Dinner and a Show

We braved last night's wind- and rainstorm (as we were lashed by the tail end of Hurricane Noel) and kept our original plans for go out for dinner and a play at Neptune.

Arrived at the Halliburton House Inn fairly damp, but none the worse for wear. Stories, their restaurant, is one of my favourite small restos in Halifax. We were last there about three years ago, so it was high time for another visit. As expected, we had a very memorable meal (and very private, too - due to the weather, there was only one other party of diners in the entire place). We decided to go for their current seasonal tasting menu, the "Game and Ale Immersion", which was basically a five-course meal focused around wild game, and featuring beer and ale pairings with each course, instead of wine. It was very different, and quite successful - we enjoyed it a lot. Here's what we ate and drank:

• Amuse-Bouche: Digby scallop with butter and herbs
• First: Smoked Muscovy duck with apple-fennel slaw and cassis / Belhaven fruit beer (Scotland)
• Second: Roasted squash soup with caribou ravioli and toasted pumpkin seeds / Samuel Smith's Nut-Brown Ale (England)
• Third: Abbey Blue cheese (Quebec), with golden and red beets and a fig port reduction / Chimay Red Label Ale (Belgium)
• Main: Grilled bison and caribou steaks with scalloped potato and veg / Le Fin du Monde (Quebec)
• Dessert: Flourless chocolate cake with Amaretto ice cream, and Madeira pots de crème / Propeller Porter (Nova Scotia)

Needless to say, after all that meat and beer, we fairly rolled out of the restaurant and into our taxi for the short trip to Neptune. (We'd have been well-advised to walk off some of that meal, but it was most definitely not an evening for strolling.) We saw The Vertical Hour, a relatively new play which debuted in New York last year. Quite political, but I thought it was generally all right. I'd heard very mixed reviews about it, so wasn't sure what to expect - but it wasn't bad. Not the best thing I've ever seen at Neptune, though.