If you are after seafood on the Halifax waterfront, Sea Smoke Restaurant & Bar is the obvious place to start. It sits in Bishops Landing at 1477 Lower Water Street, right on the harbourfront, and bills itself as upscale, contemporary fine dining. It is open year-round, which is worth knowing if you are planning a winter visit: Monday to Thursday from 11:30 to 10:00, and Friday and Saturday from 11:30 to 11:00. A Google rating of 4.3 gives you a fair idea of where it lands with diners.
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The menu leans hard into the Atlantic. There is fresh local seafood and elevated coastal cuisine, but it pulls in Asian-inspired entrées as well, which is where the sushi and sashimi come in. The oyster bar carries fresh oysters from Nova Scotia and PEI, and the sushi bar turns out sushi, sashimi and a range of creative maki. If you are coming for the view, the expansive waterfront patio is the draw, and the dining room keeps the water and ocean views going inside. It is a licensed premises with air conditioning and vegetarian options, so it works as well for a proper dinner as it does for a long lunch.
Because it is a popular spot, a reservation is the smart move. For groups of four or fewer, you can book through the website at seasmokehalifax.com/reservations. For groups of five to nineteen, you will need to call 902-406-1051, and anything twenty or larger goes to suzanne@beyondhospitalitygroup.ca. If you are just dropping in for a drink or a quick bite, the oyster bar and sushi bar can be worked around without a full table booking.
Two things are worth flagging if you are a regular in Halifax. First, Sea Smoke is part of the Dine Around Halifax program, which runs every February with special menus priced between C$10 and C$50, though there is a blackout date on February 14th. Second, it takes part in the Feed NS donation program, with a C$1 donation attached. It is also a licensed premises with parking nearby, which is not always a given so close to the water.
For context on what you are actually eating, the scallops here are the Digby variety, harvested year-round from the Annapolis Basin in western Nova Scotia by DB Kenney Fisheries, though they are at their best from spring to late autumn. That same supplier brings in live lobster, which peaks from November to May, along with fresh day boat halibut from May to September, live periwinkles and Jonah crab. If you are in the mood for a proper Nova Scotia lobster supper, the tradition lives on a bit further out at The Shore Club in Hubbards, which serves them from May 10 to October 10, 2026, in what is the province's last active dance hall, with live music every Saturday night since 1946. Back in the city, though, Sea Smoke is the one to know for seafood with a view of the harbour.
