Bar Kismet was a small family owned restaurant and bar serving fresh seafood and handmade pastas. Founded by Annie Brace-Lavoie and partner Jenner Cormier about 7 years ago, it is also known for its inventive cocktail menu. Inside you’ll find small concrete tables set with chairs by the windows to the street or with bench seating along one wall. A U-shaped bar with stools takes up the center of the space and plants are everywhere. Otherwise there are framed mirrors on the walls, a wide plank wood floor and music in the background for the continuous casual crowd decending on the place. Reservations are a must if you want a table and service can be slow to get started with so many coming and going, but once you get started it moves right along. Plates are in varying sizes and are meant to be shared which means you can try lots of things and that’s best here cause there are lots of great options on the menu and you won’t want to miss any of them. Hope you’ll stop by when you’re in Nova Scotia.
Set-Up
Food
We started with raw oysters. They had Northern Belle from PEI and Shandaph from Nova Scotia. They are priced by the piece so we got 4 of each to go with our Negroni cocktail. For those who regularly read this blog you’ll know I often enjoy a Negroni to start a meal and this was one of the best made versions I’ve had. No fancy liquors just a well balanced drink. The oysters came with freshly grated horseradish, a mignonette and lemon slices. The oysters were delicious and a mix of the toppings accented them perfectly.
Raw scallop was mixed with radish and black sesame and served on a half shell. The tiny white pieces look like garlic but they were radish. The sesame was an interesting touch. Very mild in flavor, overall, but nice without a bit of pastiness from the raw scallop.
Cured trout was covered with hakerei (Japanese turnip) greens on a bed of creme fraiche and dusted with chopped walnuts. Some mild peppers were in thin ribbons mixed with the trout. This was an excellent dish and the cured trout was a real star. Everything blended into wonderful combinations. Truly tasty.
Grilled mackerel was on ajo blanco and next to Swiss chard topped with almonds and golden raisins rehydrated in sherry. In this one the fish was slightly overcooked and the skin was strong tasting. I liked the greens with raisins and nuts but the fish didn’t fly with me. They offered to take it off the bill but inspecting the bill found they did not.
Halibut and mussels were in a cabbage roll in a cider beurre blanc. This plate had excellent fish – moist and lovely. The mussels added another level of flavor as did the rich tasty sauce. Along with great textures this one did fly to the moon.
Smoked ricotta, cappaletti and asparagus was our last savory. The very smokey cheese filled pastas were nicely accented with a bit of lemon and parmesan. The pastas were delicate and not at all too thick in the folds, as they often are. Another wonderful dish.
We chose the custard tart to split for dessert. The thin pie was topped with a liberal sprinkling of nutmeg. The custard was nice and had a good consistency but the crust was not crisp nor buttery. I’d call it okay.
