Halls Harbour Lobster Pound

It takes a while to drive to Halls Harbour, but once you're there you're greeted with a beautiful view. Go inside the restaurant, and the greeting is much different. There are rules here & they must be followed... they're not clearly stated though, so be ready to learn. Everything must be ordered at the gift shop, and the table/deck you choose is site unseen. Once you find your table, if it's not ideal (for whatever reason), be prepared to explain your way out of your original choice/beg the waiter to negotiate with the person taking orders in the gift shop. The restaurant looks friendly & inviting, but there seems to be a lot of room for improvement when it comes to management/customer service.

The food was good. It almost made up for the unfriendliness and hostility we received in the gift shop while ordering. The chowder was just okay. The onion rings were really good. I didn't try their fish & chips, but based from the fry on the onion rings, it's probably really good. The lobster comes pre-cracked, so it makes it a little less messy to eat.

You can't get fresher lobster than here. You can select it from the case. We sat outside and enjoyed the view. My lobster was delicous. And my husband really enjoyed his lobster roll. It was one of the fresher ones he had on this trip. Also there was a decent amount of meat in it. Our server was friendly and lovely. Worth the trip!

MUST VISIT!

Lowell was just the bestest ever! Halls Harbour Lobster Pound is where you eat the freshest lobster while watching the magic of high and low tides.

Lowell will show lobster virgins, like myself, just how to dive in with no shame - plenty of napkins and a bib, of course!

The magic of this place is the rustic charm, freshness of seafood - like caught the day before fresh, and the staff that are happy to teach land locked Westerners like myself all about Lobster and happily give advice on what to see and do while in Nova Scotia.

Seriously so glad this place was my official East Coast Lobster experience! They don't come more genuine or better than Lowell!

Great seafood, a beautiful location and fun experience!

We traveled here for dinner with our local friends, timing our arrival for high tide so we could enjoy a water view.

Orders are placed in the gift shop, where the live lobsters are kept, and then you will move to the seating area, where the food is brought to your table. If you're having a whole lobster, you take your pick from the tank and they give it to you in a bin, which you drop off to the cook before seating yourself!

While I knew whole lobster was the "thing" here, I really wanted to try the lobster poutine. I wasn't disappointed! Lobster, mixed with fries, gravy, and cheese curds is now my favorite comfort food!

My wife had the lobster mac and cheese, which was also delicious!

My only criticism of our meal was the Caesar salad, which seemed to have a simple bottled dressing and croutons from a bag, was a bit lack luster when compared to the rest of our meal. However, I think one could argue this is a place for seafood, not salads!

We finished our evening off with a walk on the beach and then waited for sunset, which was beautiful. I understand the clear sky we experienced the evening we visited was a treat!

Adding to the beautiful sunset was the bagpiper who played the sun away from the top of a bluff across the harbor. What a magical experience!

Interesting location and touristy place. You are right on the water there but we had no view. If it's nice out, it looks like they have a rooftop patio. Had lobster rolls for $30. Nice lobster but pretty tasteless in the dressing. Bun was cold and boring. Nice staff who had suggestions for some local sites to drive around and see. It's fine for what it is but they have no competition to up their game and make a lobster roll a real standout reason to go there. The wine region is so close by that you would really love to have a serious lobster roll. It's a spot for those palates that are happy with what shows up on your plate that only has to contain lobster to make it an event.

This place is a mediocre, average tourist spot. If you happen to be in Hall's Harbour and are too hungry to wait for a better meal elsewhere, it will do. We made the mistake of ordering the mussels, which were the worst we've ever eaten. They were dry, gummy, and tasted bad. This is doubly awful since we were in the mussels capital of the world! It's pretty hard to find bad mussels in NS or PEI, but these guys managed it.

If there is just ONE place you are going to have lobster in Nova Scotia -- this is IT!

Very casual, but you can get just about any size lobster you want. They put it on a tray live, and you take it to the kitchen to have it cooked -- and these folks really know what they are doing. Was the best lobster of the trip!

They give you a number, and you take it to the dining room where they bring the lobster and your sides, You can chose from salads, potato etc. You get drawn butter too!
We also brought a bottle of wine with us and only had to pay a corkage fee to enjoy with our meal.

The day we went the weather was beautiful and so we ate outside at picnic tables.
They have some great deserts too if you have a sweet tooth for after.

Enjoy!

What an amazing experience! If you are in the mood for a meal of the perfect Atlantic lobster, Halls Harbour Lobster Pound is definitely the place you want to be. After a half hour drive "up the mountain", you will arrive in Halls Harbour, a little hamlet nestled on the edge of the Bay Of Fundy, surrounded by fishing boats and quaint little houses. Right on the edge of the water sits the Lobster Pound.

The protocol of the Lobster Pound is unique in that you must go into the gift shop to order your meal, then cross the boardwalk (about 10 feet) into the adjacent building where your meal will be served to you. In the gift shop is the menu and the lobster tank where you can choose your next victim, whether he be small, medium or large. When we were there, lovely staff member Violet let my wife hold on of their prized lobsters: a super rare, one-in-a-million BLUE lobster! They told us that SHE was not a lobster for eating, but they kept her for more as an attraction.

As we stopped in for lunch, we decided to share a small lobster, Captain Hall's Fisherman's Basket and the popular Lobster Poutine.
DISCLAIMER: I'll have to be honest... I am not a fan of seafood in any way shape or form so I am not the best person for a review of a seafood restaurant.
However...
... everything that we had was very top-notch! The steamed lobster was cooked perfectly and the Lobster Poutine was really great; french fries smothered in a cheesy lobster sauce - mmmm! The Fisherman's Basket had clams, a piece of haddock, french fries and scallops (which as a Westerner, I'd noticed that the locals pronounce as "scawlops"). Anyhoo, I was surprised that all the seafood in the Fisherman's Basket was deep-fried. While it was good and cooked to pretty much perfection, it was a little too much "deep-fried" for me, at that point in time.

For me, Halls Harbour Lobster Pound was more about the experience and less about the food. My wife felt the opposite as we had searched high and low for a place for a great Atlantic lobster meal, and the Lobster Pound did not disappoint. We both enjoyed it so much, we came back the next day for a lunchtime chowder and got to see the new catch in the tank... a ONE-IN-FIVE-MILLION YELLOW LOBSTER!

Again, he was a not an eatin' lobster.

Fun place to go if you're a tourist or entertaining guests from out of town. Halls harbour is such a picturesque spot, especially if it's a nice night and you catch the sunset.

You order your food in the gift shop and you can select your lobster from the tank. Lobsters are pricy (a small one will set you back around $40) but come with sides and are served already cracked so easy to get out of the shell. There are multiple other less expensive options like fish and chips. You can have your food to go, inside the restaurant, or on picnic tables outside on the wharf.

On a busy night, reservations are recommended. Service was friendly and reasonably quick considering how busy they were. The lobster was perfectly cooked and the sides were good but nothing exceptional.

They have a selection of beer and wine, or you can bring your own and pay a corkage fee. We brought our own but be prepared to either bring a screw top or your own corkscrew. BYOB is DIY here.

I always love going to Halls Harbour for the wonderful view, tides, and lobster rolls. I have always said that Halls Harbour Restaurant has the best lobster rolls because they are loaded with lobster meat.
Unfortunately on a recent visit I was very disappointed. The fries and slaw was very good but the lobster roll was lacking. It was mostly bun and with about a third of the lobster meat I expected. The service was excellent though.