Located near the upper end of Water St just before it turns into offices, Portage's PoMo space is…read morein contrast to much of St John's historical downtown, but it's a refreshing vibe that still feels inviting and relaxed. The menu is on the larger side for a place of Portage's caliber and reputation, with several snack-sized starters and veggie-based dishes, and a leaner variety of proteins and desserts on offer. You know you're likely in for an excellent meal when it's hard to choose what to get, but after some deliberation, my wife and I landed on a handful - smoked olives, the cleverly-named Tongue and Cheek, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower souvlaki, and fingerling potatoes. Note that you can conveniently get half-sized portions of most dishes, although we, somewhat greedily, did not. Unsurprisingly, the smoked olives arrived right out of the gate. The plump green olives came as advertised and while you wouldn't know it from looking at them, tasted more like smoke than olive - and I was all for it! I'm slowly converting to olives, although it's generally only at nicer restaurants and not the olives that come out of obscenely large buckets/cans that get slopped on mediocre pizzas and salads. The cauliflower souvlaki started off our string of excellent veggie dishes. I wasn't sure what the portioning or presentation would be like for these, but they were all a generous size for two people to share, and while they were plated with consideration, it wasn't so much "haute cuisine" as it was "piles of delicious food with complementary garnishes". I was a bit surprised that the cauliflower was served at room temperature, but the charred cruciferous veg still packed a lot of flavour into each tender-crisp bite. Paired up with pickled dates, yogurt, and fresh dill and mint, the dish hit a lot of notes - savoury, lightly sweet, and tart and bright vegetal freshness. On deck were the fingering potatoes. Loaded up with sauteed onions, scrunchion-esque bits of pork belly, and a blessedly-conservative amount of Dijon, this was a dish that harkens to a lot of continental European dishes. The execution of the relatively simple ingredients is where it stood out though, with firm-but-tender potatoes that had hints of sweetness and umami from their toppings, and the crisp bits of pork belly brought some textural contrast to this comfort food classic. The dishes were coming hard and fast at this point with the broccoli, Brussels sprouts and (cod) Tongue and Cheek showing up in quick succession. Brussels sprouts have become a family sight on contemporary restaurant menus in the past 15-ish years, and the crispy, charred veg got the Boomer parent treatment, although melted Cheez Whiz was replaced by a much more natural Mornay sauce. I'm not jaded enough yet by their ubiquity to bemoan the delicious execution of these sprouts, and the cheesy goodness of the Mornay mellowed out the sharper edges of this infamous vegetable. A surprise hit was the broccoli - with velvety smooth and lightly salty ricotta, fresh micro greens and a not-insubstantial punch of heat from chili crisp, our third cruciferous vegetable of the night took top honours of the three, IMO. The Tongue and Cheek is an amusingly tongue-in-cheek play on words, using two cuts of cod that have become local delicacies. Each was fried in a light and airy batter that was only slightly heavier than a proper tempura, with a perfectly generous amount of salt. The tongues were a bit more toothsome, but still tender, while the cheeks almost melted in your mouth. They're one of the more pricey starters, but absolutely worth it. After this sizeable feast, dessert was not on the table, figuratively or literally. Service was spot-on and friendly, without the almost clinical coldness that can come with the precision that some fine dining places have. Portage is understandably representing St John's on Canada's Top 100 list with its deliberate, but unpretentious menu that will leave you wanting more and loosening your belt at the same time.

Had a wonderful meal at Portage. Shout out to our server…read moreCaroline who really looked after us well. Highly recommend this spot for offering specialities of the area. Please note that I also highly recommend reservations as it's not a huge dining space and because the food is so good, they do get busy. We started with the seafood sampler platter. So wonderful. And then we shared the Halibut, rice and spinach/fiddleheads with shrimp hollandaise (which were a fantastic complement to each other). Only one thing we did not like (it was not the fault of the restaurant, but our table for 2 was flanked by a table for 8. We don't mind that generally but 2 of the party were children who initially were running around and flinging themselves on the banquette seating for the first half of the meal. I started to wonder if I was going to end up with one of them in our laps. Fortunately they settled down at some point). Despite all this I would go back in a heartbeat.

The service was fantastic. The cook was careful with my special diet and even came over to talk to…read moreus.

Just walked off the street, Water St that is! I read a lot of reviews and I have to say, impressed…read morefrom the beginning. Had a lovely Newfoundland local vodka, crisp and delicious. Ordered the seared Halibut on a penne bed with chilies flakes . Very , very good! (Not a menu item)

This spot in downtown St. John's was recommended to us by a cabbie. We were so glad it was. Lovely…read morespot, fantastic food, fantastic service. Very innovative menu with a focus on local specialties. Highly recommend. My hubby had the lobster soup, and I had a lobster tostada to start. Both were excellent. He then had the muscles and treats. And I had the cod tongues (they are not really tongues!). We highly recommend their bread as well, which comes with like a molasses drizzle. Heavenly. The food and the dining experience was excellent from beginning to end. The tables are a bit kind of close together, but the food and everything else just made it wonderful . Just go there.

Delicious food!! Great service!! Comfortable seating and warm atmosphere!!…read moreWill definitely be back!!

We thoroughly enjoyed this quaint Gastropub on an unassuming corner of Duckworth street. We…read morehappened to arrive right when they opened at 11am, and we were able to select from their brunch or lunch menu. Hubby and I both ordered from their lunch menu. I had my eye on the PB&J burger that I had seen on Yelp, as peanut butter is my favorite thing ever! This burger did not disappoint. While the combo sounds strange, the flavors were well-balanced with the brie cheese, caramelized onions and bacon. The meat was cooked to a perfect medium and the hamburger bun was soft. I chose the kettle chips for my side, and they tasted house made. Very delicious! The only thing I didn't like about this burger was the price tag = $22. Hubby had the seafood chowder for $17 and it was enough for a full meal. He said the chowder was very flavorful and full of seafood. He was in heaven! We both ordered a Quidi Vidi 1892 amber ale on draft. They only had 7 beers on tap and I wished that they had a medium or dark beer, but this area doesn't seem to be big on that. They do have Guinness in a can, if that's your thing. Service was friendly and the food came out relatively fast. The booths were comfy and the pub reminded me of a cozy neighborhood bar. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area!

Every visit back home, I always make a stop at BSG. Everything I've ever ordered here has been…read moresolid and flavorful. The staff is warm and inviting with an incredibly cozy atmosphere.

Best meal that I had in St. John's. Five of us shared drinks, stories and the candied scallops,…read morewhipped feta, hot honey goat cheese, basque mussels, spicy shrimp, citrus beet salad, lamb stew and the chef's board pintxos. The food was wonderful, the service was wonderful, the entire vibe of this place is wonderful. Do yourself a favor and experience this adventure in eating.

When in St. John's you have to eat here. The chef is a magician with the food that's presented and…read morehow it tastes. It's a different experience than you'll receive at any restaurant. The waiters are engaging and you'll hear some great stories if you are open to hear.

Food has always been great (esp. the burgers) friendly staff, good prices. A+ Vic $ Co.!read more

R I D I C U L O U S L Y S L O O O O O O W Service. It took us over an hour and twenty five…read moreminutes to receive our appetizers, and then a further 45 to an hour to get our entrees. Utterly ridiculous. The server, who was very pleasant KIND OF seemed to get that that this was utterly unacceptable. But, then again she also claimed "it's never like this". That is obviously B.S. as seen by some of these other reviews (which I really wish I had taken more seriously). She then had the nerve to say "Was it worth the wait?" Um, the food was OK but no- definitely not worth the wait- I mean what possibly could be worth that long of a wait? Also the beer selection was slim. At least five of the listed beers were out of stock. Chicken wings looked like they came from emaciated chickens. Other food just meh. DO NOT GO HERE- you will definitely regret it.

We saw Piatto's on yelp and the positive reviews were so, so true! We were able to make a last…read moreminute reservation and were seated as soon as we arrived. The staff, and especially our server Lennon, were personable and professional. We ordered the burrata, which was amazing, and also one of their wood oven fired pizzas. The servings were generous and delicious. We highly recommend Piatto's to anyone looking for great Italian dining in St John's NL. Thanks Piatto's!

We decided to have a meal between lunch and dinnertime. The…read moreservice was excellent. We started with a salad called Barbabietola Artostita, splitting it for both of us. It was excellent. We also ordered an Antipasta called Arancini. That was different than anything we have had either in the USA or in or several trips to Italy. It was interesting but it lacked seasoning. When we tried to order a pasta dish, we were informed that no pasta dishes may be ordered before 5:00pm. So we ordered a Marinara pizza to which we added zucchini. I have eaten in Naples at several restaurants so I was able to tell that this crust was made in the Naples style; very thin and made in a very hot oven. The Marinara sauce however was not just salty; it was extremely salty almost to the point of not edible. That affected both of our digestion afterwards. For dessert we had a Tiramisu. Instead of being a piece cut out of a large rectangular baking dish for a cake, it came baked in a tiny glass jar. It was OK but it was not really a real tiramisu and the portion was quite small. Since we did not have access to anything off of the dinner menu, we cannot comment on those dishes.

The seafood was amazing. The lobster bisque was great and the oysters on the half shower straight…read moreout of the water. Service was spot on people were friendly place was clean

(From June) The restaurant feels like family-style. The…read moreservice was good and we got a good seat at the back where the ceiling-to-floor windows are so it was nice to look onto the water. The oysters were super good and fresh (obviously) and I liked the pickled onion they gave as well. The crab was alright. It was baked so it's harder to get the meat clean off and it was quite dry. I prefer it being boiled as you also get the juice from the meat. It was heavily seasoned (personally just like my crab plain). It was well worth it though with the side dish and the amount of crab you get. The chowder was good. I really liked it but it was quite small, even as a main course meal. The downside, I got an upset stomach and threw up later that night. (thankfully not food poisoning but still a bit turned off) I'm not sure if it was a bad oyster or the chowder but I shared the crab with my mom and no one had my chowder.

Stopped in here several times as we were staying upstairs. Drinks were great staff was friendly and…read morethe food was tasty. Had breakfast here one day too and that was a smart move, waitress was very nice. Room was very cool, we stayed here on our 4th and 5th night in St John's and I'm still trying to figure out where I lost my favorite flannel from Pelican Brewing, we were in Canada for about two weeks and the places with housekeeping were definitely hiding my clothes... definitely an awesome place to stay and experience St John's.

The Arancini was one of the tastiest appetizers we've had in recent memory. Everything we ordered…read morewas extremely flavourful. Bit of a small, but class menu nonetheless!