83 Best Restaurants in Nova Scotia, Canada

Rich farmland fringes Truro, and the menu makes the most of the fabulous produce grown around here. The 32-seat eatery has an upscale-casual feel and a small but mighty menu. Salads, sandwiches, and whole-grain pizzas dominate at lunch, while dinner includes meatier options such pork tenderloin, herbed chicken, and lobster fettucini. Desserts, always made in-house, come generously portioned.

Chef-owner Roland Glauser whips up creative seafood, meat, and pasta dishes in a restored building that started out as a butcher shop in the mid-1800s. A Swiss influence is evident in many dishes on the extensive menu, including pork tenderloin Zurich-style (braised with mushrooms and demi-glace sauce). The café has a pleasant garden patio and a craft shop. Reservations aren't accepted at lunch but are requested for dinner.

Housed in a converted stone church complete with stained glass windows, Church Brewing produces tasty beers and has a fabulous menu of upscale pub grub with a farm-to-table focus. There's a huge patio out front that overlooks the hustle and bustle of Main Street, and there's often live music in the evenings and on the weekends. 

This fabulous bakery opens at 7:30 am for breakfast, great coffee, and tasty treats. Their sandwiches and soups are excellent, and stocking up on cookies and oatcakes to take with you is highly advised. At peak times there can be long lines, but it is worth the wait. 

With a focus on fresh produce and local seafood, the Grand Banker is a great spot for a tasty lunch or dinner overlooking the harbor whether you're in the mood for wings and a craft beer, lobster mac ’n’ cheese, or rack of lamb. There's an impressive selection of Nova Scotian wines, and you can order a five 2-ounce glass sampler for C$22, as well as a cocktail list that embraces locally distilled liquors.  

This small, on-trend restaurant and bar serves a seafood-heavy Spanish-inspired menu and delicious cocktails. There's a selection of oysters on ice, as well as other chilled and cured seafood and meats, classic Spanish tapas, and bar snacks that make for a perfect evening of grazing, but also a menu of hearty pasta and meat dishes should you require something more robust. Reservations are highly recommended.

Started as a pop-up restaurant by some of the city's most creative chefs, Hop Scotch has evolved into one of the city's most sophisticated dining rooms where incredible food and inventive cocktails are to be eagerly anticipated on each visit. The small menu changes often in order to showcase the best in seasonal, local ingredients, and brunch is always amazing. 

Located in a conference center on the Membertou First Nation's urban reserve, this spacious dining room serves up inspired global cuisine using fresh, local ingredients with many dishes having an Indigenous twist—and you can order a prix fixe three-course First Nation menu (CA$45) that changes with the seasons. Regular menu items range from lamb chops perfectly cooked with a pistachio pesto to a delicately spiced curry paella. The food is excellent, portions generous, and the space both inside the restaurant and in corridors outside features Indigenous art and artifacts. 

Classic French cuisine with Acadian heart, this beautiful restaurant is filled with antiques and raw wood, with views out over the crashing ocean. Every carefully prepared dish is spectacular, from Acadian fricot to salt cod gratin to their upscale burger. L'Abri has a well-stocked selection of Nova Scotia wines and beers, as well as great cocktails. Be sure to save room for dessert. Bookings highly recommended. 

Firmly established as the best place to eat along this stretch of the coast, La Cuisine Robicheau overlooks the ocean and specializes in seafood and Acadian cuisine. The excellent pâté à la râpure (rappie pie) is usually the first thing to sell out, so come early. Other good choices include the fricot aux poutines râpées à la poule (chicken soup with potato dumplings). 

More than a mere pub, this Cape Breton institution has evolved into an attraction, in part because it is owned by four of the Rankins, Canada's most celebrated singing siblings. Expect the usual pub favorites: fish-and-chips, pulled pork sandwiches, grilled salmon, and mussels steamed in ale, garlic, and bacon. There's music here most nights, and sometimes during the day (occasionally with a cover charge of C$10).

In a gorgeous location by the water, this restaurant is much more than just a deli, with a long menu that includes an award-winning chowder, gourmet sandwiches, hand-rolled, thin-crust pizzas, inventive burgers with an international slant, and plenty of vegetarian choices. In the evening, chef Martin Ruiz Salvador adds a short dinner menu to the options, with dishes like scallop linguine and fisherman's stew. You'll find Nova Scotian and international wines on the drinks list, plus craft beers and cocktails.

This beautiful café filled with art and vintage furniture serves tasty breakfasts, sandwiches, and delectable baked goods, as well as perfect espresso drinks. With a focus on fresh and local, you'll find snowcrab and lobster rolls on the menu, as well as produce from the gardens out back. The attached gallery next door sells lovely crafts, art, and jewelry from local artisans. 

This sugar camp, store, and pancake house in the Cobequid Mountains, about 30 km (19 miles) north of Truro off Highway 311, is Nova Scotia's only year-round maple destination. You can tour the working facility and hike the sugar woods. In spring, when the sap is running, you can also watch demonstrations. Afterward, tuck into whole-grain buttermilk pancakes and waffles with maple syrup, local sausage, fresh biscuits, maple baked beans, and organic coffee at the log cabin lodge. Multiple times per year, a guest chef prepares a gourmet dinner that cleverly incorporates maple products. At the store, you can buy your own sweet souvenirs, among them maple syrup, maple cream, maple candy, and maple butter.

You don't have to dine on the waterfront in Digby to enjoy great seafood and good views, and this friendly pub offers both. Just uphill from the main street, its two-story deck has great sea views, and the menu mostly features local seafood that couldn't be any fresher. There are other choices, too, including vegetarian and vegan options, and any dish can be downsized for children. All are made from locally sourced ingredients, cooked to perfection by the talented chef, and there's local beer, locally roasted coffee, and occasional local live music.

Easily one of the city's hippest upscale establishments, the Press Gang prepares fish and meat with equal panache, with wines from the well-stocked cellar. A four-course tasting menu (C$160 for two) is also offered. Thick, cold stone walls testify to the building's era (1759), but comfy seating and intimate lighting soften the effect. Local musicians play on Friday and Saturday night.

A locals' favorite serving craft beer, cocktails, and upscale modern food. Oysters, salt-cod fish cakes, and moules marinière showcase local seafood, and there's an excellent selection of carnivorous and vegetarian dishes to choose from.

The lobster rolls served at this takeout-only spot are divine, filled with fat chunks of lobster and served with a pickle and potato chips on the side. Order a classic (with celery and mayo), cajun (spicier version of the classic), or naked (pure lobster) and sit by the water to enjoy. Tom's also serves a few other seafood dishes (smoked salmon bagels, seafood pasta, fishcakes) and all are delicious. 

For superfresh seafood and views overlooking Bras d'Or Lake, head for this former legion hall. There are just four options on the main-course menu—lobster, planked salmon, snow crab, and grilled steak—each of which can also come as a fixed-price feast with unlimited mussels, seafood chowder, homemade rolls and biscuits, desserts, and nonalcoholic beverages (yes, all of these items are unlimited). The space can seat 100 diners inside, and more on the deck, but it gets busy, particularly when a tour bus unloads (though these are by reservation only so you can call to check whether one is expected). Unlike some similar spots, this one is fully licensed so you can wash all that down with a cold brew. Dinner service starts at 4 pm.

Perhaps the best place on the island to grab a slice of pie, this bakery always has a huge selection of sweet treats as well as excellent sandwiches and decent coffee too. The café is pretty tiny, but there's a patio and picnic tables outside.

Offering seafood, steaks, pasta and pizza, the food at this dinner-only spot is consistent and delicious, with many ingredients locally sourced. The atmosphere is warm and friendly, and the service is top-notch. 

The menu isn't huge at this funky taproom, but the charcuterie boards, sandwiches, and pizza—all of which showcase local produce—do go perfectly with this craft brewery's tasty beers. You can sit out on the spacious patio or inside, and there's even an axe-throwing studio on-site to make your evening a little more entertaining. You can pick up beers to go at the attached retail store.

Come to this fab spot to grab breakfast where they serve authentic Central and South American dishes in a cozy location.

"Canadian" cuisine is broadly defined here (French, German, and Asian influences are all evident), but there is no mistaking the provenance of chef and cookbook author Craig Flinn's ingredients, which are fresh and local. Each meal begins with Chives's signature buttermilk biscuits—and each should end with maple crème brûlée. In between, enjoy starters such as yellowfin tuna tartar, warm summer kale salad, or Jamo's perogi, then make the difficult choice between dishes like braised beef Wellington, grilled Digby scallops, or the N.S. Heritage Pork cut of the day. Each dish on the menu has wine suggestions, and gluten-free and vegetarian options are available.

A warm welcome and elegant surroundings provide a great first impression here, but it's the delicious, fresh, and health-conscious cuisine that lingers in memory. The menu changes seasonally, but always includes dry-rub or honey-glazed pork ribs straight from an apple-wood smoker. The bistro's rooms have a minimalist look that nicely balances the heritage building's original architectural features, and a patio provides outside dining in summer.

This Northern Italian restaurant is a classic big-night-out choice. Subdued lighting, elegant furnishings, fresh flowers: all the details have been attended to, and ditto the food, which is impressive and satisfying. Excellent seared foie gras is always on the menu, as is veal scaloppine sautéed with lobster and topped with a creamy garlic-and-cognac sauce. Prices on the specialty wine list go as high as C$600, but there are also fine bottles for under C$50.

Every lick of the small-batch artisan ice cream made at Dee Dee's is pure pleasure whether you opt for classic vanilla, banana cardamom, Mexican chocolate, or one of the many other flavors on offer.

Tasty sushi, fresh sashimi, feather-light tempura, gyudon, and teriyaki are among the authentic Japanese dishes that are artfully presented here on the extensive menu. Seating is available both inside the pint-size eatery and, in summer, out on a small street-front patio, and takeout is another option. Vegetarians should note that meat-free dishes may include fish broth, so make your requirements known.