Chives Canadian Bistro

Chives Canadian Bistro is conveniently located in beautiful historic downtown Halifax at 1537 Barrington Street. The restaurant boasts a warm and unpretentious décor where you will enjoy extraordinary casual dining in a chic interior that captures key elements of the Canadian landscape; water, wood, rock, and sand. Another key feature of this restaurant is “The Vault”, a leftover from the 1950’s when their space was occupied by The Bank of Nova Scotia. The actually money vault now stores wine as well as a unique dining space for an intimate dinner for 2 to 4 people.

Location:

1537 Barrington Street
Halifax, NS B3J1Z4

(902)420-9626 

·       Rating:

     Food: 8.5/10

·       Service: 8/10

·       Pricing: 6/10

·       Comfort Factor: 8.5/10

Locally owned with locally sourced product on the menu, this Bistro is the perfect choice for the supporters of Love-Local-Halifax. Their specialities include items such as the cream of fiddlehead and the stinging nettle soup with buttermilk biscuits. Making reservations is recommended.

The restaurant is small with eclectic local artwork on the walls.  There is a banquette against one wall with tables for two.  The tables are relatively close together so not really conducive to intimate dining.Service was well timed and attentive. Our wine & water glasses were never empty.

We ordered the PEI Beef Striploin Steak and the Braised Nova Scotia lamb du Jour. The steak was a 10oz aged grilled steak served with spinach and old growler gouda risotto, ragout of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia mushrooms, broccoli and buttermilk onion rings. The lamb du Jour which happed to be lamb shoulder that evening served with new garden vegetable hodge podge, minted rhubarb jam and tawny port lamb jus. The food is where this place really shines. Starting with the signature buttermilk biscuits served in a paper bag with butter and molasses on the side. Our mains arrived piping hot and oh so tasty. When you see "market price" next to a menu item you know it won't be cheap but the steak was done to our specifications and every bite worth the price. The lamb so tender you could "cut it with a spoon" as promised. The vegetables swimming in a creamy sauce were perfectly cooked with a nice bite.  The mint rhubarb jam was a new combination for me and complimented the lamb quite nicely.

Happily I was able to order dessert and chose the Sugar Moon Maple Crème Brulee topped off with a little "Nanny Flinn's shortbread cookie" which was a nice little finish to the meal.  The crème was oh so creamy with a hint of maple and the brulee nice and sweet & crunchy.

We'll definitely be back.