Alma's Family Restaurant

Location & Parking: easy to find and tons of free parking. They have an entrance inside the mall and also their own entrance from the parking lot.nnService: the staff are incredibly friendly, polite, attentive, and helpful. They also clean the restaurant when they’re not serving customers.nnAccessibility: the restaurant is fully accessible for wheelchairs.nnFood: the halibut steak was literally the most delicious fish meal I have ever had. Everything about it… every bite was mouthwatering.nnIf I ever come back to Newfoundland, Alma’s will be my first stop!

We were recommended to visit this place instead of the restaurant at the ferry terminal. The lady at the terminal suggested we go outside for food, as the restaurant inside was overpriced and not very good. So we came here expecting it to be at least decent.nnAs we walked in, we noticed some CDs for sale on the counter… cheap jewelry… and even knitted socks. The waitress who seated us was friendly, attentive, and answered all our questions. She even mentioned she was “new,” but honestly, she may have been the best part of the whole experience. The rest of the staff, however, were kind of rough around the edges.nnAs we waited for our food, I stepped outside to vape and stood next to one of the servers who was smoking a cigarette. She sneezed directly into her hand and then just left it—walking back inside, grabbing the same door handles I would now need to touch. She went straight into the kitchen and back to work. Moments later, I saw her emerge with another table’s food. There is no way she had time to wash her hands before serving it.nnThe rest of the servers weren’t much better. At one point, I watched another wipe down tables—pushing everything onto the floor and seats, then leaving it there. The two older lady servers had noticeably rosy cheeks, the kind you get after a few drinks, which might explain the sloppiness.nnWhen the food finally came, my wife had fish and chips, and I had a club sandwich. Her fish and chips were not fresh fish in Newfoundland, of all places! and had no taste. My club sandwich was… well, just a club sandwich. Nothing more to say about it.nnSixty dollars and forty-five minutes later, we walked out quite disappointed. It makes me wonder just how bad the terminal restaurant must have been if this was the recommended alternative.nnI gave it two stars—but one of those is only for the new server, who was excellent. Get more staff like her after letting the rest go, including the chef, upgrade the interior, and enforce proper sanitary standards, and maybe you’ll earn a better rating next time.

A must stop after leaving the ferry, the food was absolutely delicious and served in a quick manner. Our waitress was amazing and awesome with my 2 autistic sons. Homemade toast was perfect and you wouldn't be leaving still hungry.

A good option if you didn’t had the chance to eat on the ferry but food was really simple and over-fried/dry :-/ Chowder was good, that was the highlight of this meal.

Two of the best meals that I had during my visit to Newfoundland were close to the ferry terminals. Sailing the next morning, I had to stay my last night night in Port-aux-Basque. I discovered Alma's and found it to be the exact kind of cafe I always search for. A small, local owned, locally patronized home cooking place with great service and excellent food. The fisherman's platter was delicious and filling. The seafood was generously portioned, cooked perfectly, and the sides were good and hot. I was too full for dessert so I took a piece of homemade carrot cake back to the room to eat before turning in and found it to also be delicious. I highly recommend Alma's.