MacAskill’s Waterfront Restaurant

My friend and I had both been wanting to try this place so on our recent girl’s dinner out we made our way here.
I knew it was somewhere in Alderney Landing above the Ferry Terminal but since their main entrance elevator was under construction it took following a few signs to find my way up to the outside patio entrance. Once there I was warmly greeted and directed to my already seated friend.
We were seated at a window table with a beautiful view of Halifax across the harbor. There weren’t many in the restaurant but most who were there, were seated in this area. I found sound bounced off the windows so it was a bit noisy and I felt like everyone could hear each table’s conversations.
Our server was very friendly, knowledgeable and prompt, service was well timed. We shared the brie and blueberry appetizer, it came with a few baguette slices. I would have preferred more brie to blueberry ratio but it was tasty none-​the-​less. I ordered the Chicken Lobster Wellington in a lemon peppercorn sauce, my friend the salmon in a lemon dill sauce. Our meals arrived at the table hot and were well sized portions with sides of herbed potatoes and sautéed seasonal veg. Very tasty and filling enough that we had no room for dessert, even when our server pointed out that all desserts are made on the premises and they all sounded divine.
On the pricier side but we felt good value compared to similar style restaurants. We will be back.

I’ve been coming to MacAskill’s for years, yet I’ve only had a few meals here. A couple of my girlfriends and I used to come on Friday nights for dessert and coffee. What kept us coming back? The quiet, comfortable lounge (prettier now due to a recent renovation), the best view in HRM, friendly servers who didn’t mind us lingering for long evenings of laughter and girl talk, and excellent coffee. I’ve had some great times here.
MacAskill’s has a decent selection of desserts from Swiss Lemon Mousse to German Chocolate Torte with Bavarian Cream to Crème Brulee and more. I was a little disappointed to see they removed the fondue for 2 and the mint chocolate brownie in the recent menu/​décor overhaul. They did add Dee Dee’s ice cream to the dessert menu, but it’s still lacking a little something. The desserts are very… grown up. They could use an option or two with a simpler taste — even just a standard cheesecake in addition to the cheesecake of the day. Speaking of… I tried the cheesecake of the day a couple weeks ago — gingerbread cheesecake with butterscotch sauce. It was the best cheesecake I’ve had in a long time. And the coffee alone is worth the visit — I believe it’s Java Blend.
Today a friend and I decided to try out the brunch menu. We both had eggs benny, potato wedges, mimosas and coffee. I am an eggs benny fanatic, and let me tell you. This was one of the best I’ve had in the city. The eggs benny is served on a freshly baked biscuit, and you can choose spinach or caesar salad instead of potato wedges. I don’t know how the salads are here, but trust me — get the potato wedges. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. So good. The mimosas were so tasty. And you already know how I feel about the coffee.
I plan to come by for Happy Hour some day soon. Appys on the bar menu are half price from 4 — 6:30, and local beer and wine goes on special. Also, no corkage fees on Thursdays, and no corkage fee period if you bring a Nova Scotia wine.

SAVE YOUR $
Heard about the renovations and had positive expectations. When we walked in i thought possibly I’d heard wrong as could make out no discernible changes other then paint color to the very dated décor. The menu had very little in the way of surprises either. Same old salads and dips, steaks and chicken dishes. I started with the artichoke dip, now I say artichoke in jest as I could find no evidence of their existence within the rather large bowl, very bland flavor to boot. Our entrees faired no better. My chicken prosciutto suffered from being both over cooked and under seasoned, while my husbands medium rare steak was somehow well-​done and missing the flavor element as well. This was all situated next to a pool (yes a pool) of what we were told was mashed potatoes. I tried a small mouthful simply to verify this. I’ll just have to take their word for it. The waiter inquired about our meals and when we gave him our opinion (far less involved than above) he said quite tersely that we could just leave then. We were not charged for our meals and gave the gift cards we’d planned on using to small party seated next to us. They were very polite and said that we might like to use them sometime, I advised that was unlikely. Too bad, some fond memories of this place are now just memories.

Had a great lunch there today overlooking the water. The calmari was excellent — nice a crispy. The Fish & Chips were very good with some nice non-​prepackaged tartar sauce.

Old-​fashioned, but solid. What it lacks in Nectar style glamour, it makes up for in good food (classics — seafood, steak etc — not a great place for veggies) and a fantastic view.
We had our wedding here in 2008 and it was awesome — the food received universal praise and the staff were excellent. We’ve only been back a couple of times since, but they’ve never disappointed.
Staff are great, and there’s plenty of space (you never feel cramped, unlike Nectar).
Great to have them nearby in Dartmouth — an old-​style institution.
The Good —
— Fish — haddock, cajun style sampler, scallops, all good
— Meat — rack of lamb (awesome), great steaks
— Daily cheesecakes — mind blowing
— Great bar area and patio
The Not So Good —
— Chowder — lumpy and too creamy for me. Perhaps an off day?
— Entrance — via lift through distinctly unromantic ferry terminal — not their fault at all, but it probably explains the lack of foot traffic.

MacAskill’s is a Dartmouth restaurant specializing in seafood. It is somewhat fancier than most restaurants in that it offers more sophisticated menu items, and the prices tend to be a tad bit on the steep side (ie $ 17 for the pan fried haddock).
While it offers the odd non-​seafood dish (ie. Rack of Lamb or New York Striploin), the menu is limited, and predominantly features seafood items.
Not being a huge seafood lover myself, when dining there I typically stick with the caesar salad and request for grilled chicken to be added.
Overall, not a bad place to go if you’re into seafood and fancier dining. However, definitely not a great place to bring children.