Restaurants in Truro

Comprising an upscale restaurant, several casual kitchens, and a catering team, Mezza wears a few different faces, but all of them are distinctly Lebanese. That is to say, they celebrate fresh seafood, vibrant veggies, and juicy meats, seasoned with olive oil, garlic, lemon, and herbs. At the Quinpool location, chefs craft hot and cold mezzet—small plates—such as baba ghanouj and Lebanese sausages, warming up appetites for lamb and beef kabobs served on plates piled with rice, potatoes, and seasonal produce. Servers help quell the spiciness of the accompanying chili sauce by pouring local beers, Lebanese wines, and colorfully potent cocktails directly into guests' mouths. On some nights, live music from the strings of a traditional oud wafts through the sleek but earthy space.

As for Mezza's other locations, chicken shawarma and all-beef donair can be savored as late as 4 a.m. at the Barrington Street location. It can be sure of drawing a crowd even into the wee hours—Mezza perennially tops The Coast’s readers’ poll for Best Middle Eastern/Persian restaurant. Explaining its streak of wins in 2012, The Coast wrote: “It’s simple—the food is fresh, high quality and tasty.”

According to her recent profile in East Coast Living, Sawadee Tea House owner Mie Mie Sein travels to her native Thailand every year to tour plantations and explore new blends of tea. The fruits of these annual trips are on display at her two-level shop along the Granville Mall, where she constantly replenishes labelled jars with more than 250 loose-leaf varieties from regions as far-flung as Thailand, Kenya, and China. The aromas of black, green, herbal, floral, and specialty teas pervade the shop as they steep, luring passersby in for a calming mug or a rejuvenating splash in the face. Sawadee Tea House also serves as a boutique; beside the neatly stacked rows of jars sit accessories such as stainless-steel infusers and glass vessels for storing tea leaves.:m]]

Discussion of artwork drifts among tables, punctuated by the jingle of silverware at Untitled Eats. Inside the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Halifax, chefs at the eatery craft a menu of international fusion cuisine, all inspired by exhibitions at the museum and the availability of seasonal ingredients. Drawing on experience accrued while cooking at The Armview, they bustle through the kitchen, searing free-range beef on a grill, roasting couscous, and bringing the flavour from summer vegetables with open flame. Designed by Ian Greig, the bistro's understated, contemporary decor includes a stone bar top mined from the same quarry as the gallery's red sandstone exterior and the world’s slowest car. Handmade light fixtures by Bear River master craftsman Chief Greg McEwan shine down on a striped floor patterned off a geological cross-section of Pictou County.

Victoria and Luis Gaspar sought to introduce Atlantic Canada to new types of world cuisine by filling the menu at Pipa Restaurant with iconic Brazilian and Portuguese dishes. This distinctiveness helped earn it a spot on Where magazine's 2009 list of Canada's best new restaurants, as well as praise from Halifax Magazine, which has lauded the restaurant for being "something different on the downtown dining scene."

The menu items' names may seem unfamiliar at first, but the flavours evoke a certain homey quality. The mains include hearty Brazilian stews such as feijoada, a blend of smoked meats and black beans that bears the honor of being Brazil's national dish. Appetizers incorporate Portuguese staples such as chouriço sausage and salt cod. The wine list complements these robust flavors with its selection of Portuguese wines, including crisp vinho verdes and bold reds from the Douro region's subterranean reservoirs of grape juice.

Located within the historic Carleton building, which dates as far back as 1759, the restaurant combines modern and Old-World ambience, garnering the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia's award for Best Design & Decor in 2010. Fireplaces and floorboards from reclaimed timber add a rustic vibe to the two dining rooms, but the atrium gets a bright, airy feel from its glass pyramid ceiling. Throughout the week, Pipa Restaurant hosts live Latin jazz or bossa nova bands, and salsa-dancing events help attendees pick up the dance's basic steps and competition-level hair tosses.