide. It was as if no salt was used in the preparation of the fish or the batter at all. The pan-fried whitefish that my partner got was drenched in this disgustingly sweet brown sauce that they dump all over your food without asking. The fries were undercooked and bland and the "salad" is just a pile of shredded iceberg lettuce and carrot. For $40 a plate this was brutal.

Go to NWT Brewing Co their...

Locals rave about this place. I agree. Excellent fresh fish dishes. In fact, our group ate here 2 days in a row!

Our group of 5 ordered the fresh whitefish (pan-fried), cod (deep-fried), and Artic Char (salmon-family) and bison ribeye. Washed down with local NWT Brewery beer.

I LOVED the pan-fried whitefish which they top with the house-made special sauce. Amazing! The second best was there fresh cod which we ordered deep-fried like fish & chips. You can taste the fresh cod through the light, crispy batter. Good sizes too. The bison ribeye is best cooked medium-rare, otherwise medium-well will be too tough and chewy. It was delicious with the grilled mushrooms. Lastly our Artic Char, a type of salmon (with red head), was nicely grilled. It had a strong, gamey taste and tough texture. Not bad, but the whitefish and cod were everyone's favorites.

It's a small, busy crowded place. I think tour operators take their guests here. So come here before or after the peak lunch and dinner crowds. The best is to make a reservation ahead of time. Their reservation book is handwritten full of future customers. Good luck.

The walls and ceilings are full of business cards, pictures, bumper stickers and handwriting. Guest from all over the world. Even Taiwan. It's a fun,...