Cha Baa Thai

Thai food seems to be popular as of late, with restaurants opening up in several Maritime cities. I'd heard many good things about Cha Baa, and so on a recent trip to Dartmouth made a point of stopping in for some Thai food. You'll notice two things when you first walk in: the decorations are great, very tropical and festive, and the place is packed. It seems to have become quite popular; at the Dartmouth location I went to, I wouldn't be surprised if it's become a favourite lunch spot in the industrial park where it is located. Although I've had Thai food before, I haven't been to many places with as extensive of a menu, and there were many options I didn't recognize. I was definitely not the only person there with that experience, as I overheard many people asking the staff the same questions I did- is this spicy? The staff were very friendly and accommodating, and after a few questions I chose the Massaman curry combo, with a fresh spring roll. I must say, the food was delicious. The massaman curry is more sweet than spicy (although I still found it had a kick to it), and you can definitely taste the coconut in it. The spring roll was also delicious- a good upgrade for only 50 cents more. What's more, the costs were quite reasonable- mostly in the 10-15 dollar range for lunch. I hope that Cha Baa's popularity is an indication that it will stick around for a while, because it has definitely been added to my list of favourite places in metro.

Fans Chinese Food

Fans has been a favourite in my family for almost two decades now. No one can quite agree who first spotted this gem, but we can all agree on one thing- it is easily the best North American Chinese food in the province, if not the entire region. Having gone to Fan's over the yeas, I've seen a lot of changes to their North End Dartmouth location. It's gotten much bigger, and nicer, and the name has changed. But the fantastic food certainly hasn't. I'll cut right to the chase: the showstopper at Fan's is the ginger beef. Undoubtedly the best I've had, when it's good it's amazing; when it's bad it's still very good. Just spicy enough, but not too much so that you can't taste the food, this dish is what has kept us coming back for years. Their spring rolls, lemon chicken, and chicken fried rice are also family favourites. All are deliciously well-prepared. I've also heard fantastic things about their weekend dim sum, although I haven't had the opportunity to try it in recent memory.

Habaneros Modern Taco Bar

I'd seen the "coming soon" signs for Habaneros while visiting its sister restaurant, Cheese Curds, last year, and so, when it came time to grab some lunch while in Halifax for a day, I figured I'd grab some on my way out of town. The restaurant is set-up in much the same way: you order your tacos, then put a variety of toppings, some of them rather original (read: slightly strange). The vibe and decor of the restaurant, especially when compared to Cheese Curds next door, gives you the impression of a wannabe chain restaurant, which is unfortunate. It almost makes it feel like an instant business plan applied to a current trend in food. The first guy who served me was friendly and chatty; I ordered three tacos (since there was a deal on doing that), and asked if I could make them all different. He assured me I could, then passed me on to the next guy. I'm not sure if the next guy couldn't hear me, wasn't listening, or just ignored me, but making them all different didn't work so well, and eventually I gave up saying "one the first one" after he put everything on all of them. This was especially disappointing as I was the only customer in the place.

I did indeed like the food. Both the soft and hard shell tacos were great. I particularly liked the pulled pork- it was flavourful and tender. As far as the different toppings (salsas and sour creams) go, this was the point at which the second employee just put everything on all of them, so I didn't get to test out what each individual one tasted like. I wasn't, however, particularly turned off by any of them. Everything tasted really nicely.

I enjoyed the restaurant, and three tacos for around 8 dollars plus tax was a great deal. The server not listening to me, and the very cookie-cutter set-up don't, however, make me feel like going all the way back out to try it again, but I would probably stop by if in the neighbourhood.