Phil’s Seafood

Best fish and chips so far, and their chowder is amazing. Service was good as well and fast. Will definitely come back again

Delicious! I ordered the haddock fish and chips and seafood chowder. If you like seafood you’d love the chowder; a cup full of chunky lobster, shrimp, scallops, etc etc. Just wish they had halibut.

I was visiting Halifax — for the poker believe it or not. I struck up a conversation with the guy to my left, a Halagonian for nearly all of his adult life. I asked him for a simple seafood place to recommend. Someone else at the poker table, hearing part of my query, said Five Fisherman. There was a brief caucus. Five Fisherman was determined to be fine dining — and not appropriate for my request for a «simple seafood place». My tablemate insisted that the ideal place for me would be Phil’s Seafood. So I went.
This was the perfect place for a simple fish lunch. I ordered the haddock, broiled. It was delicious — fresh and tasty. It came with fries — hot, crisp, and excellent. The price was extremely modest. i would recommend it to anyone who wanted a nice fish lunch in Halifax.

I’ve been meaning to check this place out for a long while. For some reason I thought it would be more greasy spoon, but turns out to be on the classy side. Lots of seating, comfy chairs It actually looks pretty classy on the inside. Of course it has the tacky marine knick– knacks so don’t worry, the sea food restaurant feel is still there.
I had the pan fired haddock. It was delicious! The fries were not. Kinda old tasting and looking, but to each their own.

This is my favorite place to go for Fish n Chips and Clams. Great seafood, great sides (fries, coleslaw, salad and tartar sauce — all good!). I’ve never been let down yet for eat-​in or take out. I don’t get fish n chips anywhere else anymore — I don’t want to risk being let down or getting a tummy ache or having to waste the batter because it’s too heavy. Thank you Phil’s!

I like the diner and downhome style, but the cooking needs to go up a notch, as do the drinks and atmosphere.
The place is well-​located to serve both students and tourists looking for a local fish dish at a good price in a casual setting.
However, the french fry is laid on so thick, there’s no real advantage to having fresh and local fish. Any difference is lost on the grease of the french fry.
To avoid the grease, I ordered haddock, and got a huge serving which was, unfortunately, tasteless.
I was also disappointed that there were few if any local beers — this in a province which has led the country in craft beers.
I argue in my e-​book, Food for City Building, that local restaurants are perfectly positioned to create local jobs by maximizing what they cook in house and by maximizing their local orders from suppliers. That orientation is best for giving tourists a local feel, for giving residents health and tasty food, and for providing the greatest number of local jobs. So there should be local beer, and local condiments instead of supermarket-​bought imports for catsup, etc.
Would also appreciate some local art of the wall– maybe even with seaside and fishing themes.
Lots of potential here, and well worth the effort.

This place is great. The décor is simple and bare, but the food — that’s what you’re there for — is amazing. The fish is breaded almost, and the batter tastes different from what fish and chips usually taste like at other places. The batter is much lighter. The fries are cooked perfectly and very hot when they come to you. The coleslaw even is very good — other places may just skimp on the coleslaw, but here the col

This place is money :-) I’m not a huge fan of white fish, but I came here for work and tried the haddock. It was amazing. Also the fish chowder was delicious. Not to mention the prices are very reasonable, especially for Canada. I highly recommend this place if you ever find yourself in Nova Scotia :-)

Straight-​ahead breaded haddock, excellent hand-​cut fries, perfect fried clams. Solid mussels and a helluva chowder, too. Friendly and very fast. Nothing the least bit fancy. You’ll have to put up with awful music like James Taylor and Dylan, but otherwise pretty tough to top.

A name that is frequently mentioned in the same breath as the word’s «best fish and chips in the city», I popped into Phil’s in the late afternoon one day, before even the early bird crowd.
The fifty-​ish seat restaurant is spacious, with a blue-​grey paint which is not unlike the sea itself, and a few splashes of red décor to keep it from being numbingly dull. Some original looking fishing-​related paintings adorn the walls to further the sea-​faring vibe without going in the direction of cliched nets, lobster traps and other such nick nacks covering every inch of space.
The fairly compact menu was encouraging and I took it to mean that the handful of types of fish and seafood that they have is fresh instead of coming out of the back of a Sysco freezer truck. I ended up going with the half (sized) seafood platter to sample as much as one man can by himself. With scallops, shrimp, haddock, fries and coleslaw, the platter is more than enough to put a dent in my appetite as well as the biodiversity of the ocean.
My order came super quick, which wasn’t surprising given that I was one of maybe three customers at the time. The scallops were fried perfectly — crisp breading contained the tender and juicy scallops inside, with their nice balance of briny flavour and hint of sweetness. The shrimp were cooked with an equally deft fryer hand, but didn’t stand out much on their own and needed the help of the seafood sauce to taste like much more than the breading. The haddock here at Phil’s goes in a different direction than most, coming breaded instead of the typical beer batter. The breading was nice and crunchy, but I’ll still always prefer the airiness of a good beer batter. The fish within was cooked nicely, being tender, flaky and juicy without being mushy. However, it could have benefited from some more seasoning to help enhance the flavour. The tartar sauce was also on the bland side, mostly tasting of mayo despite the flecks of relish that were in it and looking like a normal tartar sauce. Perhaps my taste buds were too coated in fryer oil at this point.
The fries were of the hand-​cut sort and I was pleased to see that they were all of a good size, not the little burnt nubs that often end up on your plate when you get hand-​cut fries. They could have been a little crispier, but they weren’t awful.
Without a beer batter and a little more attention to detail, I don’t think Phil’s will ever be the best fish and chips in my books, but they still make a reasonable feed of fish and seafood if you’re nearby and have a hankerin’.

Great little spot for fish and chips and other good seafood dishes. Have yet to sit in and eat but recently got take out from here and couldn’t be happier. Big pieces of nicely breaded haddock, generous amount of fries and delicious coleslaw. Not to mention a pretty good tartar sauce too. Highly recommended.

This is another business I really wish I could like, but alas, it is not meant to be.
Mike and I used to live within walking distance of their old Purcell’s Cove Road location, and we quite liked it. We moved, it closed, and that left us with the Quinpool location, which just isn’t the same.
Love their pop selection, staff have always been friendly, never a long wait for food … but the food itself isn’t very good. Wet fish, overdone little bits for fries, and consistently burned gingerbread. Dirty drinking glasses. And the washrooms looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in months. No joke. If the washrooms aren’t kept clean, I’m afraid of what the kitchen may look like.
We eventually stopped going when it became clear this was normal for the Quinpool location. Finding good fish n’ chips is hard, even in Nova Scotia, so I’m doubly disappointed. It does make me wistful for their old location.

We searched for a good place for some fish and chips and Phil’s was at the top of the list. And it didn’t disappoint us. The fish was fantastic!
We were seated and had our order in quickly, the food came fast, it was delicious, and best of all we both ate for $ 23! Including a beer for me.
Phil’s is the best in town!

Great fish and chips for reasonable prices!
The atmosphere is a little cold, but the wait staff is friendly, and the food is so fresh!
Coleslaw is kind of different but very yummy

Walking down Quinpool Road it may seem that your only food options are either Greek or Chinese. But if you’re looking for something a little more local, then stop at Phil’s.
My Boyfriend and I ate here because we weren’t feeling very worldly and well, we were hungry. Phil’s did not disappoint. The portion sizes were amazing
It was around 7:30−8pm when we arrived and we were greeted warmly. There were a few other tables of customers but not busy for a Friday night. The menu is simple, easy to read, lots of pictures.
My boyfriend ordered the large fish ‘n chips (2 pieces) and I got the pan fried haddock. Our orders were up quickly and served piping hot. The fries were delicious. The haddock was coated in a nice batter but seemed a bit too oily for my liking. The batter could peel right off and that is what I ended up doing as it felt more deep fried than pan fried.
The fish and chips… looked exactly like the pan fried haddock. We honestly couldn’t see much of a difference. The fish was a bit flakier but the batter and cooking method appeared exactly the same.
Phil’s was a good stop for what we needed — home style food at a decent price to fill our bellies. I’d go back for those fries in a heartbeat.

My fiancé and I were walking down Quinpool intent on going to Athens restaurant (yum) when we walked by Phil’s. We both love seafood and were in a bit of a rush so we decided to eat here instead.
I got the half seafood platter– which had a peice of fish some shrimp and scallops and shrimp and he had the clams and chips with a side of fish. The seafood itself was very fresh which was really good but the better didn’t add anything to the meal– it was rather tasteless with no flavour. The main purpose of it seemed to be to keep the seafood enclosed to make it easier to cook.
We were not dissatisfied, and glad we stopped by to try it however we will not be going back as there are better places for seafood in the city.
Phil’s seafood isn’t a yay or a nay. just meh.

Phil’s seems to be a favourite of Halifax, the night we went there, it was lined up. We were fortunate, the wait was not too long.
It was a Sunday evening, and as we stood there the waitress was telling people they were going to run out of fish. I could not believe it.
We were served by a waitress who was run off her feet, it was crazy busy. The fish arrived, fresh, done to perfection, fries were crisp and the onion rings were tasty as well.
Phil’s batter is much lighter than most fish and chips. The atmosphere at Phil’s is pretty standard, plenty of talking, it got pretty loud at one point.
Phil’s is a great family restaurant. Oh, by the way, the did run out of fish!
That is a lot of people served.

Impressive value at Phil’s. Big open space. Air conditioned. Attentive and cute staff.
Got the large fish and chip (haddock) and fried shrimp as an app.
The batter was that crumbly kind– not the layered fried most often associated with fish n’ chips… reminded me of the quinoa salmon fish n’ chips at Utopia (
). Chips were homemade… but plain– and the coleslaw was creamy and sweet (might have been nice to add some raisins for texture).
It was satisfactory.

You would think that us in Atlantic Canada can go anywhere and get some good old Fish N Chips but that is not always the case. BUT at Phils this is one spot that you will want to try.
Now don’t be shocked when you walk in as the décor is not that out of a magazine but the food is delicious. This was my first time here and will not be my last. I love the crispy batter and large pieces made my belly nice and full. Well you know with hand cut fried I had to try them and they were hot and fresh not soggy. We as well split a Spinach Salad to make it look like we were trying to be healthy. It was delicious and price was fairly reasonable for the amount of food that they gave you. Service was friendly as well it was almost like a home style restaurant.

When I first discovered Phil’s Seafood, I realized I had stumbled upon one of the best-​kept secrets in the city. Tasty fresh fish, breaded — and baked! Not deep-​fried. Add a spinach salad and you’ve just turned a potentially artery-​clogging lunch or dinner into something healthy and delicious. Go figure.
It’s been awhile since I’ve been to the Quinpool Road location (they used to be up on Purcell’s Cove Road, and worth the drive), but when I was working downtown, a Phil’s takeout lunch was a real treat. The Quinpool location isn’t much for atmosphere, so go for the takeout option.