Brunch @ The Social House: Nectar

Have you been to the Darkside lately? If you haven’t you’re missing out on some great food AND amazing service. Downtown Dartmouth seems to be becoming a hot spot for some of the best dining experiences in HRM with Nectar Social House leading the pack. Though I’ve heard about Nectar from many many people, the first time I got the chance to go was during lunch break at Podcamp Halifax being held at Alderney Landing. It was actually by chance that we ended up at Nectar since our first choice was over capacity and Nectar which is on Ochterloney St, was near by so our small group decided to go try it out. I’ll call it a lucky twist of fate because we were certainly all left very happy with our choice. 

(I know, we're a little late on this post)...


We arrived during brunch which was fine by me as long as they have eggs benny. Their dinning room layout is a bit unconventional. The lower area when you first come in is composed of a small bar area and a few tables that sit 2-4 people then  up the stairs there is a larger sitting that can accommodate several large groups. Since we were a couple of us, we sat at a table near the windows on the lower level looking out at Ochterloney St. I know, it seems to be a very odd name for a street in Nova Scotia but it is a Scottish name, I do believe. The street is named after Alexander Ochterloney who help a group of Jamaican immigrants referred to as Maroons, settle in the area. Anyway...

Would Halifax Rather a Convention Centre or Stadium???

That was the question posed yesterday afternoon on twitter.... and wow, did we get a response from the twitterverse. Most of the tweeps were demanding a third option....

It’s pretty clear from the comments made by Central Nova’s PM and Minister of Defense Peter MacKay that the Feds were more interested in funding a stadium rather than a convention centre. However, the Chronicle Herald reports that the Feds will not provide funding for a sports stadium. Which surprised me since I thought MacKay was really interested in the stadium more than other politician. Apparently it’s against Harper’s values to help promote local infrastructure for sports (i.e. Funds for Quebec City arena), Megan Leslie’s and the NDP’s too. Meh.. I wouldn’t take it as direct rejection of Halifax plight as I would a political maneuver. Feds not wanting to give Quebec any ammunition....or cash.

What actually surprise me was most people wanted neither...

NovaFamous: Radio, Radio

If you never heard of Radio Radio then you know little to nothing about the Quebec music scene. That’s okay because neither do I. In fact I even forgot to include them in our Juno’s post.... The worst part is, they label themselves as an Acadian French rap group and I’m an Acadian! Possibly a very out of touch Acadian???

Okay, sooo...I know what your asking yourself... SOO what does all this group have to do with Quebec’s music scene? Just so happens Radio Radio have been blowing up Les Chart Qubecois for the couple years. Two of the three rappers hail from the region of Clare down in the Baie Ste-Marie along the Acadian Shores of Nova Scotia. That’s right, two big Vedettes (stars) in La Belle Province are Nova Scotian made. The other guy is from Moncton so he’s not that far off either...

Great Big Sea .... of People!!

Their was absolutely no band more perfect to play Grand Parade...er... Celebration Square  than GREAT BIG SEA for the big FREE outdoor concert on Saturday night during the Canada Games! The city of Halifax loves them and I’m pretty sure the love is mutual. It was the place to be for sure. It didn’t matter that it was cold and snowing, the 15000 people showed up. The crowd was a sea of people, both young and old, all singing along to every song. 

If their was ever a band who knows how to read the Halifax audience so well, it’s Great Big Sea. As always, their concert turned out to be like going to a huge ass, high energy kitchen party, minus the liquor of course (although I did see a couple of flasks). The crowd was into every song and jumped up and down to most of the tunes. When you’re packed like sardines that’s all there is room enough to do. The band came back for two encores. Their were signs in the crowd asking the band to play the Haligonian favorite “Old Black Rum” and the crowd were not going leave until they heard it. Personally, I think that was a well calculated move on the bands part. They didn’t want us to leave either....

Nova Scotia Breaking The Canada Games Attendance Records in Men’s Hockey

Yeah, That’s how we do it here in Nova Scotia. When it comes to supporting local events, we’re all over it. Last night’s gold medal game between British Columbia and Quebec for men’s hockey at the 2011 Canada Winter Games was no different. With almost 9,000 tickets sold, we set the record ticket sales for any sport at any Canada Games ever!!! The tickets available online had been sold out for weeks prior to the event. Pretty much everyone who could get their hands on a ticket showed up to watch some of Canada's best hockey prospects duel it out for gold.

If you were lucky enough to get a ticket, you were not disappointed with last night games either. There was some great hockey being played. The crowd was into to all night long as well. They sang along and clapped to every classic Maritimer song played between the whistles. It did not matter to them who scored. The crowd was celebrating every goal...

Made In Nova Scotia: Terra Beata Cranberry

I decided to do our first Made in Nova Scotia on Terra Beata Cranberry Juice. I want the world to know how much better it is than....um... the leading national brand’s cranberry juice/drink. If I had to name my favorite product made in the NS, this would be it. This is the Nova Scotian product I use the most often. I drink it almost every morning and every night.


I know what your thinking... “What? She didn’t say one of Nova Scotia’s beers, she must be out of her mind”. Well I am..... but just slightly.


I first came across the Terra Beata Company at Christmas at the Forum a few years ago. I’m a big fan of cranberries so I bought their Cranberry Mincemeat preserve (which tastes unbelievable on ice cream or even on just plain soda crackers). Then I notice their juices at Sobey’s and decided to forgo my regular juice to try this one out. Usually this always backfires on me but I was pleasantly surprised with Terra Beata. I never went back. Well.. unless they are sold out at Sobey’s for a few days and I’m too lazy to walk to Pete’s Fruitique.

Scotian Rant: 5 Best Things...

Browsing through the twitter #hashtags on my hootsuite of #Halifax for the past couple weeks, {Hootsuite is my new love!}, I came across a couple of feeds that were lablled “Five Best whatevs in Halifax”. It shows up as a series of consecutive tweet of the the best locations, restaurants, etc.... So curiosity got the best of me. I love list so I just had to click to see if they lived up to my extremely low expectations.

Sigh...all I could do is face palm. It is painfully obvious that the writers of these... umm...things have never set foot inside the city and rely too much on Internet search engines to gather their information. Now, the tweets just continue to show up on my #halifax feed every day, three times a day and I just cannot take it anymore!! What gets to me is that some people might actually be looking at this information and making choices based on some of their, their ummm... how do I say this nicely... ill-informed information.

First up, they list East Side Mario’s in Bayers Lake as the best restaurant to eat. I hope this one was gaged on reviews of customer service because I mean...EAST SIDE MARIO’S!!?? (hey ba da boom ba da bing)….I like East Side Mario’s but come on, it’s like generic food. You can order the same thing in Halifax as you can in Toronto. I see that I am also not the only one who seemed taken aback because our friends Bonesheads Smokehouse commented about it on their twitter too. Halifax is full of local restaurants that offer excellent food paired with great customer service. When I think of casual dinning I’m thinking The Hart & Thistle, The Fireside, The Shoe Shop and hey, let’s not forget Boneheads on the corner of Barrington and Inglis. (They have the most amazing cornbread and pulled pork).. Oh, let's not forget our Pubs like The Lower Deck, Henry House, Dirrty Nelly’s, Foggy Goggle, The Old Triangle, Maxwell’s and The Ale House whom all have awesome Pub fare. Since Halifax has the most bar and pubs per capita than anywhere in North American! And Those are just off the top of my head.

Their “best of Accommodations” doesn’t really get much better. While the business hotels listed pass my standards, the Haliax Spa and Retreat’s only selection is Atlantica Oak Island ...um, which technically ...errr...isn’t even in HRM (Halifax Regional Municipality). Not to take anything away from Oak Island because I love the place and I would like to point out they don’t even use it’s proper name in the listing. I love their sister hotel, Halifax Atlantica which actually is in Halifax. They kindly let us use one of their photos in our oval post. They are also accommodating all the media who are here for the 2011 Canada Games and housing the big media war room as well. That it in it's self should speak to their caliber of customer service. But there are several hotels that offer spa service here in HRM as well, such as The Westin Nova Scotia, Marriott Courtyard and Marriott Harbourfront. As for the motels.... well I’m not even going to go there with this one.

I saved the best for last. “Best Five Locations”. You’re thinking The Citadel, The newly designated Canadian Museum of Immigration of Pier 21 or maybe even a Brewery Tour at one of our fine breweries. Nah, numero uno is “Explore Halifax” Whhhhhhhhhaaaatttt?? That’s not a location! It’s like saying the best part of Nova Scotia is Nova Scotia. But don’t worry, they narrow it down on number three where they tell you to explore the downtown. Unfortunately it gets worse, number four and five is explore the South Shore and the Eastern Shore consecutively. I’d like to take this time to point out that here in Nova Scotia we don’t call those places Halifax, we call that........ other regions of the province. Very much places worth seeing but they have towns and villages with their own names, thanks.

If you really want to know some of the best places to stay, things to do, and places to see then you might want to check out what the locals think. it’s best to check out The Coast’s Best of Halifax List. They poll readers each year for the best of the city. Click here for the link. Let us know what your opinions on the list in our comment section.

Now I got that off my chest. Deep Breath.... okay now I feel better.
Does this not irritate anyone else?