Lunch at the O’Carroll’s – with the Globe and Mail

As we ran around all morning from interview to interview, we soon realized that no lunch time had been scheduled.  Well, that’s always a problem for me when they do that.  And you may not believe me, but they do it quite often.

Anyway, the next interview was scheduled with the Globe and Mail in a coffee shop on  Upper Water Street.  Well, that’s always a problem for me when they do that. I do not drink coffee.

Thankfully, the Leader and his assistant Tammy were also hungry, and they happily accepted my suggestion of stopping at O’Carroll’s when we walked by.  A quick phone call to the Globe and Mail reporter to change the location, and we were all set.

O’Carroll’s is an Irish Pub with a big emphasis on seafood.  There is a dining room, which is quite nice, but I prefer hanging out on the Pub side of the establishment. The place is an iconic institution in Halifax, with a warm atmosphere with its brick walls and wood furniture. They recently  refreshed their menu, which now features pastas, fresh seafood, steak and lamb, plus vegetarian dishes. On the pub side, there is music every night and you can enjoy classic pub fares such as steak and kidney pie, bangers and mash, and fish and chips.  You can also pick one of their Burgers of the Isle named after Irish counties.

As we waited for the Globe’s reporter, we ordered. To start, we shared a platter of Oysters.  They were from New Brunswick that day.

Fresh, juicy, they were great with a drop of lemon.  The cocktail sauce, which was different than the regular industrial type, didn’t quite work for me.

I hadn’t had any lobster yet since I arrived in Nova Scotia on Monday, and so I decided to go for one for my main.  Well, kind of. I went for the lobster sandwich.

A very rich lobster salad, with lots of mayo and green onions, served on a baguette and topped with lettuce and tomato. The sandwich came with french fries.

The baguette was nicely toasted, and since the bread was fresh, it wasn’t crumbling all over the place.  Nice big chunks of Lobster in the salad, a little heavy with green onions for my taste.  The tomato and lettuce were fresh as well.   The fries were decent, nicely golden, crunchy and warm.  At $16.95, it is an expensive sandwich, but cheaper than a whole lobster and certainly not as messy.

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UPDATE  – Aug. 13 @ 22:32 :  The resulting interview can be found here.

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UPDATE – Aug, 16 @ 2:12  After going to a ceilidh at the Alexander Keith’s brewery, a party hosted by the Nova Scotia NDP Caucus where I was able to tour the brewery and sample their freshest selection, I went back to the O’Carroll’s with some of the CBC/Radio-Canada crew.  The music was good, and the beer was even better.I had a few Garrison Nut Brown Ales, a nice, creamy ale with mild hop aromas and a nice bitter-chocolaty finish.  Garrison brews quality beers, which are guaranteed to be 100% vegan and preservative free.  I really enjoyed this beer.