Restaurant: Harbour Fish N’ Fries
Address: 7886 Highway 7, Musquodoboit Harbour
Date: July 24, 2010
Fish: Haddock
Cost: $7.05

One of the great things about this venture of ours is the continual feedback and information we receive from our readers. Weekly we learn about all sorts of great F&C joints which, while unknown to us, are the favorite haunts of others. Today’s review is of one such place… Harbour Fish N’ Fries in Musquodoboit Harbour.

More than a few of you have strongly urged us to check this place out, so on a gorgeous Saturday evening we drove out to see what the fuss was about. And we were quite happy we did.

The conditions were near perfect for outside dining… which was good because this place was so hopping with customers there wasn’t much hope of snagging a table inside. With lots of outside dining options on the deck area, we sat back and enjoyed a slight breeze and some great tasting fish and chips.

It may be a bit of a drive out of the city, but if you’re ever in the area this is one place we highly recommend.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Fish and Chips Score: 82

FCP Review Crew

Rachel’s Thoughts

Take a drive on a nice sunny evening to this location and enjoy a taste of the Eastern Shore.

The place was hopping and people were in a good mood as fish & chips were flying out the door.

The batter was thin, crisp and very tasty. The fish was flaky and fresh too.

The fries were good, but not above average, and the coleslaw was bland.

Overall, the experience was a good one, though.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Rachel’s Final Score: 79

Poochie’s Thoughts

This was a busy spot… a VERY busy spot. My hope was the busyness was due to excellent food and not because of limited dining options in the area. As it turned out, the fish and chips here is excellent… especially the fish. It had just a touch of a salty flavour, which I thought was great. The batter was nice, thin, and slightly crispy. It too, had a great flavour.

The fries were not home-cut, but arrived decently cooked. Certainly not wow-wee… but average. Once I tossed some salt and ketchup on them they were quite good. Great fries don’t need anything extra, however… these did.

The portion we received was a good size; not fantastic, but when you consider it was only $7.05, I think it was a GREAT DEAL!

The coleslaw served with our meal had ABSOLUTELY NO flavour whatsoever. None… Zip… Nada. Soon after we had received our food we overheard staff telling people they were out of coleslaw so, it would appear we had literally received the bottom of the barrel… an accurate description of what it tasted like, too.

The tartar sauce just seemed like mayonnaise with some hot-dog relish in it. I think it was Old Style tartar sauce, and my suggestion for Harbour Fish ‘N Fries is… if you’re going to use manufactured tartar sauce at least use something decent, like Kraft’s.

I will say, however, that it took quite a while to get our food… much longer than we’re used to.

I struggled whether Harbour Fish N’ Fries deserved to be HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (a score of 80 or higher). For me it was borderline, and I decided that, yes, it does deserve a score of 80 from me. While I personally wouldn’t drive all the way out from the city just for their fish & chips (hey… wait a minute… that’s exactly what we did this time), I wouldn’t hesitate to dine here if I were in the area.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Poochie’s Final Score: 80

Minnie’s Thoughts
I think it was the fish that had a little salty flavouring, but in a good way. The batter was thin, cooked perfectly and tasted great!

The fries needed some seasoning, but were still good.

The coleslaw had no flavour, so I didn’t even bother to finish it. I don’t think the tartar sauce was home-made (and if it were, I wouldn’t brag about it if I were Harbour Fish N’ Fries)… I personally think it was taken from a vat of Old Style tartar sauce, which is like the manufactured tartar sauce’s “B Team”.

This place was very busy, and I can understand why after eating their fish.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Minnie’s Final Score: 84

Skippy’s Thoughts

Tasty, tasty, tasty.

When I took that first bite, I was impressed.

This is what your standard roadside F&C battered fish should taste like. Par excellence. Average grease, nice thin batter (more fish than batter!), lovely fish, loads of flavor… if only the fries would have been above average, this would have been a very tough place to beat. Even so, it’s still in the highly recommended category, so what more do you need to know? Get in the car and head down the Shore, ‘by. It’s definitely worth the drive.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Skippy’s Final Score: 85