Almost every person I spoke to about visiting Halifax said I had to eat at The Bicycle Thief. When pressed further as to why I had to go, they unanimously said that it has great food and has a great vibe. My arm was twisted.

The restaurant serves a seafood forward Italian menu. And their seared local scallops ($17; 3 to an order we added a fourth) was a favourite dish for our table. Deceptively simple looking, the crustaceans are pressed into finely crushed almonds, so the golden seared crust also has a crispiness to it. The added richness and crunchiness pairs wonderfully with the yuzu beurre blanc, which made me wish I had saved bread for dipping into the buttery sauce.

I’d recommend swapping out the sesame cucumber “spaghetti” for diced cucumber instead. The long tendrils were too messy to get onto the bread and overpowers the fish in the yellowfin tuna tartare ($16). They should also substitute the too crunchy crostini for another base, perhaps large taro chips to go along with the other Asian theme ingredients. Nevertheless, the tartare was fresh and flavourful with the pickled ginger, wasabi cream, and creamy avocado.

There was the perfect amount of heat in the linguine fra diavolo ($28), the garlicky tomato sauce covering each piece of the thick and chewy spaghetti. While the five prawns were perhaps a touch overcooked, they were still meaty and delicious.

The rack of lamb ($54) was cooked to perfection, the meat juicy and tasty on its own having been covered with rosemary and Dijon mustard. On the other hand, the side was polarizing – my friends loved the sweety and salty combination of the Amarena cherries, potato, and pancetta. Cherries with meat? Not for me, thank you.

My second favourite dish also incorporated scallops, except in the risotto con Capesante ($32) they didn’t have an almond crust. Instead, they’re served with a hefty portion and creamy risotto studded with peas and crispy prosciutto. Both the seafood and rice were cooked beautifully.

We’re told the butterscotch caramel cake ($14) is the only dessert The Bicycle Thief has kept on the menu since its inception. And after seeing slices whizzing by us to other tables, I had to try this layered cake. It’s sweet, creamy, and nutty, reminding me of the caramel crunch cake from La Rocca, except the meringue is replaced with sponge cake and crusted toasted pecans. Normally, I’m not a fan of very sugary desserts but this one was delicious.

My verdict on The Bicycle Thief? Their food is flavourful and for the most part delicious. I love the restaurant’s buzzy atmosphere and if you don’t mind loud music, you can feel free to laugh-out-loud without being side eyed. It’s central location at Halifax’s downtown harbourfront doesn’t hurt either. They make a mean cocktail and you won’t be disappointed if you visit.

With a name like Pink Sky, I’m expecting a café, bubble tea shop, or maybe even a candy emporium. What I’m not expecting is a seafood restaurant. Hence, I’ve walked by the storefront on many occasions but never seriously planned a visit. I chalked it up to a place to be “seen” and party, but not for real meal.

Remnants of the former Weslodge are still apparent: the expansive bar and (on occasions) the unobtrusive DJ spinning beats on the second floor. Yet, Pink Sky has a coziness to it that feels different. The ease of making reservations, not being rushed with seating limits, and sit-a-while comfortable chairs – there’s even an element of hospitality that the former restaurant was missing that exists now.

If you’re in the mood for some light bites, their menu includes a selection of hot and cold appetizers that are great for sharing. For a simple crispy calamari ($24) the appetizer was tasty, the light breading incorporating salt, pepper, and sumac adding flavour so the spicy mayo wasn’t even required. And if you’re feeling adventurous, take a bite of the deep-fried lemon slices, my friends found this surprisingly tasty.

The beef tartare ($22) needs more than four pieces of too oily toasted sourdough to go through meat mixture. Yet, it had a lovely freshness from the bits of apple and tarragon incorporated into the recipe. Still, it’s not overly heavy in comparison to the predominantly seafood focused menu.

I preferred the beef to the tuna tartare ($26), which contained so much puffed rice that I half expected the dish to go snap, crackle, and pop. What little fish remained was completely drowned out by the watermelon and other ingredients.

Pink Sky offers a host of fish on their menu. The whole branzino ($85) was disappointingly small for the price and contained too many stray bones. And while I enjoyed the crispy skin, it might have sat under the broiler for too long as it was slightly overcooked.

Personally, I’d skip the branzino and go for the grilled salmon ($32), which also had a lovely crackling skin but was still flaky and moist. Served as a nice thick slice, the main was surprisingly filling despite it being sparsely served with sautéed spinach and grilled fennel. The dish was a little salty, especially with the lemon butter sauce. Be careful to dip and not pour.

Without any grains, you could augment the fish with a side of frites ($9) to share. They’re hot, thin, and crispy… my kind of fries.

Indeed, the best bang for your buck would be the fish and chips ($32) that arrives as a ginormous piece of beer battered haddock. While the breading was too thick for my tastes, you certainly won’t leave hungry since it also arrives with a generous portion of thick cut chips.

In fact, pair the fish and chips with a wedge salad ($21) and you’ll have enough food for two. The starter uses almost an entire head of iceberg lettuce slathered in a rich and tangy buttermilk ranch dressing, topped with cherry tomatoes, grilled corn, fried onion, and huge chunks of bacon that should be called pork belly pieces. The salad normally also contains blue cheese, but we had it removed and the salad was still hearty and flavourful.

Another sharable dish is the truffle lobster mac and cheese ($46) that has a cheese pull that’d make any dairy lover swoon. Big tubes of rigatoni were tossed in a spicy pickled jalapeño cheese sauce and topped with bread crumb and chives. It’s an interesting decision to include the jalapeno, I found it balanced out the truffle oil, which can sometimes be overwhelming. If anything, it just needed more lobster as there wasn’t much to go around.

Pink Sky’s seafood risotto ($34) has a spicy tomato sauce base, so the dish ends up tasting like a cioppino risotto. It’s a twist that I don’t mind given I love the hearty seafood stew but could be disappointing if you’re expecting a more traditional saffron taste. All in all, it incorporated a passable portion of seafood (mussels, shrimp, and whitefish) although the mussels could have been fresher.

Located in the bustling area of King West, Pink Sky is an ideal pre-clubbing dinner destination. Their varied menu means you can choose a lighter dish to avoid sporting a food belly or go big with the fish and chips to soak up the liberations to come. One thing is for sure, it isn’t a frilly café, you’re coming for the food.  

If you could get any vanity license plate for your car, what would it say? The owner of Sushi Bar would use “Dr Sushi” as indicated by the plates hung on the wall, it’s a whimsical touch I hadn’t noticed in the past, along with pictures of family and friends that provide a glimpse into their private lives.

The wall is also where they post their specials including black cod sushi and lobster maki. The black cod sushi ($10 for 2 pieces) is an interesting take on the fish, the nigiri torched tableside so the fish’s fat begins to melt forming slight layers in the cod. Being a denser fish, it does need a fair amount of flavour and while the sweet soy was a start, it needed something else for interest. After the experience, I’m still on the fence of whether a nigiri is the best use of this prized fish.

My preference is still for the baked miso marinated black cod ($15) where the fish is hot and flaky and infused with a slightly sweet umami flavour. The palm-sized portion is just enough for sharing amongst two people.

Sushi Bar’s other a-la-carte nigiri is just as good with large pieces of barbeque eel on the unagi and a thick slice of ruby red tuna on the maguro (both $7 for 2 pieces).

Displaying the lobster on top of the lobster roll ($18) was a great idea as it becomes the first thing you taste, and diners can see the full tail in its glory. However, it was already overcooked and blowtorching it at the table made it even more dry and chewy. Ideally, they should undercook it to begin, and the torching will help heat and finish off the doneness at the table. It’s a dish with promise and the thin cucumber lantern a great idea for a beautiful garnish.

Starting every meal is a bowl of rice crackers that arrives with drinks, a pre-pandemic tradition that I’m glad has been kept, providing something to snack on as we peruse the menu. A new addition is an amuse bouche of seafood, squid, and seaweed salads, enough for a bite each to enjoy while the rest of the meal arrives.

As the temperature drops, the complimentary starter is sometimes a rich hot bowl of miso soup with cubes of tofu and seaweed flakes. A welcomed respite after a cool walk to the restaurant.

With a variety of maki available, the black dragon ($17) was an interesting take on the fancier dynamite roll. In this case, sweet-glazed barbeque eel, tempura bits, fish roe, and green onion wrapped around the shrimp tempura. It’s a colourful creation offering a variety of textures and flavours and it’s ideal that the pieces aren’t overly large so that they are enjoyed in one bite.

The red dragon ($17) is just as good, substituting the barbeque eel for salmon instead. If you’re in the mood for shrimp tempura ($8 for 3 pieces), I’d recommend having it in maki-form as the fried shrimp by itself is underwhelming, the batter too thick and the temperature tepid at best.

Upsold to the tuna tartare roll ($10), we should have stuck with the tried-and-true spicy tuna ($8). In the tartare, the tuna too pulverized and the filling including dreaded tempura bits that causes the roll to become gummy. It also needs more heat to be considered spicy tuna.

Despite their name, Sushi Bar also makes a variety of non-sushi dishes. You get a hefty portion of hamachi kama ($19) with the full portion, a meaty cut of the fish’s jaw. A thicker cut, there were parts of the fish that could have been done a touch less but being a bone-in piece, it can be hard to gauge. Nevertheless, the skin was crispy and the fish hot and delicious. Served with a radish ponzu soy sauce, a bit more salt sprinkled onto the fish would help it pop.

Since our past visits, my husband and I noticed an improvement at Sushi Bar: the maki seemingly contains less rice and are cut to the perfect bite-sized pieces and more emphasis is placed on plating the izakaya-type dishes.

There’s also a host of regulars, stopping by the open kitchen to speak to everyone before departing the restaurant. This creates a cozy neighbourhood-feel to Sushi Bar that matches the photos adorning the walls. As Mr. Rogers sang, “A beautiful day for a neighbour. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?”

Overall mark - 7 out of 10