Highwayman is a small place with about 40 seats in an historic building.  Opening in 2016 the relaxed atmosphere goes with the menu of Spanish inspired shared plates – tapas and pintxos.  Along with an ambitious cocktail menu they try to serve ingredients from Nova Scotia.   The long interior has bench seating along one wall and the opposite wall is the bar with backed high chairs.  Mirrors, plants and art decorate the space with that has the kitchen in the back, paper napkins and music in the background.   A couple high-top tables are in the window and when you make a reservation you indicate your seating preference.  We had reserved one of the high tops as that was the only available but luckily we were offered a table which was way more comfortable.  We started with a cocktail and then moved to a bottle of wine.  The service was friendly and helpful, especially as we wanted to try a number of their things but not get too overwhelmed.  The food was good but mixed in flavor content but it was good enough that I’d recommend the place to you, if you find yourself in Halifax.

Set-Up

 

Food

The raw oysters that night were from Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and New Brunswick.  We got 4 of each.  They came with a vinegary mignonette, lemon and a separate bottle of hot sauce.  All the oysters were good especially with a splash of the hot sauce.  We tried one of their gin and tonic variations (Tanqueray 10, grapefruit, lime leaf, tonic) to go with them.

 

Albacore tuna was with pickled rhubarb and spiced herbs.  Some salsa verde and fennel were mentioned  upon presentation.  The soft, tender fish was excellent with the sauce and lovely vegetables.  The pickled rhubarb was tender and accented the other ingredients nicely.

 

We had two of the pintxos – Quail egg with mushroom duxelles & gorgonzola and pork belly with fennel.  The mushroom ones were excellent with the tasty mushroom juice soaking into the nice bread below.  They were full of flavor.  The pork belly was also excellent with tons of flavor and plenty to accompany the tasty bread.

 

Charred broccoli was on labneh and chili oil and topped with tiny onion rings.  It was nicely charred and had a good spiciness to the dish.  The broccoli was cooked just enough to make it tender but not get mushy and then the onions added a crisp texture.

 

Chorizo and mussels were in tomato broth with a couple pieces of toasted baguette on the side.  The mussels were large as were the chunks of chorizo.  The good sauce went well with both ingredients and the bread allowed you to enjoy some of the extra sauce.  Another good spicy dish.

 

Seared scallop and pork belly were on asparagus crema.  This one was not as successful as the pork belly was too lean and dry.  The scallops were cooked nicely and tasty but the texture of the asparagus crema was almost babyfood-like.  However it did blend nicely with the scallops.

 

For dessert we tried the almond cake with warm sherry cream.  The cake was very crumbly and soft.  It was not too sweet and a little hard to eat the way it fell apart.  It did have a nice almond flavor but it was a mixed success.