The Merchant Tavern

Love this restaurant and the food they serve. Always noisy and a bit cramped at times but if you have a reservation it normally isn't an issue. The fact that it's in an old bank is always a conversation starter. Well worth it.

We were celebrating our daughters’ completion of another term of engineering and were in high spirits, expecting a great dining experience. The sommelier, Daniel greeted us and looked after us very capably throughout the evening. Our waitress (name escapes me) informed us of the specials for the evening...4 appetizers...but no entree(s)! We each ordered a pasta dish and two orders of beef tartare to start. The waitress forgot one of the appetizers so I had to wait another 10 plus minutes for mine to arrive. The tartare was quite good (minced vs. thinly sliced) but needed some lemon wedges (which I requested and received). My entree was a rabbit and kale ragout over casarecce pasta...there was a huge amount of pasta that was heavy and starchy, and the rabbit was unnoticeable with the preponderance of kale and the over the top rosemary element. Very disappointing considering the meal was nearly $150 before tip and we ordered no drinks...we ate less than half of our entrees and chose to leave 2 of the 3 leftovers behind...the beef ragu rigatoni was decent and most was eaten...the lamb casarecce was quite salty and actually considerably better the following day after being microwaved. The time in the fridge softened up the pasta to a more desirable texture. Too bad it wasn’t served that way. We simply gave up on the rabbit...way too much rosemary!

Fabulous!! They never missed a beat!!
Awesome food!! Great wines! Perfect

This place never disappoints! Great service and fantastic food

Out with a friend. Food came very slowly but we weren’t in a rush so all good!

Cocktails and service were great. Food was disappointing compared to my previous visits. The fish (halibut) came out quite salty (mainly in the batter I believe) and just a tad overcooked. Also, the lamb casarecce we ordered turned out a bit salty for my taste. It's the first time I tried this type of pasta so I can't compare it to any casarecce I've had before.

Consistently good and great atmosphere. We have become regulars.

Great food! One the best cod cakes we have ever tried.

Knowledgable servers, good food, and great cocktails. Be prepared to spend more money than usual.

Dylan was great! Very attentive, knowledgeable, and professional. We very much enjoyed our anniversary dinner.

Had a really great experience there. Service and food were both phenomenal. Would highly recommend.

Fish and chips was way below quality usually maintained by this restaurant. Fish was dry and mostly batter . Ambiance however was very good and service was prompt .

Great food and service. Will recommend this place to all my family and friends. Can’t wait to go back with my wife and famly. ............................Cheers

Our server did not provide the service I would expect when I visit a restaurant of this caliber. Having said that, the food was very good - I had the Steak &frites (bavette, over-priced $36 or $38) but really nice - served sliced and too much fries, but they were amazing. We ordered a side of veggies and they were nice as well.
The bar staff was very friendly and helpful.
Would recommend this restaurant to everyone but it is pricey.

The ONLY thing that could have been improved was the selection of beers available. Other than that it was great!

If you're seeking more of a gourmet, experience this is the place for you.

Went for brunch and had the pancakes - they were delicious! Will definitely be back for brunch again!

Delicious, excellent. Food was great. Service was excellent and prompt. Price is high but comes with the territory and we were not disappointed in the end.

The service was great. Our server was great. Super attentive, but never pretentious. The food was great, and left each of us very satisfied.

Duck pasta with prosciutto was great; just a little thicker sauce please. 😀

It was my best dining experience thus far. Jeremy Charles definitely knows his craft. Our server Megan was super, the food was GREAT!! Would definitely recommend and will be returning from the west coast soon!!

The overall experience was great, if I were to comment on anything to be helpful in terms of improvement, I would mention a couple of service time lags, one on a 5th specialty drink that took about 20 minutes to come after an order of 4, I thought that was long and the wait between appetizer and main was also extra long, over 30 minutes which also felt lagged but other than that our server was friendly and the food itself was quite flavourable. My beet salad followed by the duck was most delightful and I savoured each mouthful. Couple other comments, we were surprised that the specialty cocktails came in rock drink glasses as opposed to the typical stem glasses. And just a suggestion, it would be a nice gesture to acknowledge a birthday with perhaps a small sample of something, ie a solo scallop in sauce, maybe a stuffed mushroom, basically a small and tasty treat for the birthday girl (my wife). I'm not a big fan of restaurants bringing out the surprise hunk of cake, but I'm talking about just that extra touch of class that would suit such a fine place as MT...think that would go a long way. Please note our our wait staff did pass on birthday wishes. All in all though, a great experience and the food spoke for itself...we will likely return in the near future. Thank You!

Everything was perfect. Our only suggestion is that it would have been nice to have Irish music playing since it was St. Patrick's Day :)

I wasn't impress that we got seated on the high top with people talking over us and others standing and leaning on our table as they talk to their friends next to our table. We could barely hear ourselves talk..it definitely wasn't an intimate setting and we asked if we could move to a lower table but was told they're booked yet it was empty for a long time as we ate. I booked ahead of time and wasn't expecting the spot we got in an over crowded area, but our server was outstanding and so was the food.

Friends visiting NL

Great place! Fabulous atmosphere fantastic food,wine and service! Love this place!

we were disappointed that the online menu was showing a aged steak for 2 but wasn't available. there were several differences from the online and the inhouse menu.

Service was only ok, not super friendly. Food was only Ok, our party did eat our meal but did not thoroughly enjoy it. The wine was good. but for the cost of our meal, I expected better service and better food. I have been at your restaurant in the past and food and service was better during those visits.

We had lunch there and brought our 8 month old. They had an awesome booster seat for us to use. The wait wasn’t too long, so our little one didn’t have a chance to get fussy. And the best part was their ballin’ change table! Also, lovely to see change table in both the men and women’s washrooms 👍

The tables were to close together..only complaint!

Delightful dinner, great service. If I were pressed to add improvement suggestion, would suggest broader dinner menu.

Great service and ambiance accommodating staff lovely meal great oysters pasta and halibut creme brûlée very nice

Fabulous food and excellent service

Felt there should be more fish on lunch menu. Defrost lobster, halibut, scallops, etc. Didn't find greeter that friendly. No smile. Didn't ask if we had a preference where we would like to sit. No name tags to identify someone good or not so good. Quite a bit of noticable dust on overhead lights and bar lights. Looks like no cleaning in quite awhile. Other than han that the ambience was good and food was above average.

Absolutely perfect! Great atmosphere, great food and even better service!

The meal was amazing!

Fantastic Brunch! Loved the atmosphere. Highly recommend!

First time and I’ll most definitely be back. Amazing atmosphere and fantastic food! I loved it!

Excellent service and food. Craig was awesome. Will ask to be seated in his area section in May when we come back.

Food was excellent! Delicious. Music bit too loud. Highly recommend