The Octopus' Garden Cafe And Bistro

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#2 of 8 Restaurants in AlmaContemporary, Canadian, $$ - $$$

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The Octopus' Garden Cafe And Bistro

Review

At a glance

Open until 10:00 PM

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Website

+1 506-887-1020Improve this listing

About

Licensed Bistro and Cafe serving Central European and local fare. Award winning restaurant known for handmade pasta and local seafood made with care and creativity. Breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. Beautiful partly covered, pet friendly, brook side patio. Excellent cocktails and local beer on tap. Espresso machine. Award winning restaurant known for it’s creative dishes.

Features

CUISINES

Contemporary, Canadian, Central-Italian

Meal types

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

FEATURES

Accepts Credit Cards

American Express

Digital Payments

Discover

Dog Friendly

Family style

Free off-street parking

Free Wifi

Highchairs Available

Live Music

Mastercard

Outdoor Seating

Parking Available

Reservations

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Table Service

Takeout

Visa

Wheelchair Accessible

Wine and Beer

Location

8561 Main St Alma, New Brunswick, Alma, New Brunswick E4H 1N1 Canada

Free off-street parking, Parking Available

Does this restaurant allow dogs or considered pet friendly?

Yes

Unsure

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Hours

Suggest an edit

Open until 10:00 PM

Sunday

7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Monday

7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Tuesday

7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Wednesday

7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Thursday

7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Friday

7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Saturday

7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

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4.4

(613)

Excellent

397

Good

140

Average

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Terrible

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Yes

Kelly M

Fredericton61 contributions

An Alma Go-to

Jul 2023 • family

We’ve been a few times and enjoyed everything we ordered. The house-made fresh pasta is excellent. Highlights from our last visit were the mussels and smoked salmon appetizers, duck confit, scallop pasta, and chicken alfredo. I have a dietary restriction and was very happy with the recommendation our server made to work around it to get the kind of dish I wanted. There’s indoor and outdoor seating and the vibe is very comfortable. If I were being fussy, I’d expand the menu of local beers and suggest that there has to be a better solution to the boil order than charging $2 for bottled water (other, more humble spots have found it). Anyway, this café is unique in Alma and we’ve always thoroughly enjoyed our meals, so I’m rating it 5 stars.

Written July 10, 2023

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

sarah k

12 contributions

Must Eat Here!

Jul 2024 • couples

Where do I even begin…our server was a young, energetic, and very attentive server named Melanie. Her recommendations for my husbands beer and my kombucha were excellent - the blueberry basil kombucha was incredible! We sat on the patio and enjoyed the babbling brook beside us. We got two pasta dishes and shared, both were fantastic! Homemade pasta that was so light and fresh with superb sauce and loaded with so much local sea fare! I will be dreaming of these meals for a long time! We had the Lobster pasta and another one that was on special for the evening. Do yourself a favour and no matter how full you are, grab a cookie to go! Highly recommend this place and especially Melanie’s exceptionally attentive service! Out of the 3 places we ate in Alma, this was the best by far!

Written July 24, 2024

Raj S

New Delhi3 contributions

Potomac Maryland Residents

Jul 2023 • couples

The food we ordered was the Asian Seafood Chowder that my wife and I shared. It was one of the best I have ever had. The coconut broth was delicious and the portions of scallop, lobster, salmon, mussels and cod were extremely fresh. Service was excellent. In particular, Shannon was very helpful from the moment we walked in. It was on her recommendation that we ordered the item, and my wife and I enjoyed every spoonful of the Chowder. Being a resident of Alma, Shannon's recommendation of the Waterside Beach on Route 915 was also an excellent one, a very unique beach during the low tide in the Bay of Fundy.

Written July 1, 2023

KEDSNG

Vancouver15 contributions

Long wait for meal

Sep 2024 • friends

We visited this restaurant for dinner, based on a traveler's recommendation who had a positive experience. We were seated promptly and ordered quickly, but our food took an unexpectedly long time to arrive. After 65 minutes, we grew concerned and noticed that three tables seated after us had already received their pasta dishes. When we inquired, we were told our meals were being plated. Ten minutes later, our food arrived, but unfortunately, all three pasta dishes were overly salty. The noodles were cooked perfectly, but the server failed to check on us, offer refills on water, or ask about our satisfaction with the dishes. Disappointing experience due to understaffing and overly salty food. Not recommended unless you're willing to wait a long time for a subpar meal.

Written September 12, 2024

Leslie J

Kensington90 contributions

Disappointed

Jul 2024 • couples

I’m guessing we were just outliers on a busy night but we had to wait 40 minutes for dinner and then one of the dishes was cold. The lobster pasta we had was good but this restaurant seemed a bit overpriced compared to others in the area. As I said, judging from other reviews this must be unusual.

Written July 4, 2024

terry W

Luton42 contributions

Road trip

Aug 2022 • couples

Unforgettable evening wasted here this evening. Booked a table for 6.15pm and on arrival was told there was a 30-45 minutes delay in serving food. No problem we thought we'll place our order (pasta) and have a drink whilst we wait. An hour later our side salad and roll arrived but no pasta. Won't belong we thought! Another half an hour passed salad all gone but still no pasta. Trying to be generous and diplomatic but patience wearing a bit thin. No apologies or offer of free drink etc. Starting to get a tad miffed and made a few comments to waitress about why the delay. No real response just that it is coming. All the pleasure of eating a meal out at this point had completely gone. Finally after 2 hours our pasta arrived (I wanted to leave an hour ago but the wife was hungry). No apologies or discount offered so all I could do was refuse to pay a tip. My advice would be to avoid if you are in a hurry or hungry. Worst service ever.

Written August 30, 2022

Dennis H

Port Coquitlam29 contributions

Best Chowder and Lobster Sandwich

Jun 2023 • family

We stopped here for a late lunch after arriving in Alma for a few dsys. We were not disappointed. Our server, Shannon, greeted us warmly and offered some suggestions. We happily took here advice. My wife and I split their Seafood Chowder to start. It is over 1lb of fresh lobster, scallops, haddock and mussels in a thai red curry broth. I guess not a true chowder but amazing! Shannon told us the local lobster fishermen bring the shells to them and they make a 12 hr lobster stock...delicous! My wife had the grilled cod sandwich. I had a taste. Really good. I had the lobster sandwich. Came on a buttered, grilled bun and a ton of lightly dressed lobster. Best lobster sandwich/roll I have had so far on our maritimes trip (#1 of 4). I wish we had room for one of their homemafe desserts...they sounded great.

Written June 22, 2023

Vic

Winnipeg2 contributions

No service - walked out

Sep 2022 • couples

The waitress catered to two tables of 8 to milk tips while everyone else in the restaurant suffered. Most customers walked out; we were dumb enough (hungry enough) to wait 80 minutes to learn that our order wasn’t even entered yet. Eventually after a couple of interactions with the waitress (at around 30 & 60 min) in which she assured us all was going according to plan, we cornered her long enough to press her on details. She then admitted she had not entered the order yet. We left. By the way - Those two tables of 8 were seated after we had given her our orders. Worst experience by far on this trip to New Brunswick.

Written September 15, 2022

Wander

Philadelphia212 contributions

Slow service for overpriced food

Sep 2022 • couples

I really wanted to like this place, but both times I went I was disappointed for different reasons. The first time, we went for breakfast before going hiking, the breakfast menu wasn’t too extensive, but ok that’s fine. I ordered a breakfast sandwich and the person I was with ordered breakfast potatoes. My sandwich was very mediocre for a $9 sandwich with an English muffin I could buy at the store down the street. The potatoes came undercooked and the sauce was cold. The second time, we were seated immediately at a table inside at a time where there were only a couple tables occupied outside. We were completely ignored for 15 minutes. No water or anything. Eventually someone did come over after noticing we were there. I don’t think I’ll come back after 2 bad experiences.

Written September 12, 2022

pgbsw24

Dieppe88 contributions

Delicious food !

Feb 2024 • couples

We picked to eat dinner at the Octopus' Garden as one of two options. It was a bit cool in the restaurant and the temperature could have been a bit warmer. A few of the patrons wore their jackets throughout their meal. The restaurant has a good menu selection however not all protein options were available. The wine selection was limited but the restaurant had a few good options. To be fair this is low season for the area. The service was at a good pace and we did not feel rushed during our stay. The server was attentive and engaging. The winning element of our dinner experience was the meal! Simply said, the food was delicious. We had two meals with pasta. The pasta was tender and delicious. The chicken parm was crispy and tasty as was the lobster linguini. We chose the browny and the French chocolate cake for dessert. The browny was delicious but the French chocolate cake was the ultimate dessert of the the two.

Written February 17, 2024

jacksondj5

Waterdown116 contributions

Great Cafe!

Sep 2022 • couples

We just picked this place at random. To be honest the first restaurant you encounter as you come in to town was closed for a wedding . So the Octopus's garden was it. We came in and we were greeted by Shannon who warned us as we entered that she was the only one working the "front of house". We weren't in a hurry so we said fine. Every table on the patio was filled. One with 8 people! Shannon made sure we received our drinks, dropped off our menus and ran off to take care of more guests. She got back to us about 10 minutes later to take out order and sped off again. She dropped by again to tell us that our order was being prepared The patio backs onto to a brook, the sun was shining and a cold beer made the wait seem shorter. I saw other recent reviews expressing disappointment with the service, but we were warned it would be slow and we could have left and they could have too... Anyway our two wonderful Lobster rolls arrived. And they were worth waiting for. Big pieces of meat, not the shredded lobster you see some times. Nicely toasted rolls and fresh kettle chips on the side. To finish...A large piece of fresh carrot cake (suggested by Shannon) and a nice coffee. So to summarize, correct we were not in a hurry so we could wait, and we're glad we did. I suppose if you had other obligations then you would be disappointed. Thank you Shannon! (Grace under pressure!!) Dave&Felicia

Written September 23, 2022

WeezieMom

Brattleboro80 contributions

Great food options for everyone (including vegans!)

Jul 2023 • couples

It was great to have a vegan option (burrito bowl) that was actually delicious and where they clearly put some thought & care into the dish. For some reason it's extra hard to find vegan food in areas that mostly sell seafood, so this is a good find. Also really enjoyed the mango smoothie and the chia chocolate espresso pudding the server recommended.

Written July 23, 2023

trcahill

12 contributions

Best food in Alma!

Aug 2024 • couples

Best meals we had in Alma. Ate both breakfast and dinner here. The breakfast sandwiches and waffles were delicious! Fresh food made with extra care. For dinner we had the scallop and sausage pepper pasta dishes with bread and salad. All so good. If you like a very flavorful sauce with a kick, the sausage and sweet pepper dish is a winner! My cocktail was also spot on. We picked up dessert and croissants to go and those too were great. They also had some local dried smoked sausage that we took hiking with us. If you like excellent food don’t miss this place.

Written September 2, 2024

Juchibou

Quebec City202 contributions

Pasta speciality

Aug 2024 • couples

There were no fresh oysters, no martinis and no whole fresh lobster in shell. However, the entry of scallops was excellent. The lobster bisque contained a lot of flesh and is the best we have eaten in a restaurant. Risotto and pasta are the specialties of the place. Small patio but no special view. The service was good.

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Written August 22, 2024

Stay783883

Utrecht364 contributions

Pasta is top

Jun 2024 • couples

In Alma you usually eat fish but after 3 days we wanted something different. So pasta. Freshly made and very tasty. Nice terrace with sun until about 7 pm. Kindly helped. Reasonable prices.

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