The Merchant Tavern in St. John's

Just had a fantastic dining experience, the best part? Our server Mari, she was an absolute treat! Never had a server this personable and who seemed to truly care about our dining experience! She knew the menu in and out and was able to give us the perfect experience. Really made our special celebration even more special!

This was a spectacular meal and experience. It was high-end dining that truly delivered. We shared oysters, 2 entrées and a dessert and all were so delicious. Local oysters with NS sparkling wine Cod with cream sauce, veg and potatoes was balanced and perfectly cooked. Sausage with partridge berries, mashed potatoes and greens was the epitome of fall flavours and enviable textures. Both with a glass of Chablis that complimented both. The Chef visited us to tell us more about the food and inspirations, what a nice touch. Blueberry and lemon Tirimisu for dessert was just so yummy and inventive. Shout out to amazing service from our server/bartender (name?) and of course lovely James.

Had my wifes birthday dinner just now and the service and food were an absolute 10 out of 10. James our sever was fantastic and the head chef really made our birthday supper an extra but special.

Awesome perfectly prepared steak frites. Steak cooked to perfection and crispy fries.

Looks like a bank from the outside, but really nice inside. Great burger!

I cannot rave about this place enough. We had the tasting menu with wine pairing. It was exquisite. Stunning food that rivals anything Ive experienced at Michelin starred restaurants. Wine pairings were spot on. The worst thing I can fault is the first table we sat at had bad lighting, but it was quickly rectified. Overall five stars easily.

Had dinner (duck breast) here 2024-11-16 and we were extremely pleased. The service and atmosphere here was top notch as well. Its nice to push the boat out sometimes. We will be back.

Great food and drinks. Cod was delicious!

Nothing special lots of stuff on menu is something you could get really cheap at sobeys make it at home. 25 dollars for mussels is insane I could go Sobeys and get a 5 dollar pack double the amount of mussels and steam them myself.

To be totally fair and honest...the burger was just good.. a glorified big mac. Which is the next best thing to bernards in my opinion. Server was nice..it wasnt his fault...he didnt cook it..but... But when you look forward to a night out with your date after working all week..its upsetting. Lets get to it: Rigatoni...crunchy and chewy. And Im not sure what that minced meat stuff was but it wasnt what youd expect from a restaurant of this type. It wasnt al dante and I know how the cooking styles of pasta can vary. This was just too under cooked. When approached by server Andrew and asked how the meal was I was honest and respectful. I dont like to be rude but Rigatoni had only 2 maybe 3 noodles gone from the plate. Still...had to pay $95 with no mentions of any discount for the troubles. I dont even want any compensation for any of this anymore. At this point I litterly just want to spare someone else from this happening to. Im sure the rest of the food was delicious for the majority of people and thats great. This is just my experience.

Mediocre at best and HIGHLY overrated, the quality of food does not justify the exceptionally high prices. We were very disappointed overall. Im not sure if Jeremy Charles would like his name associated with this place any more if he experienced what we did that night.

Good steak, fries over seasoned, cocktails good, however cocktail was served in glass half full. Service was slow and inattentive, over 2hr process start to finish, a lot of waiting, eventually had to track down sever so we could pay bill and leave.

We ve been to St. John s a few times but never made it out to the Merchant s Tavern before - we re glad we finally went! My partner had the steak and I had the shrimp pasta and both were excellent. We also had some oysters, which were delicious, and the desserts we ordered were great as well. Would absolutely come back in the future.

Date: 22Aug24 Food: 9/10 Burger was great juicy, the tartare is too creamy and I believe would not need the cheese on top. Presentation is not bad. Drinks: 10/10 best cosmopolitan I ever had! Service: 9/10 The change of menu should ve clear as we were planning for a late lunch and encountered a shorter version of the full menu when we arrived at 3pm. Perhaps we missed that. Staff: 7/10 The lack of elegance, in the open space kitchen and general uniform and manners of the staff was quite shocking. People eating while working, carelessly hanging on the kitchen access counter, and the uniforms (or no uniforms)... for a second we asked ourselves if we were disturbing. One of the servers was wearing the shortest dress Ive ever seen! Totally inappropriate for a restaurant in this scale. Those become issues if not addressed, in fact. Work etiquete and dress code are not hard to implement. But I have to say the bartender and one blond lady with kind manners and excellent attitude were impressively professional. Facility: bathroom was smelling awful and dirty. Unacceptable again for this level of restaurant. But again a cleaning schedule can solve it. Overall worthy for the good food.

My spouse and I went for brunch today and this was the worst service and experience I ever had in a restaurant in my 30 years of life. The waitress should ABSOLUTLY not be on the floor or even in this industry at all. I have had much better experiences/services with fast foods/drive thru AND I dont have to tip the employees. Nothing about that food is worth the price asked. Quantity/quality VS price is absurd. I really dont encourage people to go there and waste their monney for that food and that SERVICE The Late was amazing tho!

Lovely place with great service! We were really pleased with the wine selection and food suggestions provided by our server, I believe her name was Mari. She definitely elevated our experience, very charming and energetic server! We will definitely be coming back the next time were in St. Johns!

Our first impressions were good. The staff that greeted and seated us were warm and friendly and the place, although fairly early, seemed to be buzzing with activity. The service started off well and before long we had our drinks and then our starters. The service slowly ground to a standstill and it took longer than you would expect for the mains. It really fell apart once the mains were finished. Our server seemed to vanish and it wasn t until one of the other staff, who appeared to be just responsible for checking wine quality, noticed how long we were waiting and came over and cleared our plates and asked if we wanted to order dessert. We thanked her and asked for the bill. We then went back into wait mode and eventually the original server showed up with no offer of an apology or explanation for the delay. We paid the bill and just as we were getting ready to get up, the table next to us weighted in that they too experienced some of the poorest service they had seen. It s too bad as the food we had was excellent but the poor service definitely damaged the overall experience. So, 5 out of 5 for the food and 1 out of 5 for the service.

I always sit at the bar and have the best service. Harlem is always amazing and never disappoints.

Best brunch ever! Lobster Benedict! So good!

Snow crab itself is salty. Bread goes well with Seafood soup and mussels! Food

Great food, a fantastic staff, and a beautiful building that was a bank at one time. The kitchen is open and the Chef was overseeing his team. He tasted and ensured that all elements were correct. As a matter of fact, all the cooks tasted their food. One might find it expensive but it was worth every penny! The Merchant Tavern is very popular and very busy. I recommend making a reservation to avoid disappointment. In one word, The Merchant Tavern is superb!

Ate here for the first time 2 weeks ago and had an amazing night out with family. The Merchant Tavern is an excellent place to dine. Great service and great food! I Tried Oysters for the first time then enjoyed their Double Smash Burger!

For the reviews I have read, my expectations were greater. The cod entree was extremely salty. The burger we had was burnt. The seafood platter was ok, shrimps were tiny, scallops were tasteless. I have had better of both. When we told the waiter the cod was so salty, he explained after that they brine it before frying. Why ruin such a great fish?! No attempt to make it right after our complaint. The service was also slow considering we were there for 5 pm dinner with little kids, very little crowd. I wouldn t go back.

Nice food, and service was good

Very disappointed with just about everything. We had a late reservation, one of the last seatings. We were told that our steak frites (med and med rare)would be at least 45 minutes. The starters were meh. The green salad tasted like grass. When the steaks did arrive, the were over cooked , and they were sliced! Very strange. The sauce had been poured over the fries and the steak. Hard to taste anything smothered in sauce. They steak was very chewy.

Great Restaurant I would return .

Four of us had dinner here on a Tuesday evening. The fish taco appetizer was very good. From the entrees we chose the snow crab pasta was very good, the lobster was good and the bouillabaisse special was tasty but not hot enough. For dessert the crème brûlée was very good and the rhubarb pavlova was good. The have a nice cocktail list. Service was good as well.

One of the best carbonara

Great food and service. The snow crab parppadelles are amazing! Very nice evening.

Everything about our meal was outstanding. Highly recommend the tasting menu plus wine pairing beautiful dishes prepared with great skill. This was a wonderful final dinner of our vacation. Perfect.

Great, wait - amazing food and atmosphere! Had oysters which Chef Nick delivered ! Was so nice ! In house hot sauce amazing.

Top notch food and service. Went here to celebrate my mothers birthday with a group of 6. Everything was perfect.

I dont even know where to start but this was the BEST dining experience we had on our trip to Newfoundland! The cocktails are phenomenal, the service is spectacular and the food is TO DIE FOR!! I highly recommend the walkin on water cocktail if you enjoy bourbon and do not miss out on the seared scallops and Beef Tartare, it was unforgettable. A special thank you to Hailey, she got us a table on a very busy Friday night, and if it wasnt for her we would not have been able to experience The Merchant Tavern and to our server James who just added to the entire dining experience and made it that much more memorable. THANK YOU Merchant Tavern, I wish I could give you more than 5 stars!!!

Authentic fresh seafood experience especially for those, like myself, who are land locked on the prairies. A great vibe even mid-week Catch of the day was crab and the server even coached us on our shell technique. Opted for the seafood platter for one, which included a combo of steamed lobster, crab & mussels, a delicate shrimp salad, oysters and marinated scallops. WOW. Thanks to our friends for the recommendation!

The food is good but they need to figure out proper portions. How many scallops do you think you get in a $32 appetizer? Two...

We had dinner at The Merchant and the companion restaurant , The Seaside in Trout River. Both establishments showcased very good local fare ans seafood, including some delicious craft brews. A tad pricey for the portions but we understand the season is short to create the revenue needed to survive and keep the friendly staff. Big shout out to The Seasides homemade buns and scallop dinner special! Cheers. Pam and Phil Waterloo

Great food, served in a great environment. Really cool place to try.

Snowb crabs to die for ...came here twice during our visit. Reservation recommended.

One of the best, if not the best restaurant in St Johns. Chicken supreme is insanely good!! Every dish my wife and I have ordered we have been impressed. Thanks for great food and great service!!!

My fiancée and I ate at this restaurant 3 times on our 10 day trip. I couldn t stop going back to try different things. The food is unbelievable. Smash burger, chilled snow crab, oysters, pastas - give them all a try Food

Disappointed by the food at The Merchant. We d heard good reviews and decided to have it as our fancy dinner Saturday night while we were in town. We had the cold seafood platter, muscles, oysters and beef tartare (and wine). The seafood platter had so much fennel in it and some of the food was just lying in olive oil. Very unusual profile and we both ended up not feeling great after eating it. Oysters and beef tartare were the highlight! The muscles were very average and didn t taste like anything. Also had fennel in the dish and just unusual flavours. We sat at the bar and service was slow, despite there being folks around. We had to ask for the bill twice. Meal was average, just had higher expectations.

Loved the food specially the burger. Short rib was really good and a must try. Food, service and the atmosphere all were pretty good. Food is little more expensive than other neighbouring restaurant. Menu for brunch has less options but all the items we tried were pretty good. Its better to get a reservation as it is pretty busy all the time

That chicken supreme do be bangin bruh

Consistently great

Always a top notch experience. 10/10

The food was fantastic and the staff were warm and welcoming.

We had the best evening and the absolute highlight of the trip was this meal and their tasting menu with the wine pairing. Tracy knocked it out of the park with the wine, particularly when we threw some curveballs. Shes a genius! Thanks for a great evening with great food and amazing wine.

Had a great meal at the Merchant about a week ago, and it was up to their usual impeccably high standards. Great service, food was fantastic. Highly recommend for casual up to pretty fine dining. Perhaps the best Beef Tartare I ve ever had, and a great pasta meal as well. Food

We had the cod nuggets and tuna tartar. The nuggets were great and the tuna tartar was outstanding. Great service, beautiful decor and wonderful atmosphere.

Food was delicious. Highly recommended for you

Dietary restrictions: It is so important that the dining staff relays to the kitchen, the exact specifications of allergies or intolerances. Food

Every course was delicious, cocktails were yummy.

Never again.

Honestly the most mediocre meal I have had in a long time. Mussels in white wine, well more like luke warm water with a few onions. Pasta was dried out and hard like it had been sitting under a heat lamp for ages. Service was meh. Apparently the burger is good, the fries were good. The cocktails are nice. The building is beautiful and the bar looks like a good spot, but I would not go there for an overpriced meal again. What was really disappointing is that it was recommended by Portage when I couldn t get a reservation there. I expected much better and have had much better food and service in the local pubs. The burger was described as a fancy McDonald s burger and is almost $30. I would definitely not recommend this place because there are so many better spots to eat downtown.

Good fresh pasta. Terrible service :(

Was really happy with our experience. Children are welcome too. Food was great! Scallop risotto, raw Artic char and crème brûlée were all spot on. Cocktails and choice of wines was really good too.

Overall this experience was just ok. My partner and I visited for lunch on a Saturday. The brunch menu was surprisingly limited and there was an item unavailable (which we both ordered and then were told it was sold out). The cod croquettes were tasty, we shared them as an appetizer. The hollandaise on my benedict was stodgy and had either been made incorrectly or had been sitting warm for quite some time. My partners grilled sandwich wasnt heated through and was rather disappointing. The potato hash browns were excellent, and our speciality coffees were delicious. Our server seemed disinterested in our presence, however they provided the function required without being rude or inappropriate. I was a bit distracted by the level of dust in the dining room. Bathrooms were clean. Not worth the $100+ price tag by a long shot, but we were aware what we were ordering and the fees were transparent.

Stop by for brunch or breakfast if youre in St. Johns.

Best drinks in the city. Food, and service are all top notch.

Mediocre food for the price ($125/pp); not good, but not bad. First course of local scallops, fermented gooseberries and chive oil was unbelievably sour it was a hard time attempting to finish the dish. The rest of the courses were okay, but not worth the price tag. As well, being sat at a bar was also quite uncomfortable as the bar table was much higher than the seats, making it hard to eat. I had reserved ~ 1 week prior to the visit in order to have good seating, but still got sat at the bar nonetheless. Wish it was a better experience but the first course was such a disaster it ruined the rest of the evening.

My son and I went for the Sunday Donut menu today. Omg it was soooo delicious. Excellent and creative. Highly recommend going when they have another one. #1

Good place to enjoy a peaceful dinner Kid-friendliness: Yes Food : 4/5 |

First time I ever visited! Met a friend for some drinks at the bar and a walk down memory lane, and he couldnt have picked a better spot! Didnt have any food, but the staff are amazing and the drink selection is huge!! Try a cocktail - theyre all divine! Parking: Street parking free after 6pm on weekdays, but really tough to find spots close

The executive chief made our experience absolutely unforgettable. Thank you to everyone at The Merchant Tavern for such a beautiful evening.

Love this place. The food is amazing. The service was fantastic.

Phenomenal!

Fun, open atmosphere with decent food and great service. Pricey though. The seafood soup was the best. Meaty and tasty.

The food was good. But the service wasn t. Had higher expectations

Chef Nick is awesome!!! Amazing food! Great night for sure!!!

Food and service was fantastic. Artic Char was beautifully prepared and presented.

This was our first time visiting Merchant Tavern but it definitely won t be our last! The service was great and I loved the atmosphere, we especially enjoyed the open kitchen! The food was amazing, 10/10! We had the mussels as an appetizer, and had scallop risotto and steak frites as our mains.. they were all delicious!

My risotto was outstanding. Pasta dish was too salty at first and fish chowder was lacking fish. Both issues were rectified quickly. We were very impressed with food and service

Chefs tasting is the best with the wine pairing. Highly recommend!!

Loved everything about this place. A bit expensive but worth it.

We had brunch there. They all tasted good

Best old fashioned I ve had (asked for it to be on the sweeter note), they had great food and service as well!

Best old fashioned I ve had, crabs were super fresh and delicious, all dishes were! Amazing service as well! Highly recommended!

Amazing server, most attentive in a long time, food was tasty, 3/4 dishes were top notch, mussels that evening slightly too spicy though, had early booking but was not overly crowded. Will return.

Overpriced restaurant serving half decent food. Nice interior design if you like a big open concept. Waiters act like they are doing you a favor to serve you.

Very nice experience overall!

Eating dinner here right now! Food so good from start to finish I had to come throw out a review. Everything was cooked to perfection, the people are friendly, the drinks are unique and delicious and the overall atmosphere was fantastic. Highly recommend their beef tartare, which is the best I ve ever eaten. Excellent place! Food

Overall not bad but disappointing especially given the price. I dont mind paying for good food but this was simply Mediocre at best. most of the restaurants Ive tried downtown have been great, but unfortunately not this one. In my opinion this tarnishes the Raymonds name. Service was speedy but I felt rushed to order. Drinks were also heavily pushed which was unnecessary in my opinion. Atmosphere was nice but restaurant was quite loud. Appetizer was amazing which was the only good part of the evening, we had calamari. The mains lacked flavor and felt small. The chicken was kinda dry and the lemon Beurre blanc didnt really help. Thought that desert might have been able to make up for the mains but they were even more disappointing. Pastry of the Lemon tart tasted stale. I have my doubts that any of it was made in house because the meringue was no better then store bought package. THE WORST PART... I paid 12 dollars for the tiny tart which is shown in the photos. Definitely will not be back to the restaurant. Was hoping for so much better :(

had a hamburger, very salty well over cooked

Great spot for local pub fare and a stiff cocktail. If you want to feel like youre in toronto with local cuisine this is the spot

We stopped in after 3:00 for a small bite. They advertised Happy Hour from 3-5 pm. The menu was simple. Tacos, nachos, a charcuterie plate, oysters and soup. The biria nachos were flavourful and had lots of meat. Only issue was the amount of liquid made the lower part of the chips soggy. Seafood soup was tasty. Fresh zucchini and a bit of fennel added a nice crunch. Servers were prompt and helpful. Not sure if it was truly a happy hour as the prices were not reduced.

Every dish was delicious.

I loved the smashed Berger, just didn t like the fries. But I liked atmosphere and service.

Solid restaurant with a good tasting menu. Could improve with some slightly more experienced staff, but they were able to maintain the atmosphere. The sommelier made some good pairings, and the food was generally well prepared and tasty. Would have liked some non-menu surprises. The carrot cake was great.

Best restaurant in St. Johns. The food and service was incredible. Kid-friendliness: Kids welcome, fairly casual atmosphere Food : 5/5 |

Great spot, scallops were fresh, not the best risotto, great drink s selection

Pricey

Merchant Crab Shack had a cucumber salad that came out warm and brown. ceviche was more of a citrus soup as the liquid came up to my second knuckle. for the price charged you should at least get decent food. Food

Service was fantastic. Food was decent.

The food was amazing and there was such a wide variety, from steak to pasta to crab. The overall restaurant had a lovely ambience. I ordered the spaghetti carbonara and it was extremely delicious, with lots of cheese, creaminess and flavor. The Artic Char was incredibly delicious and tasted almost like salmon. Overall, a great option for a night out!

The duck was one the best meals I had this year and our cocktails were great. Lost reservation issue just made the experience more stressful than necessary. Personally I thought the desserts missed the mark a bit. Good but not fantastic on that front.

We went to their pop up on the pedestrian mall and were hoping for a great meal. Originally from St. John s but live away and was excited to give it a try. Their lobster roll was the length of my pinkie finger and the fries were cold. I get that we are outside, but McDonald s fries would have been warmer. The nachos were served cold with a theatre/stadium cheese sauce. Pretty gross. We couldn t eat half of them. Our server was a really sweet and friendly person - it was quite evident that they knew we weren t happy as they sort of avoided us after the quality check. It s not their fault the kitchen produced what they did. Not too sure what people like about this place, but for the price point, no thanks

Amazing place and food

This was the 1st place we visited in St. Johns, turns out it was one of the best. The snow crab was the best Ive ever had ! Fantastic, friendly service! Great food and ambiance.

Cool atmosphere, good food ad. Service.

Best restaurant in St.John s

One of the best meals we have ever had. Oysters and snow crab were incredible, but the scallop ceviche was delicious unique and unlike anything we have had before. Highly recommend

The best meal we ve had in St.John s. Everything was excellent, service food, wine, dessert. Recommendations from the server were good. We want to go back and try the burger and fries before we go home.

Dined here solo on business and sat at the bar. Greeted immediately and told of diner specials..enjoyed a cold Iceberg beer which is a new favorite. I ordered the Scallop Conchiglie with a pesto and was one of the best meals I have ever had...highly recommend this restaurant !!

The merchant has an amazing atmosphere and the service was impeccable, BUT it was extremely expensive!

Good food and good service and a nice atmosphere. A little on the pricey side

You have to try the new lemon fog cocktail. Perfectly balanced, a play on a London fog. We shared the beet salad to start, the tahini really sold the dish, beets were cooked perfectly and it was a pretty plate to look at. Also tasted the arctic char, mussels, and frites. Each dish was well seasoned and they pay attention to small details, like the toast served with the mussels was so perfectly crunchy to dip in that chorizo and sundried tomato white wine broth. I m still drooling just thinking about it. The absolute best service we ve had on our 11 day trip, I should have asked again for your name, sorry! He knew the menu well, answered all questions and entertained with light banter throughout he even had suggestions for activities the next day. Wildly impressed.

Stopped in to have a bite with a colleague. I didn t feel like a burger so I opted for some pasta. I wasn t impressed with the portion size as it was quite small considering the cost of 28$ for this dish - really nothing special, pasta and pancetta. My colleague had the chicken, he said it was tasteless and fad. If you do go here, just stick to the burgers.

The food was great, the service also (thanks Alex!)

This is an excellent spot to grab food and have a few drinks. Fantastic service from Noah at the bar. I had the halibut special, which was potentially one of the best fish dishes I have ever had.

The burger, the scallops and the chocolate cake are just perfect. Great team working there, too !

I had dinner with my colleagues here couple of nights ago. Absolutely delicious food! I love my Arctic Char, a must go place in St John s.

Had a wonderful time eating here with some friends. Really good food and drinks!

Had such a spectacular meal! The beef tartar is out of the world, the muscles were perfectly cooked and tasty, the oysters were fresh with excellent garnishes, and the scallops main course was phenomenal (the whipped turnips were spectacular!!!). A perfect meal!

Had the smoked meat on marble rye with roasted pepper soup. The meat was really good, however the marble in the rye would not stay together so it made it difficult to fully enjoy. Overall the food was good.

The food is good, but I was a little disappointed when I found three bones in my fish soup. I mentioned it to my server and when they spoke to the head chef, their response was it s normal to find bones in the fish. Maybe it is at this place, but I have never eaten at any other restaurants where finding bones in food is normalized. I have had fish and chip shops and haven t found bones in there fish at a fraction of the cost. Think they need to perhaps pick up there knife and cleaning game a little.

Meh. Not worth the hype or the cost. We felt like another number, there was nothing personal about our dinner experience. Food was fine - the mussels were good, but the Arctic char was overdone. We wont be back and we wouldnt recommend it.

Great little spot to dine in downtown St. Johns, NFLD! The food was very good. The ambiance and atmosphere were great. Having sat on the other side of the server station, you can see into the open kitchen and watch the chefs execute the service, which was very entertaining!

My favourite place for a meal in St. John s. I always find the service, food and atmosphere perfect. The menu always has a variety of options, I always have a debate within on what to order.

Surely it was luck, but we share the restaurant with a Prime Minister, a rock star, and a billionaire!! Not bad The food was fine, but the atmosphere and the service are the big points of this place. No doubts.

This restaurant is hands down my favourite restaurant in the Province. Keep up The amazing work, I eat hear regularly and haven t had a bad meal. Food

Had supper at the Merch yesterday - first time in a while. Happy to say I think its still the best restaurant in town. Love the atmosphere, great food and perfect service yesterday - friendly, professional, attentive, but not stuffy in any way. Also - the best pasta dishes in the city.

Exquisite and delicious food, enthusiastic staff, beautiful environment Highly recommend the fish cake here, it s very delicious!

Great dinner last night. The tuna crudo was phenomenal (I wanted to drink up the remains on the plate). My partner had the Arctic Char which he said was delicious.

Good service. Just not a big fan of the food options i had, but overall it was an amazing atmosphere.

We decided to come to Newfoundland while watching a TV series from Martin Picard s chef (Un chef à la cabane) and had to stop at the Merchant Tavern. We chosed the chef s discovery menu with wine selection from the sommelier Leo. Not enough words to describe the experience! Thanks for everything!

I m not finish my dinner yet when I write this, you must try Oysters Rockefeller.

I wish there were 10 stars...Absolutely one of the finest meals we have had! Flavor/Savoury, Service, Ambiance, Experience...all 10 stars! This is a must visit in St. Johns NF. Mussels, Oysters, Artic Char, roasted peaches with diplomat cream and a wonderful surprise from Brad a fabulous Creme Brulee!! Everything excellent! Thank you Brad!

Good selection of food, eggs were well cooked. Portion sizes were a bit small, but price was alright.

Good service and and atmosphere. I had the pancakes, but wouldnt recommend them, dry with stringy bacon despite a request for crispy. Top pancake was flavorful having absorbed the limited seasons blueberries.

One of my favourite restaurants in the city, great food, great atmosphere with exceptional staff

Wonderful experience. Great seafood and atmosphere. Wonderful service.

Came on a Sunday morning for brunch. Out of pancakes. Out of milk for coffees. Took incredibly long to get food and drinks. Have to say it was not a great experience.

A bit disappointed. Had the Crispy Chicken, all batter barely any chicken. The drinks were very good.

Ask for the Vault

So the food was great, however the service was so bad that I cannot give it a 5 star, or even a 4 star. Took just about 2 hours for our entrés, no check in by staff and no apology. On top of it, never got drinks we asked for.

Excellent service, great food. No complaints or quibbles.

One of the best restaurant experience we had in St-Johns. The homegrown cocktail and the five course tasting menu was amazing. It gets better and better with each dish (The linguini sauce was out of this world).

Service was great, staff are friendly and warm. I ordered the Cesar salad and didnt realize they had changed the recipe since I last came which was pre-covid. I found it a bit too generic, boring and over dressed. Staff were great at addressing the issue right away and gave me another one. I ordered the special of the day (cod) as a main and though it was cooked and seasoned perfectly, I was quite saddened by the teeny tiny portion. I think there were 3 mini potatoes cut in half on my plate, one single leaf of lettuce and the cod maybe was 4 oz? Though I was satisfied, I felt as though the price was a bit high for what I received. As a side note, the bathrooms were not well maintained. It looked as though they hadnt been cleaned in a couple of days.

First, I will say that the food was amazing. Truly delicious. When we arrived, our table wasnt ready and we were asked to leave. Not wait by the bar or near the maître d stand; leave the building. When we (3 of us) ordered our drinks, only two were brought out. We had to ask where the third one was a few minutes later, as the server hadnt indicated why it wasnt brought (if it was late, if there was a problem, etc.). One of us was given only a dessert fork for their meal, which wasnt really convenient or big enough for the food. Another used their fork for their appetizer and was never offered a new fork for their meal (I know this may seem nit-picking, but for these prices, surely a clean fork is reasonable?). Finally, when the main courses were brought, the server didnt bring the jus that came with the lamb. The jus was brought a number of minutes later, and was poured onto the dish *while the person was in the middle of cutting a slice* and without saying anything to the effect of, Heads up, Im about to pour jus on your plate. So essentially it was surprise liquid that was poured on someones plate as they ate, rather than being served and poured when the lamb arrived. On top of it all, the server just struck us as dismissive: bringing things late with no explanation, taking a long time to get his attention, that kind of thing. I know this place gets amazing reviews normally, so perhaps this was just an off night for that server, but it was surprising to have mistakes like that made at a restaurant that is supposed to be high-end. Like I said, though, amazing food. Thats what the two stars are for.

Ordered the halibut entree and it was one of the best meals I ve ever had, I ll be thinking about that plate of food for a long time

Meal was phenomenal. Perfect seasoning and serving size. Wasn t as busy as I expected so not sure why it was so hard to get a reservation, but glad we got in. A must stop every time I m in St.John s!! So good are here twice in a row!

My friend and I visited the Merchant for our annual catch up recently and I was reminded why we keep going back to the same place year after year. The food was amazing - we enjoyed the special cod with skin on - so so good. The whole experience was remarkable and especially noteworthy was the service - our waitress didnt mind us asking for a cup and saucer. Superior experience. We will be back.

Seems like maybe a lot of new staff and theyre trying their best during busy lunch on Friday, but they have a small lunch menu, and it shouldnt be hard to get simple orders right. The soup was way too spicy (Seafood soup) and the Chicken sandwich had very little chicken... All crispy batter. Finally, they delivered fries instead of salad with our orders, and while the servers were able to provide a side salad, and were polite and apologetic for the mistakes, the food was not up to expectations.

Very happy with the quality of food and service. Started with in season oysters, beef tartar (too much parmesan), cod dish (eat the skin, the dish needs it), and then a chocolate mousse with buttermilk sorbet. Excellent experience. Will be back.

The food was amazing and staff were friendly! We had a bit of a mixup with one of our meals and the manager handled the situation like a champ! He was so helpful and really great at dealing with people! Loved it!

My steak was overcooked and the soup ta by far the best restaurant experience in the city l. Local food, fresh ingredients and a great staff.

Oddly enough, the best nachos I have ever had.

Lets preface this review by saying we were a large group. The staff were very nice, the decor is well done and the spicy Caesar was worthwhile. This place is definitely well over hyped. The limited menu and simplicity of the dishes would imply rapid service, warm food and a dash of panache for the price ( that being said ingredients are expensive in NL). The eggs were cold by their arrived at the table, the cheesey scrambled eggs were lacking cheese and the toast below was soggy. The Fish cakes were relatively bland and could use some uplifting. The salad was decent and the Turkish eggs were tasty but could do with a little more crunch and less oil especially given the fried nature of sunny side eggs . the sourdough was delicious with just the right ammount of fluff and crust. Soaked up the eggs and oil really well. This was a purely mediocre experience. For the rating and pricing I would hope there was a little more attention to their non dining decor ( fused bulbs and moldy and peeling wallpaper) Would I go here again, unlikely... Perhaps to try dinner but the bruch leaves me doubtful. This may perhaps be a more of a 2.5 star.

Our group went for brunch and waited for about 45 minutes to an hour after ordering to get our food. When we did get our food, half of it was cold - the toast was soggy, the cheesy eggs did not come with much cheese, and the fish cake was bland with very little seasoning. On the plus side, the atmosphere and decor were great. The servers were very kind, the soaps were nice, and the coffee and drinks tasted great. Overall, our brunch service deserves a 2.5.

The brunch menu was small and wasnt really good. It wasnt busy and it looked like the restaurant was fully staffed. However our food took a bit as well as our drinks. It wasnt really good. ( the food ) and the our waiter forgot some of our food. Then gave us the wrong food. And then double charged me for a drink. I dont recommend the brunch.

Excellent food, extremely knowledgeable and welcoming sommelier.

Several people recommended, and the hype was pretty big. Sadly, our experience was bad. We had a table that felt outcast, but had bathroom traffic/service hangout. While we got our drinks quickly, we waited an hour for our food (no appies). One out of three dishes was tasty (chicken marsala), other than that, the pasta was off texture and bland, steak frites was mediocre. Im so sorry to write a review like this. I hope it was just a really bad night... but it feels like this place is over hyped.

Amazing restaurant! The food and service were outstanding.

Food was great, our server Harlem was amazing. Will be back!

This place is AMAZING! After having been here twice now I can say this is my current favorite restaurant in St. Johns and my family agreed. The pictures are from my most recent time there. Halibut on a bed of potato puree, lobster linguine, and my dish which was the carbonara. Now - Ive had a lot of carbonara in my life that includes having had it in Italy and also making it myself. This was a fantastic pasta dish from this restaurant. As you can see, it is clearly not a traditional Italian carbonara which is traditionally just parmesan and/or pecorino, guanciale (Italian pancetta), pasta water, and egg yolk. However, I actually enjoyed this just as much if not more (in some ways) than times I have had traditional carbonara, including in Italy. The other guests with me agreed that this was their favorite meal from our many outings in St. Johns. We had a shrimp ceviche for our appetizer - it was great. Large fresh shrimp and brilliantly balanced citrus notes. Our dessert was a creme brulee - probbaly one of my top creme brulee dishes. The atmosphere is also really great here - it is industrial but cozy. We really enjoyed that the kitchen and prep areas were fully open so we spent lots of time watching the cooks work. Our server was friendly and professional. All around a great experience and one that I highly recommend. Update: went again and it was another amazing experience. I had a rack of lamb and it was the best lamb Iv ever had. The sauce was a great combination of umami and sweet - I dislike when its JUST sweet so this was great. The best! Pic attached.

We had the chefs tasting menu and would highly recommend! Service was great, be sure to make a reservation. We tried all the specialty cocktails as well, mostly good just wish there was one on the sweeter side.

I wish I were joking but I have literally convinced people to take a vacation to St Johns just to try some of the restaurants. I went to The Merchant Tavern with some friends and EVERYTHING that we got was phenomenal. We ordered more food (two appetizers and another entree) just because we wanted to try everything we could. Fantastic wine and drink selection, amazing dishes and possibly the best salads I have ever had. The fish was a standout but the chicken I got was stellar as well. Sadly, they did not have a wheelbarrow to cart my comatose friends and I back to the car or have a bed that we could have a nap on.

Went for lunch. Received service immediately. Our food came out less than 10 minutes after we ordered. The waitress checked on us multiple times. The food was excellent!!

Had a great experience dining here. We sat for dinner at the bar, and then eventually got a table. The ambiance is wonderful, staff are very friendly. Food was delicious (albeit a tad pricey for the portion). One of us got seafood items and one got chicken based items- all very tasty and fresh.

The quality of the food was very good, but the quantity was minuscule. Don t come here if you re hungry. My meal was expensive, appetizer size, and it was pasta!!

The food is consistently good, but the wine is disappointing. They offer very good access to selective wines, they always have a knowledgeable sommelier on hand with excellent recommendations, yet the red wine is always served too warm. Im surprised a restaurant that pays such attention to detail would miss on the simplest and one of the most important aspects, the delivery.

We got to experience dining at the Merchant Tavern on a recent trip to St. John s. The staff were very good, on point, friendly and helpful with the menu. The atmosphere was bright yet cozy at the same time. We tried the oysters and nachos as appetizers and we were not disappointed. Had the cod and butternut squash (duck) risotto for the mains and all of the food was great. Portion sizes were good and we definitely didn t leave hungry. Would highly recommend if travelling to the city, or even if you are looking for a good restaurant for a date night.

We decided to finally try this place out after living in st Johns for about a year. We did the 5 course and wine pair for 2 which was about 500. Alittle lofty but we were hoping for something great!!! Our issue was the service was so poor it kinda low key ruined the meal. It started with the first dish we were served was not ours and a mistake which you dont know becuase they dont tell you the courses, on its own no biggie, we laughed becuase the idea of the first dish being a huge honk of nachos was a bit funny. During the night, service got worse. Our second and third pairing the waiter really did not know what we were being served. The third pairing was literally yah um I forgot, sorry. There was also a wine substitute last min on a pairing that felt rushed and was meh. We know because we heard them mention they had run out of the suggested pairing. The worst part of it was still to come. Our last pairing during desert, we didnt get the wine until about 10 mins after the desert had been served. It was like lets chug a port before whatever ice cream was left melts :( It was clear they had totally forgotten us. I dont mean to knit pick but when you propose a 600 dollar dinner with tip and make it about a course pairing and screw up more the half of it, that is not a great experience for the customer. This place should do better. The food was good, the experience was a fail, if you go here, get a single dish and Im sure it will be wonderful.

Great service, great timing, great food. One of the best restaurants in town.

You should try this place if you go to St. John s!

Wonderful food and service. Best place in St. John s. kudos to the team!

Claire was a great server and the food was amazing!

Had the chefs choice with wine pairing, and was blown away by the quality. Very busy restaurant, but that just shows how popular it is.

Love the food, service and atmosphere at this place. I had the beef tartare (one of the best I ever had) and the Cod for main, also out of this world good. Good choice of wines and a great bar. Really enjoyed the vibe here too!

Located in an old bank, it holds a private meeting room in the vault. The open kitchen makes it a very dynamic place and the food and atmosphere are simply amazing.

Nice downtown restaurant in St.Johns. Super bar staff. Food was awesome.