The Five Fishermen restaurant in Halifax is my kind of place. Old? Excellent seafood? Haunted? — They are playing my song. The building was originally built in 1816 as the Church of England’s National School. In 1884, the school was converted to The Victorian College of Art, with Anna Leonowens (Anna of The King and I fame) as its patron. Since then, the building has gone through multiple uses, picking up a respectable contingent of ghosts along the way. In 1974, it became the Five Fishermen, racking up multiple honors including Taste of Nova Scotia’s Restaurant of the Year and Wine Spectator Awards of Excellence for the past five years.

As this was my first night in Nova Scotia, I was more than ready to get down to eating some serious seafood. The mussel bar is complimentary with any dinner entrée. I knew I would need to pace myself, so I kept it modest.

The bar itself is pretty standard. There are salad and side dish offerings along with simple hotel pans filled with mussels and several dipping sauce choices. I chose the garlic butter. The mussels were fresh, sweet and plump. It was a nice appetizer to begin the evening.

Next, the group of journalists I was with were treated to an amuse bouche sent out by Executive Chef Randy Akey. It was a perfectly seared Digby scallop atop a bed of fingerling potatoes with a smoked halibut ragout, house smoked back bacon and basil oil. Absolutely AMAZING. It was one of the best dishes I have ever eaten in my life. In fact, I am going to dedicate an entire article to the graphic description of this dish which will probably be published in July. For now, I’ll leave you with this photo.

For my first course (having already had mussels and the amuse – as I said, I had to pace myself) I chose lobster salad ($12 – all prices Canadian currency).

Claw and knuckle lobster meat with shaved fennel, celery root and arugula danced on the plate with a pear and walnut oil vinaigrette. It was light, fresh and a beautiful introduction to Nova Scotia lobster. The bitter greens worked well with a subtle dressing and briny, sweet lobster to create a really good mouth feel and taste profile. It is the perfect dish for a summer evening.

For my main course, I stuck with the seafood theme, choosing the seafood medley ($39)

This course consisted of pan seared shrimp and scallops, a crisp, lemony Acadian fish cake and a true revelation – lobster mashed potatoes. I am a firm believer that everything is better with bacon, but after this dish, I have begun to wonder what dishes could be improved with lobster. Of course, the seafood was magnificent, but those creamy, beautiful mashed potatoes shot through with luscious chunks of lovely lobster were just beyond all measure. I will never eat mashed potatoes again without remembering how much better they are with bits of lobster tucked in!

Finally, my travel companion and I chose to split an order of profiteroles.

The pastry was tasty, but the ice cream was the true star. It was a rich, creamy display of vanilla as it should be – pure, cold and sweet, but not too sweet. After such previous debauchery, it was a light and lovely way to end a spectacular meal.

Most travelers into Nova Scotia begin their stay in Halifax, so I would recommend beginning or ending any stay in the province at the Five Fishermen restaurant. It is a showcase of all the best Nova Scotia has to offer. The food goes above and beyond expectations, the building is charming and historic and the service is top notch. It’s a sure way to set the tone for a great stay in the province. Highly recommended.

The Five Fishermen Restaurant is located at 1740 Argyle Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Visit their website here or give them a call at 902.422.4221 for reservations or information.

Special thanks to Shane Robilliard at Five Fishermen for filling in the gaps left by lovely Nova Scotia wines, Randy Brooks with Nova Scotia Tourism, Mike Powell and Mike Hatch with Go RVing Canada and Lorraine Sommerfeld (WSFTC?), the best travel companion in Canada.

This article is the first in a series about Nova Scotia. Please check with www.EatJax.com for future installments.

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all photos copyright © 2010 by jodi a. kasten • all rights reserved