The Five Fishermen is one of Halifax's best-known seafood restaurants, operating for decades in a building with a particularly Halifax backstory: it originally served as the Nova Scotia School of Art, then as a mortuary used to embalm victims of both the 1912 Titanic disaster and the 1917 Halifax Explosion. The dining room is now warm and atmospheric, all dark wood and candlelight, with nothing to suggest its grim past except the servers who like to mention it.
The menu is classic Maritime seafood: chowder thick with local cream and potatoes, Atlantic lobster prepared several ways, Digby scallops, and East Coast oysters. The portions are generous and the wine list is decent. Prices reflect the building's reputation — this is a special-occasion restaurant rather than an everyday lunch stop, but the food usually justifies the spend. Reservations are strongly recommended in summer.