Fish and Chips at the Henry House

I am continuing my search for the best fish and chips in downtown Halifax, focusing on pubs for now, because lord knows we love our pubs here in Nova Scotia. My last post featured a tasty, no frills fish and chips for less than $10 from the Resolutes Club. That same day, I decided to walk down from Inglis St. to Barrington St. and continue the quest at the Henry House.

The Henry House is one of my favourite pubs in Halifax. The historic Henry House was built in 1834, and is named for William Alexander Henry (a father of Confederation), who resided in the house from 1854-1864. The house is a National Historic Site, and is delightfully haunted.

The top floor of the Henry House is a weekend-only cocktail bar called The Drawing Room, specializing in classic cocktails, smoked cocktails, and prohibition era cocktails. The main floor is a brightly lit restaurant, and the basement is a pub (with the same menu as above).

It also used to be the home of Granite Brewery (a craft pioneer in 1985), and it was always a pleasure to have a pint of ale (R.I.P. Peculiar) with a pie or pasty. The pub still has Propeller’s ESB on cask, if you want the real British pub experience.

I ordered a regular Propeller ESB (because I can’t do cask ales) as the perfect pairing for my fish and chips ($16).

A basic coleslaw was included, and a house-made tartar sauce that was a touch on the salty side. Hand-cut fries are always welcome on my plate. It is called fish AND chips, so I like to see equal effort put into both components.

The ale batter was flavourful and not at all mushy, but it was a little soft/chewy which had the result of falling off the fish. However, the fish itself was wonderful. It was pearly white, chunky, moist and sweet.

Based on the quality of the ingredients, I think this fish and chips is well priced at $16. I love the whole experience at the Henry House, and the food rarely disappoints. I would recommend this fish and chips to anyone looking for a good pub downtown.

Henry House
1222 Barrington St, Halifax
Rating: Some Good.

(Rating Scale: WTF, Meh, Good, Some Good, Right Some Good!)

What are your favourite fish and chips in downtown Halifax?

See all of my fish and chips reviews.