Five Fisherman Restaurant & Grill

Good food, slow service. We were so excited to try this restaurant and made a reservation. We were seated on the porch right away, but no one came to our table for almost 15 minutes. I finally went and asked a server if we could get drinks and order (and we had great service after that). The meal was fine but was small in portions and quite underseasoned. The whole experience was disappointing after seeing mostly rave reviews.

Pros and cons: Very good food, but should be at those prices. Will not return. Mistakes made. Beluga lentils with halibut dish was not served even though on the menu. Regular brown lentils were served instead. I had asked about specifically about the beluga lentils, so at least tell me that the menu is incorrect for the evening. Inquired about the Shimofuri Hiratake item with the halibut and was told it was “caviar”. Didn't see the caviar in the dish and server said it was in the “sauce”. Really? Shimofuri Hiratake is not caviar, it is a mushroom. That said, the server had a delightful personality and service was good..

We love eating out but are quite picky. There are key factors required to make it a successful dining experience. Atmosphere, mood of the staff, is the waiter happy to see us or just going through the motions? Quality of food, presentation of food. Price: it is what it is these days, usually way to expensive but I’m okay with it if everything else unfolds as it should. I’m not saying Five Fisherman is to expensive either, it’s fine. We were quite surprised at just how nice this restaurant is and how friendly every single staff member we encountered was. Truly a welcoming atmosphere, not something I take for granted. As a professional knife sharpener I get to visit a lot of restaurants so this is something I look for: mood. Our waiter Ethan was exceptional, among the best we’ve ever seen. He made the event what it was: wonderful. The food was very nicely presented and very good, zero complaints. I highly recommend this restaurant, it’s fantastic and we will all be back. Ethan even brought a rose to present to the two ladies at the table as we finished up, a great touch. Take from me, someone who has been in a vast multitude of restaurants not just to sharpen their knives but to experience the food. You need to try this beautiful restaurant, it’s a part of the Halifax landscape here for you to enjoy.

Every other time I have ordered and paid for a lobster I got the whole lobster. Not so here only a lobster with one claw. Asked the server and told could come with one or two …really? Worst part manager came and said an accident well obviously not, server said one or two . And it happened on both of our lobster plates . Thinking they kept extra claw for lobster chowder. Was told this was an old restaurant with a dated menu was happy because I just want good seafood but so disappointed.

Having driven from Toronto and gotten good recommendations for this restaurant, we thought we had walked into a Moxie's restaurant! It has the exact same vibe...not kid friendly obviously. As minorities, we saw some diversity on the staff so it wasn't a total white people place. Representation matters. The food we got was the Five Fish experience and it was definitely not worth the exorbitant price. We got 2 scallops, 3 small very salty shrimp, a small piece of salmon, a small piece of unidentifiable white coloured fish that tasted like oil, all on a bed of mushroom risotto with overkill of mushroom, drizzled with some disgusting teriyaki sauce. The starter was fresh oysters. Stick to that, it was good and came with horse radish, some type of marinara sauce plus tobasco sauce. Wouldn't recommend it. We should have gone to the The Press Gang Restaurant and Oyster Bar