Review The Merchant Tavern - St. John's

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.

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

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!

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 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!

This place is AMAZING! After having been here twice now I can say this is my current favorite restaurant in St. John's 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 - I've 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. John's. 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 it's JUST sweet so this was great. The best! Pic attached.

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. John's 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!

Had supper at the Merch yesterday - first time in a while. Happy to say I think it's 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.

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!

Absolutely gorgeous place. Servers are knowledgeable and passionate. The food and cocktails were excellent, and I had the best cup of Darjeeling I've had in years. I'll definitely be back to sample more of the menu. They aren't the cheapest but the quality is well with it. Fantastic spot.

Great little spot to dine in downtown St. John's, 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!

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.

Good food. Reasonable portions. Expensive drinks. Great atmosphere. Great dessert. It was good to try it out at least, but I’m sure there is plenty more out there that’s comparable quality for a lower price point. The staff was impeccably coiffed and young, which means they are being intentionally hip; with intention comes a price, sorry to say.

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!

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 ❤️

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.

Another incredible meal last night. I had oysters, cod special ( melt in your mouth and pork belly and peas pudding flavour was incredible), and vinegar pie,with teltley tea ice cream.....yum! Every bite was delicious. Was with party of 7 and there wasn’t a bit left on any plate. Incredible service to top it off. Very knowledgeable about everything on the menu.

We had an amazing experience at The Merchant Tavern. It was recommended to us by a culinary chef and friend, Simon Dunn. Despite the tourist map having an incorrect address, we persisted and found it and we are so glad that we did! We spent a few hours mid afternoon sitting At the bar with the attentive young lads Jeremy and Jake entertaining us. And, what a kitchen! As a chef, it was a joy for me to watch the staff in the open kitchen prep for the evening service. They flowed like music as they efficiently went about their mise-en-place tasks. The charcuterie platter with in-house mustard, pickles and pate was excellent, as was the honey lime wings that we tried. The local beer was outstanding! I would highly recommend The Merchant Tavern.

My husband and I wanted to find a nice place for dinner as it was our last night in Newfoundland, and this place did not disappoint. We had a great waitress who was friendly and was willing to give us tips on which dishes were the best, the atmosphere was perfect (not too loud but busy and lively) and the food was amazing! We would recommend this place to anyone wanting to try cool new food dishes and looking for a great atmosphere.

Our first meal at the Merchant Tavern back in December was an amazing and exceptional experience. Sitting at the raw bar watching the chefs prepare the meals gave a different outlook for the foodies that my husband and I are. The meal was outstanding and left an impression so we returned again last night. Having a couple from out of town with us, we were looking forward in sharing the same experience. The atmosphere did not disappoint, however the meals did. I ordered the cod, and to my surprise, found a worm, alive and kicking, which was NOT on the menu! I informed the head chef, Nick Walters who reacted in total arrogance. He told me that it was normal and that it happens sometimes to find a worm in the fresh cod. He offered to replace the meal, but I had lost my appetite. He then told me that we would not be charged for the meal. Being used to purchasing fresh cod from local fisherman, I know the process that must be taken to insure the full removal of any unwanted parasites. This should not have happened in a "so called" high end restaurant. Let alone it should not have survived the cooking process. And to top it all off, he left the spoon with the living worm next to my plate. I had to ask the waitress to come and remove the spoon. Secondly, my husband's french fries were cooked beyond recognition, they were more like hickory sticks and not the usual julienne french fry. Having said all this, I want to emphasize that the handling of the whole situation by "chef" Nick Walters was unacceptable and with his position, he should have handled this in a different matter. He has to remember that everyone who enters a restaurant is not food illiterate. Sadly we are not likely to return.

Love this place. Been there 4 times now and have been wowed each time. We love the food, the atmosphere and staff. We try to sit at the raw bar so we can watch the exciting dynamic amongst the chefs in the kitchen. Last night we visited and I had the best burger I’ve ever had in my life (Peanut Butter Burger). Jeremy Charles came over to speak to us. He’s a great guy! Congrats to Jeremy and his team for running such an amazing establishment in our beautiful city.

We celebrated my sister's birthday there last night. It was our first time there but definitely won't be our last!! We were seated at the raw bar which turned out to be amazing and a completely different restaurant experience, we loved watching the chefs prepare all the food!! The staff were awesome as was our entire meal, The Merchant did not disappoint!! We'll be back forsure & looking forward to our return visit 😃👍

We had an exceptional meal at The Merchant last evening. Not one thing off point. Dylan you are a great server! I really enjoyed all aspects of the evening except maybe our close quarters when seated at our table however it wouldn’t make me not want to come back. Jeremy your house white Sauvagnion Blanc was amazing.

My partner and I were there last night and really enjoyed our experience. Neither one of us really enjoys fine dining, so the relaxed, unpretentious vibe is a big plus for us. There are a lot of staff and the service is impeccable. Our waitress was fantastic. We had the tasting menu and thoroughly enjoyed each dish and wine pairing. The portions were perfect and we walked out with full bellies and rosy cheeks. Will definitely go back when in St.John's.

Great food and service. With a packed house they found a place for us in the vault. Cod was fantastic, and the stuffed lobster pasta was getting rave reviews! A++

Amazing steak frites and great cocktails, and we managed to get seats at the bar without a reservation on only a few minutes' wait. Our server forgot about our first round of drinks for a hot minute but was very apologetic and whisked them in front of us as soon as we reminded her, and it was a VERY busy night so I can't remotely blame her! Second time at the Merchant for me, and always happy with the results! Those fries are to die for!!!!!

Was only here once but everything was great.....service, food, etc. Would not hesitate to recommend to anyone.

First time dining The Merchant last night.We celebrated our 20th anniversary in an awesome atmosphere with delicious beef tartar and charcuterie for our starter.Hubby's steak was done to perfection. My duck confit main course was very salty and oily but the service made up for It. The Sommelier was very informative.We dined in style with great bottle of Amarone, stater drinks and finished with a few ports and many margaritas. Pretty sure we closed down the place. We would definitely return😄👍.

Burgers, brunch, or even just a bowl of beans - Merchant never disappoints and always delivers a top notch dining experience. Love the local soap by East Coast Glow featured in the bathroom too, with info included. �

Outstanding! Fresh local ingredients, great service and reasonable prices for the quality you are getting! Can’t recommend highly enough!!