Best Michelada I've ever had compliments of the amazing Morgan! We are new to Halifax and will be so sad to see this gem go. I'm literally trying every combination of ingredients trying to duplicate this drink!! read more

Heard good things about this place and it did not disappoint. The food was amazing and the cocktails were exquisite. Will definitely be going again. read more

El Chino Snack Bar - Pork Belly Bao - Mexican Near Me - Halifax, Nova Scotia

It's Mexican and it's Chinese, but don't call it Mexican-Chinese fusion. El Chino is a brand spanking new addition to the west-ish end, with the owners of of Robie Street Station putting this multicultural, late night eats joint in the compact space where RSS's take out area used to be. My wife and I came in after an evening walk, looking to sample their fare. The colourful bar dominates the room, while an equally colourful, albeit less light emitting, wall mural challenges the bar for chromatic audacity. It's bright and funky, and I like it. As previously stated, the place is small, seating less than 20 at the bar and a mix of small tables along the wall. The menu was equally compact, and even more enticing. Drinks were diverse, with a sizeable cocktail list and several tequilas and a couple mezcals for those who like good tequila and not that crap you shoot to get drunk. I started off with a bottle of Tsing Tao, in an effort to keep it real with my coming food. Options for food were just a handful, but each was worth a try from the sounds of them. We went with an order of pork tacos, dumplings and curried fish balls. We got our tacos first, with two housemade corn tortillas piled high with pulled pork, red cabbage and chipotle sour cream. I would have preferred a larger tortilla to manage the amount of food in the taco, but it was a damn fine taco in the end. Corn tortillas are the way to go, and while these could have used more time on the grill, they had a great flavour. The pork was juicy and delicious, and the other ingredients added some tang and depth of flavour. The dumplings arrived shortly thereafter, with the pork-filled wonders under some strips of green onion and cilantro, and in a soy-based sauce. The dumplings had a great pork flavour and pleasantly chewy wrapper, although I would have preferred the sauce on the side to better manage the saltiness of the soy. Chili oil on the side added some kick. Since my wife isn't one for the bounties of the sea, I had the fish balls to myself. I didn't really know what to make of their texture - slightly spongy, with no discernible chunks of fish, but a nice fish flavour. The curry sauce had a mild curry flavour that didn't overpower that of the fish balls, and had just a bit of heat. Upon asking our server, who also happened to be the owner, they aren't made in house, but come from an Asian grocery. Either way, I still really enjoyed them, although I'll ignore their possible origins the way I do for hotdogs. For dessert we got their "milk and cookies", which doesn't tell you much on the menu but turned out to be small churros with a small glass of seasoned, warm milk. The churros were simple, with a dusting of cinnamon and sugar, and were so incredibly light inside that I don't know how they didn't implode. My wife was an instant fan, and I wasn't far behind in my enthusiasm. The north/central/west end of Halifax needs more places like El Chino, serving up great late night eats and drinks, so that people don't have to resort to sketchy fast food joints. Their arrival makes me sadder that I'm moving out of the neighbourhood, but with the quality of the food that they're cranking out and the niche that they seem to be capturing, I'm sure they'll still be here when I get back. read more

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I'm so glad this place has opened up because Halifax really needs a joint like this. It's located in a really unsuspecting spot, so it might be easy to miss if you're just driving by. It's a cosy and funky little spot. I don't know how else to describe it. But it has a really fun atmosphere. Tables seemed a bit tight initially, but once we sat down and got into our own conversation, it didn't bother us the least bit. One *minor* complaint. Our table was so wobbly! To give them credit, two servers worked really hard to resolve it, but it's probably just uneven floors. It happens. No biggy. The beer menu was great - there were a bunch of local craft beer options. They serve small plates, so if you're looking for dinner, bring a friend and order a couple for each of you. Every dang dish she brought out was consistently amazing and delicious. Between my (very hungry) boyfriend and I we each had an order of the fish tacos (UNREAL), shared an order of pork dumplings and an order of the Elote (which is corn with mayo-feta-sourcream-cilantro-chili). We also shared some pork nachos (which were loaded up with all the goods - for all you nacho connoisseurs). We ended up leaving with some leftover nachos, so we filled our bellies! Food was fast. Service here was fantastic. There was a really familiar taste to the pork nachos that I couldn't put my finger on and the server was so sweet and determined to find out what it was. We never did figure it out, but she was so sweet to care so much. If anyone knows - please share! It's still eating away at me. Overall, it's a wee-bit on the pricey side. It's worth it, but if you're on a budget this kinda thing matters. I think it was probably around $80 for the two of us (drinks and the food listed above, plus taxes and tips, yada, yada...). So if you're looking for a little treat this is a great place to check out. 100% I recommend this place. I will definitely revisit. Also - side note: For anyone who has visited/lived in Ottawa in the past few years and been to El Camino - the two are very similar! I lived down the street from El Camino in Ottawa a few years ago and visited it frequently. I was so happy to find El Chino here in Halifax. Weird coincidence with the names too, haha. read more

El Chino Snack Bar - Menu - Mexican Near Me - Halifax, Nova Scotia

Tacos are my favourite food. I moved to Halifax from a very Latino part of Chicago. I love Halifax, but I had resigned myself to never having a legit taco again. (The heavily Tex-Mex influenced Canadian interpretation of tacos-- cheddar cheese, lettuce, and hamburger in a crispy shell-- while not without its appeal, is very different from the genuine article.) El Chino makes real tacos. And elotes. Take all my money. Seriously. I'll just endorse part of my paycheque to you guys. read more

Definetely going back. Servers were super friendly. Margarita mezcal drinks were delicious, made with real lemons!!!! (no with a Margarita mix) that for me is a big plus!!! Nacho and fish tacos were very good and the home made ice icream to die for!! A gem in Robie St. read more

The food is a bit of a miss here. It's not bad it's just weird. Go for the drinks and enjoy the snacks. I went back multiple times for the sangria and a Newfoundland version of a piña colada. Damn good. read more

We were trying to choose between giving this place 3 or 4 stars.... but went with three at the end. We love this concept and the food was good but the drinks missed the mark a bit. We had the chips and salsa to start - good pico de gallo. Then we had an order of dumplings and an order of fish tacos. There were 7 dumplings, which made splitting evenly a bit tough, but they were very good. There were two tacos in the order, also very good. So food-wise, it was 4 stars. For drinks, I got a tequila mockingbird (tequila, watermelon and agave) and my partner got a margarita. My mockingbird was exactly as stated - but could have used a higher ratio of tequila to that amount of watermelon. My partner likes a pure margarita - lime juice, tequila, and some sort of sweetener. This one had lime soda or something in it because it tasted sweet, but not like pure lime juice with sugar, more fabricated. We would definitely go back, even though for two of us for the above-noted items, the cost came to almost $60. read more

Super yummy food, great drinks, very energetic atmosphere and terrific service! We had the nachos, fish tacos, wings and empanadas. All wonderful! We will be back! read more

So good. Loved the small venue. The staff was so knowledgeable and kind. The tequila/drinks menu was freaking fabulous!

Food and service were amazing. Simon, the host, was friendly and helpful to select the food we wanted. A great experience. We will be back soon read more

I really really wanted to like this place after watching it on Late Night Eats, but I found the food to be soo salty that I couldn't even finish it (and this is coming from the girl who likes to put extra salt on things!!). I ordered the Fish Tacos, Pork Bao Buns and Curry Fish Balls. First off, i didn't realize the fish were salt n pepper fish tacos, but it would have been something i liked if it wasn't so salty! I couldnt even finish it, nor did I want to and I am the type of person who doesn't like to waste food. At all. Ever. I asked other people to try it and they also agreed it was too salty. The sauce used in the steamed Pork Bau buns was sooo salty that i couldn't even finish the bao. I didn't even eat the meat because it tasted overly salty on the skin as well. The curry fish balls were only okay, they tasted like something I could have bought at a common boba place. But I did think the scallions on top were a very nice touch. I liked my server even though he was afk most of the time because he had a cheerful demeanor and I felt the female bartender made a great blueberry & cilantro margarita. ALTHOUGH I do wish the blueberry margarita came with a sugar rim instead of a salted one because once again, it made a could have been delicious item overly salty. I DID give this place another chance the next night for their steamed pork wontons to go, and they were probably my favorite item from their menu. HOWEVER, they put their steaming hot wontons onto a checkered red paper in a box, and the checkered paper bled through to the wontons so the bottom ones were tainted with red paper dye. Didn't eat those ones. I would suggest trying to pack them in a biodegradable soup container next time. read more