Minstrels looking up

The restaurant business is tough—it’s subjective to personal
tastes, and everyone is an expert. It’s doubly tough for any restaurant
not located at street level. But the folks from the venerable Old
Triangle have taken up the challenge—they’ve claimed and renovated
the upstairs Spring Garden space that once housed the Thirsty Duck,
calling the new venture Minstrels.

Twenty-two stairs up is a bright welcoming space. Large overstuffed
chairs, two bars, lots of tables, a fireplace in the rear with the
musical motif throughout. We are greeted warmly and brought upstairs to
the patio far above street traffic. Plastic tables, chairs and
umbrellas set the tone.

We are served promptly. The menu, auspiciously written and
reasonably priced, states that some items are sourced locally, but
gives no specifics. The wine list is varied, offering six-ounce or
nine-ounce glasses, Canadian and popular international wines priced
affordably. The domestic draught selection is predominantly Keith’s and
Bud Light, but two of Propeller and six imported beers are also
available.

We order the French onion soup and the hummus/cucumber dill platter
as appetizers, and for main courses a sirloin club with fries and
Portobello mushroom burger. With one juice, one pop and one glass of
wine, the meal comes to $65, tax and tip inclusive.

The soup is flatout terrible. The broth has no flavour, the cheese a
cheddar slice, the bread topping soggy—it’s either the wrong type of
bread, or it was simply left sitting in the broth too long. The hummus
is very tasty, lots of garlic, served with small warm pita rounds. The
cucumber dip is also flavourful, with an abundance of dill, but has the
thin consistency of salad dressing—not very enticing.

Next comes the sirloin club, nicely presented with bacon, but again
with a cheddar cheese slice served on ho-hum whole wheat bread. The
fries are plentiful, but small, thin and oddly tasteless.

The Portobello burger is perfectly grilled, accompanied by goat
cheese and a hint of balsamic on the lettuce—all very impressive, but
it served on a pedestrian bun. With all the great breads available in
Halifax, this is a head-scratcher.

We return for Saturday brunch. Again we are warmly greeted and
served attentively. The cheddar cheese and wild mushroom omelette is
nicely prepared and presented with a side of hard-to-resist home fries,
a small portion of fresh melon and strawberries and a generous portion
of bacon.

The French toast is two cinnamon buns dipped and fried in egg.
Disconcertingly, the cinnamon buns seem to be commercially sourced and
are a little tough. The fresh-whipped cream and frozen strawberries
marinated in a sweet sauce make this brunch menu designed for those who
love sweet dishes.

Together with a perfectly constructed Smirnoff Bloody Caesar and a
glass of orange juice, our brunch comes to $40.24, tax and tip in.

During our visit, musicians Dave MacIssac and Steve Dooks are
performing. It’s a nice atmosphere, and I can imagine a similar scene
during the fall and winter months, with musicians and a roaring fire
providing needed relief from the dreary weather. Our helpful server
mentions that the menu will soon change, which is welcome news
indeed—Minstrels has great potential, if the quality of the menu
components, like the bread and cheese, improves. That’s the difference
between medium fare and good food worth climbing a set of stairs for.

This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2009.