There is a new place to eat on Spring Garden, down below the Moustache where the old Dooly’s was.

I was there twice in the last little while and was tipped that it existed by an ad in the Coast.  When I was there I had brunch, it was Sunday morning after all.  They have a decent brunch menu at decent prices.  I had the omelette that comes with whole grain toast and home fries.  And not the home fries that you expect to get from Smitty’s or such, but real pan fried potatoes with onions.  They were delicious.

What’s the Hook

The Rockbottom Brewery seems to be a brew pub, but from what I have heard they cook the wort at another location and then only the final stage of the brewing process is taken place on site.  This is different compared to the other brew pubs in Halifax including, The Granite Brewery and Rogues Roost(someone needs to get these guys a modern websites)

“To run great restaurants…for the benefit of our Guests, our Community, and Ourselves.” – From the website.

Why would you go?

Where you can find the place

Both times that I was there to eat the service was first rate.  The lady that was serving us the first time was awesome.  She was very keen on letting us know all of the offerings of the place, and showing us the evening menu.  The second time they didn’t really go out of their way in terms of service, but they were friendly enough.  I think that there was a hot guy sitting at the bar.

As for the seating atmosphere, it is a big change from the Dooly’s, in a very good way.  It still feels “hard” like a lot of the new places popping up, but the lighting helps to offset this to make the place feel more welcoming.  I also enjoyed the seating, there are high booths with foot rests and comfy lounging chairs which makes the place comfortable enough for me to hang out for extended periods.

What will Stop You

There was one evening that I got to stop in to try out the beer on tap.  It was a cold night near the end of December and the hockey game was on.  I didn’t want to dare to try the other sports pubs on Spring Garden as I knew they would be packed, and I only needed to catch the third period.  This meant it was the best chance to check out the beer at the Rockbottom.

Hated it.

I am not sure if it was just that it was one of their first batches and that they haven’t quite got the hang of it, but I had the ale and my GF had the IPA.  The ale seemed very fruity and the IPA had none of the kick that we have come to expect from the Garrisons, Propellers and Granite Brewerys of the world.  HUGE disappointment.  Oh yeah….and the game was on MUTE.  WTF we are in Canada and they our Junior Team was playing an important game.

I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and give it another try in the near future, but I am not going to make a special visit on my way home.  But if I am thirsty and am close I will give it another try.

So what do I Really Think

Value – 3/5

Really middle of the road. not expensive but you can get cheaper brunches elsewhere

Menu Selection – 3/5

Again they have select items that I assume they are going to make really good.  It seems like a chef inspired or developed menu which is not necessarily a bad thing.  Everyone will find something on it.

Food – 3/5

Great food.  Everything that I had and everyone else that was with me had was cooked perfectly and tasted amazing. The fired potatoes were amazing and omelettes full of great stuff, and the omelette eggs were REAL.   Not for a carton.

They would have gotten a four (4) if it wasn’t for my disappointment with the beer.

Service – 3.5/5

Like I said above, we had one that was amazing (5) but another that was at best a 3.  Not that she was bad, but she really didn’t go out of her way.

Atmosphere – 4/5

I really enjoyed sitting in the place.  It was damn near empty every time I was there, and the fact that there are a lot of hard surfaces it might get loud when it is busy.

Overall – 3.5/5

Decent but not amazing.  It is high enough that I will recommend it to people to give it a try out.  If they can get their beer tasting better, unless that was the way it was supposed to, then I will be revisting this review.

What do you think?

So have you been?  What did you think about the place?  Let us know.

Cheers,

JM