Trendz Café and Wine Bar

A group of seven of us had supper at Trendz on June 16, 2014. No one in our group had been here before though had heard good reviews. We had an excellent meal and our server was wonderful (I wish I could remember her name). Everyone was pleased with their meals — from the seafood chowder to the special of the evening that two of us ordered — a pork loin stuffed with figs and raisins with a maple reduction, sitting on a waffle with asparagus. It was amazing! I ordered the lone dessert — a lemon mousse torte that was perfectly tart and lemony and light!
We were so happy with our evening and will absolutely be back again soon! This is a hidden gem in Burnside!

Went to lunch here with a few co-​workers — didn’t even know it existed to be honest. It’s tucked away behind the Best Western hotel and if it wasn’t for my co-​workers, I would’ve never have found it.
Either way — we walk in, it’s nice and quaint. I think there’s about 10 other people in the café as we walk in. The service was a bit intermittent — maybe they were understaffed or something else. I order the pineapple curry soup with a chicken sandwich. One of the great things about this place is if you ask, they have a gluten free menu. I love it when restaurants are ‘with it’ enough to have gf options!
Soup and sandwich were both on the mediocre side with nothing special about them or the café to be honest. Not sure if I’d suggest going to this place again, but then again, maybe they were just having an off day.

I went with a few friends for a late afternoon/​early evening drink and snacks. Our waiter was very attentive and helpful, and the quality of the food and drinks was good. It was very quiet, hardly anyone else there, so it’s hard to know if the good service would have been just as good if it were busy.
I don’t think I would go out of my way to go here, but if you’re in Burnside on the weekend or staying at the hotel it’s definitely a good choice.

I’ve been to Trendz several times for lunch and a couple times for dinner. It’s my one of my favourite restaurants on either side of the bridge.
I find the décor a little cold and lighting a bit bright but what the restaurant might lack in ambiance it sure makes up with the food. There is a good variety on the menu concentrating on local and seasonal ingredients. There is usually a special offering for the month. Plenty of salads, seafood, pasta and meat dishes with a couple of vegetarian choices as well. There are wine pairing suggestions for each of the dishes. The wine list is decent enough with a few Nova Scotia wines available. The service is good and friendly and usually willing to make a recommendation.
Shortly after ordering you are brought the «bread cone» containing their house made bread sticks and bread crisps along with maple infused butter. I could make a meal of these alone! Having had several items on the lunch menu, I’d have to say my favourite so far is the lobster risotto and the only thing I’ve had that I might not have again is the crab cakes, I found them a little dry. The seafood chowder is creamy and full of chunks of seafood. The salads are fresh and tasty with some very nice house made dressings available.
I made dinner from an appetizer of spiked sea scallops (3 scallops on croutons with a bacon tequila lime sauce) and a caesar salad, both were delicious. My husband had the strip loin with red wine sauce and potato galette (a muffin sized serving of scalloped potato which is divine). On another occasion I ordered the lobster ravioli and I was a bit disappointed, the pasta was very al dente and the filling was quite dry with the lobster bits being lost in the corn and bacon.
I typically don’t order dessert but here, it is why I tend to order lighter fare for my main. I’ve tried almost every dessert on the menu and have to say each one was excellent. I highly recommend the «A Sundae but Better» with strawberries, bananas and house made caramel sauce mmmm mmmm. The sticky toffee pudding is a pretty good choice and the crème brulee one of the best I’ve ever had.
I plan on continuing my way through the menu and would recommend Trendz for when you’re looking for something a little special in Dartmouth. It’s on the higher end of moderatly priced and the menu can compete with similar type restaurants across the bridge.

If I was only reviewing the chowder I would give this place a 5. I had the lamb and it was good but it wouldn’t allow me to give me a 5.
If you come here get the seafood medley chowder. It has an entire lobster claw, plenty of mussels, scallops, shrimp, and onions. The medley isn’t code for assorted garbage fish with a single good tasting piece of seafood. It is an entire medley of stand-​alone great seafood that does even better together.
The wines are also good. They don’t have a large selection but they have the right wines to go with your meal and to help you relax.
The lamb was fine — unimaginative and safe. This was not an original take on lamb but it was cooked properly and tasted just as it should. I think that deserves a 4 or at least a 3. I reserve a 5 for things like the chowder that was an exception take on something and took it to the next level.
For the area this place is located in I say this is a must visit restaurant. This is in a business park and there aren’t very many options around here. This was the best place I ate during my entire week in Halifax — save for the places that I went to downtown Halifax for (cross a bridge etc. in the heart of Halifax and not part of the tri-​city Halifax that includes places like dartmouth).
The wait staff and bar staff are excellent here. Very friendly and accommodating. They help make your stay at the hotel and experience in the restaurant better. Don’t discount the staff because other restaurants in the area suffer do to extremely poor service.

Okay so I finally made it to Trendz for brunch. Before I begin my review I will slightly humiliate myself with the following anecdote. I love eggs benny. Like unhealthy lust. But I also like variety. So I tend to struggle between ordering eggs benny or going with pancakes/​french toast/​waffles etc (clearly I also love my carbs). And I heart bacon. So as I opened the extensive brunch menu, I happened to lament to my friend that I would never end up with the perfect breakfast. If I get pancakes/​french toast/​waffles, I usually order a side of bacon to go with it. But if I get eggs benny, I can’t very well order a side of bacon (well, technically I could but I’m not that far gone… yet). So it basically comes down to bacon or eggs benny. It’s like Sophie’s Freaking Choice over here. There’s also the issue of home fries. As I perused the menu, my heart skipped a beat (probably due to impending heart failure). Trendz offers a proscuitto version of eggs benny that comes with home fries, fresh fruit, toast, and (wait for it) your choice of bacon, ham or sausage. WHAT? That is a seriously crazy amount of food, but OH MY GAWD! Oh, and did I mention it also comes with coffee (as do all of their «Off the Griddle» and «Egg Dishes» menu items). It’s pricey at $ 13.25, but considering everything you get it’s actually not a bad deal.
But let me go back to the beginning and start a proper review of the overall experience. We walked in to a completely empty dining room. No diners, no hostess, nothing. We waited a couple minutes, and I stuck my head out a bit so I could see if anyone was at the bar in the lounge section past the dining room. The bartender was indeed there, but not looking in our direction. But a moment later, our hostess/​server came out to greet us. We chose to sit in the lounge area, and nope — not a single soul dining there either. Though a few people showed up after we sat down. It’s really a shame to have such a gorgeous spot in Dartmouth, and no one seems to know about it. Our server took our coffee and tea order, and left us with menus. We eagerly opened them to find we both had wine lists. It’s like the universe was telling us we deserved a liquid brunch! No biggie — just added some humour to the experience. Our server was back in a flash with our beverages, and swapped our wine lists for breakfast menus.
So, as you can guess, I ordered the prosciutto eggs benny. Our server gave it the thumbs up and mentioned that they make their own hollandaise sauce. My friend had a bit of a hiccup with his order due to a refusal on a substitution. I won’t change my rating based on that, nor will I go into it further because he’ll be reviewing himself at some point. But it was disappointing.
I’ve said this in other reviews, but I’ll say it again. When I go out to brunch, I am in no hurry. I like to have lots of time to gab with my friends and relax. I found the timing perfect here. The only instance timing came up was while waiting for my first coffee refill. At one point I pronounced to my friend that our server had 2 minutes to bring me a refill, lest my Trendz review lose half a star. It’s entirely possible she heard me (not my intent!) as she showed up moments later with the coffee. Refill offers were frequent from that point on.
And now… the eggs benny. It was sooooooo good. In fact, I was so excited I dug into it before taking a photo. The homemade hollandaise was excellent, the eggs were perfectly poached, and the prosciutto added a lovely flavour to the mix. Texture-​wise, prosciutto can be a little more difficult to cut with a fork and knife, so it was a bit of a workout at times, but so worth it. The fresh fruit was delightful, the bacon was delicious, and the home fries were just right. I only had a half slice of toast, because seriously — so much food! But my friend had some sugar moon maple syrup left over from his pancakes, so I drizzled some on my toast and it was heaven.
Service was attentive (coffee incident aside) and very friendly. As we paid our bills we chatted a bit with our server, and she remembered me from the Burnside lunch crowd, despite the fact I haven’t been there in over 6 months and only went for lunch 2 or 3 times. We also discussed how unfortunate it is that so few people know about this Dartmouth gem. She commented jokingly that it’s a great place to take someone if you don’t want to run into anyone you know. Fair point!
If Unilocal had ½ star ratings, I’d probably do 4.5 due to some minor issues, but it’s definitely closer to a 5 than a 4 for me overall.
Please folks — check this place out (and be sure to read my initial review for more info on lunch/​dinner). I hope Trendz sticks around for a long time.