The Merchant Tavern

Went there for an early dinner, I can not recommend this place enough! We started with the beef tartare, it was amazing. I had the pork, it was cooked perfectly and the sides complemented the meat perfectly. The price was fair for the quality of the meal. It is a must when in St John’s!

We got there at opening and got a perfect table with outdoor and kitchen view. Love the open concept kitchen. The food was spot on and all the plates looked amazing.

Not disappointed! Bring the sister restaurant to Raymonds I had high expectations that were fully met ! Great food and service, a bit noisy when the place is full but to be expected . A sure bet!

Other reviews were mixed but we were willing to give it a go, as “overly spicy” and “too salty” can be subjective.

The evening started fine with tasty appetizers and great drinks. The mains were a little too salty (the chef should likely take that feedback as it’s mentioned on Yelp, Trip Advisor, etc).

It went downhill when my lobster meal was very over cooked and rubbery (at the table we agreed the other one was fine). I expressed this to the server and he took the meal away.

At bill time, I was charged $46 for the meal the server took away! After discussion with the waiter (and there was no management on site at 10:00 pm) he discounted the meal so I paid $23 for a meal that he agreed “was untouched” (it was indeed “touched” as I tasted it to discover the lobster was over cooked).

There are other spots in town - Fish Exchange, Exile and great little spots along Water Street.

Food was great and the staff were super fun. I lived watching the kitchen as well - I have never seen such a well-oiled machine. It was a beautiful time and I ate way too much but had a blast

Love the Merchant....however the last two times my choice for brunch was sold out. This time there three things not available. No smoked salmon? Even I don’t run out of that at home.

Service, Food, Ambience all incredible. Great time. They made a very special occasion even more special. Thanks Merchant Crew!! The only hitch, when we arrived they had no record of our reservation, despite my reserving it through Open Table. Fortunately they had a table for us, but it was a little bit of an embarrassing inconvenience upon arriving. Open Table needs to work on their platform.

We had appetizers at home as the earliest available reservation we could get was for 8:45. As such, we shared the chicken wing appetizer and halibut entree. Both were very good and I look forward to having them again.

The Merchant Tavern is an exceptional place to eat in St. John’s.
When you walk in, you instantly realize the effort, and pride, that are taken into account in every aspect of this business.

The atmosphere is a perfect mix quaint home style charm, and modern cleanliness and modesty. You are made to feel comfortable...almost at home, while being a guest of honour.

The service was just as impressive.
I felt like Mark (?) and I have been friends for years, and he’s just there to make my night amazing.
It was our 6th anniversary...and he made us feel special, without overdoing it at all.

The food...oh god the food!

Amazing doesn’t do it justice.
Every ingredient is thought out and used with purpose. Every bite was an explosion of flavour.
The additions all sounded spectacular...but, other than the best arancini I think could possibly ever have been made, we stuck to the menu.
We were not disappointed. Not at all.
Our server answered our few questions, and gave some good suggestions.
It was one of the best meals of our life. And that doesn’t come lightly, as we have had some unbelievable meals (Wolfgang Puck, Mark McCrowe, Raymond’s, Paris in general, etc.).

The dessert was just as good.
Their Tetley Tea ice cream should be sold by the tub...and the s’mores milkshake was a pleasant surprise, especially since s’mores were the favour we gave to the guests at our wedding, 6 years ago.

Overall, one of my all time favourite dining experiences.

Ray Bonia's pancake stack was divine. My sister had the eggs benedict, and she also raved about it. Everything down to the Americano, and even the drip coffee was awesome! Will definitely return for brunch. Service was also amazing, as usual at the Merchant Tavern.

Overall a good dining experience with excellent service.

Loved the seafood appetizer and duck breast.... Lamb pasta.....not at all low flavor and way to starchy.....

Had the best time with a friend from out of town who was just blown away by the experience. Food, service and atmosphere were perfect and we left so happy.

This was an excellent dinner that was only made better by the attention and warmth of the staff at Merchant. Pasta, steak, calamari, fish tacos and duck were all tried at our table and each were some of these best we’ve ever tasted. Appreciate the kind gesture of the waiter to present glasses of champagne to our guests who were celebrating their anniversary.

Food was great. I had the grilled pork, my husband had the steak. Cod taco was also delicious. Service was perfect. My only complaint is tables are too close together. So much so that our server literally could not stand on the side of our table but had to talk behind us over our shoulder. Also noise levels are boaderline too high to gave a conversation without shouting. Overall though, its a beautiful restaurant.

Not my first time there. Always a great meal. The only negative was the service. When we had it, it was good. However we didn’t get much of it.

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.