Just on my way out of Halifax, so I thought I’d report back on some of the eating and drinking options, most of which I visited more than once. It was a lot of fun.

For beer: Stilwell. This is a fantastic craft beer bar, with good food, too. There are actually two venues: the bar, on Barrington Street, and then a compact urban beer garden that’s open during the summer. The former has two very delicious dishes that must be tried: the Tokyo fries and the popcorn. Sensational. The beer garden has a mouth-watering and slightly dirty (in a good way) selection of beer-friendly dishes that are cooked on the grill.

There are two excellent wine bars in the city which I thoroughly recommend. I spent a couple of evenings (or bits of evenings) in Little Oak, which is a super-smart wine bar run by Nicole Raufeisen. This has some serious wines (no easy feat in a monopoly-controlled market), including quite a few gems from the Kermit Lynch portfolio. This is the best place to drink in town if you are serious about wine.

Also highly recommended is Obladee, a wine bar on Barrington near to Stillwell. There’s a really good small plate selection here, as well as an excellent, diverse wine list and some really good beer. I visited three times on this trip, plus we visited for the final night’s dinner after the National Wine Awards of Canada judging. Heather Rankin, who is the proprietor here, is one of the NWAC judges.

If you want to buy wine, then the place to go is Bishop’s Cellar, which is opposite Little Oak near the water. Superb selection, including much of the Kermit Lynch portfolio. Great beers here, too.

Finally, a nice discovery: Rinaldo’s. It’s a newish place specialising in Italian/American food. Not fancy, but thoroughly delicious and well priced. Our last day in the city consisted of lunch here followed by a session at Stillwell beer garden. It was lovely.