Temple Bar

Great spot for drinks and small plates. Fantastic staff. Always friendly and helpful. Had a sample plate and our group of 6 could not get enough of pork belly bun and duck confi tacos.

Enthusiastic bartender. Lots of cocktail concoctions for everyone to try. Decent ambiance. Not cheap but not crazy expensive either.

I visited Temple Bar early one Friday night with two of my besties, and ordered the Tall Cool One. It was delicious and totally refreshing, as was the conversation (I hadn’t been out with the girls in a while). The thing that might surprise visitors to this bar is that Temple Bar is NOT an Irish Bar, despite the name. To prove the non-​Irish connection, the bartender was unable to make me a hot whisky, which I ordered to soothe a sore throat. Anyway, you don’t go to a bar for medicine, right? The Tall Cool One was great, as was the food. I ordered a bruschetta pizza– it was substantial and delicious. Table service was top class. Recommended!

I love the atmosphere of this place, especially if you get in around 4:00 or 5:00 before it gets busy. It’s a nice spot for a drink and a light meal whether you’re with a group or hanging out as a couple. The food and cocktails are great and the service has always been very good when I’ve been there. My only complaint is the wine list– very old world-​centric (and that’s not where much of the great wine is coming from). Would love to see more from Australia, NZ and South America.

Wow, this place impressed me soooooo much. Atmosphere was stunning, staff were amazing. My waitress was one from another establishment (which I have a love hate relationship with), so I was super glad to see she moved. She was stellar.
My expectations were huge, because, you know, Craig Flynn, right?! And they met them. We were waiting here for a table at 2 Doors… and they called us when our table was ready– genius idea!
The sharing plates were fantastic. A little on the small side, but that was to be expected. The meatballs were seasoned beautifully. The chacuterie board had a great variety.
Drinks were fantastic! Very inspired. And the wine list had one of my favorite NS Reds that you never see in the city.
I think what you are doing is great, and I hope it continues:)

Looking to grab a bite and a drink before getting our board game on, I stopped at Temple Bar with my wife and a couple friends.
The sister restaurant to Chives and 2 Doors Down, the design is closer to that of 2DD. There’s a mix of brick, cement pillars, and re-​purposed wood tables, with a warm palette. All in all a pretty modern feel. A long bar dominates the relatively small room, with a handful of tables and another drinking rail running parallel to the bar.
The bar was pretty quiet, with just a couple tables occupied on Christmas Eve eve. We were seen to quickly, with our drink orders being taken after we took a minute to peruse their diverse list of drinks. I started off with the enticing Black Cherry Flip, which is made of bourbon, house cherry syrup, egg white foam, lemon juice and bitters. Served in a martini glass, it was a bit sweeter than I typically go for, but it went down quickly.
Round two was the comedically named Silent Treatment — made from a mix of rums, muddled pineapple, squeezed orange juice, and Propeller ginger beer. It had a nice tang to it, but was the pineapple was a bit too loud.
Their food menu is almost too lean, but has a few tempting options like meatballs, arancini, and spaghetti bolognaise. We ended up ordering a cheese plate and the mushroom arancini. The cheese plate had a generous spread of four cheeses, including a goat, aged cheddar, gouda, and blue, as well as baguette halves for spreading. The cheeses were really enjoyable, but the bread didn’t come pre-​cut and took a significant amount of sawing to cut slices off with the basic steak knife we were given.
The arancini was a big winner though. The mushroom risotto was creamy and had a great flavour, and contrasted nicely with the crisp crust. That wasn’t it though, as it was served in a braised brisket sauce, which helped make up for the fact that there just one arancini.
Service was spot on and friendly.
From what I can tell Temple seems to be having some issues finding its niche in the Halifax food/​bar scene, other than being a holding area for 2DD customers waiting for a table. However, the drinks are destination worthy and the food is good, if in need of some polishing in execution, and a dash more selection.

I only popped in here because I was with a group that was waiting to dine at the adjacent 2 Doors Down. It was OK: a little too trendy for my tastes, with not enough character to it. Service was OK.
But their Laphraoig was reasonably priced, and they had small sharing plates to hold us over until our table was ready.

Tip: Sit at the bar for chit chat with the staff & to get a close look at the action! The service was super friendly and helpful, but the drinks we tried were fine rather than mind-​blowing. A good spot to sit and sip while waiting for a table in Chives or Two Doors Down, two local fave restaurants that sandwich Temple Bar. All three have the same owner. Next time I would try a snack and ask for a custom drink based on a flavour I like, which is a fun cocktail option.

I have been to Temple Bar twice now and both times have been incredible! As soon as you walk in the décor is inviting. It’s modern but cozy. And the mural on the wall is really cool. I had a cocktail and the scallops the first time I visited and I was blown away by both. The next time I went with friends and we shared a bunch of small plates. All amazing. I loved the arrancini (crazy flavour!) and I didn’t want to stop eating the tikka tako. The antipasti was the best app I have ever had. Chef Craig Flinn has given us an amazing bar with insanely good food & drinks. Can’t wait to go back!

You see the name. «Temple bar».
It reminds you of the amazing bar in New York City. Nah! Not even close.
I assume it’s the same owner with 2 doors down and Chives as there is a wallpaper-​drawing that states that this guy owns almost a block in downtown Halifax. Clap clap clap
The concept is the same with the bar lot six, great cocktails and small menu kind of finger food, kind of something to nimble. Another place downtown with ridiculous high prices for nothing.
Cocktails to be honest are really good!
Nothing special for decoration. Awful menu/​prices.
The pasta with sausages (if you could find any meat in there) mediocre and a veggie plate was basically 5 huge pieces of onions…
I’ll probably go back for drinks but not a priority on my list.