We were early for our Friday evening reservation so opted to sit at the bar for a cocktail. The place was packed and had a great vibe to it, and from start to finish we found the staff very attentive and outgoing. Once seated we were well looked after by Taylor. The steamed mussels were the best we had in Newfoundland (plump, steamed to perfection, tasty hot broth), the beet salads and seafood soup tasty and well presented, and the vinegar pie that they are known for lived up to our expectations. The location on Water St. is very accessible despite the construction on the street. Highly recommend this place.

Just wow for the incredible meal we had tonight.
Salmon tartare, pork spaghettini (unbelievable) and creme brûlée.

We were a table of 4 and made reservations - these are needed during peak time period. Our waiter (sorry can't remember his name) was awesome and so was the somiler! We order a bottle of sparkling, a glass of D'oro (made with iceberg icecubes!!) and a bottle of really good red (sorry didn;t drink it but both my hubby and other campion said it was great!0. I order the fresh pasta (I don;t seafoos or fish) and it was ok. My hubby ordered th duck and said it was one of the best dishes he had ever had! One of my companions order ther scallops and said it was the best she ever had and the other companion order a pasta seafood meadly and said it was wonderful too.
My hubby and i split the rubhard dessert cake and OMG, would have ordered another if I hadn't been so full.
The only "black" mark on a wonderful evening was a group of rude people who went into the "private" dining room and kept slamming the patio doors as apparently the rest of the restaurant was "too loud" for them. Um.. the reason the doors were open as they were bringing you your drink and apts! So rude - not the restaurant's fault but it was a not nice ending (considering we were seated right in front of the doors) and we all jump many feet in the air when it happened the first, second and third time! Thank goodness we left at that point!

Beautiful space. Lovely hostess.

That's about it.

"Seafood Plateau?" This was a mystery of a description to a table of raw bar lovers, and perfectly murdered by an untrained, un-poised server who essentially made everyone turn the page. The (2) oysters finally offered were pale in comparison, and not artfully shucked (shards).

Rushed service, overcooked game, uninformed server, and snotty wine service in a place clearly designed to attract out-of-towners with money to burn. Burn it we did, but not on this spot.

Too bad, but, every town has a couple corporate fails that help showcase the strength of local independence.

Skip this one.

We stopped at the Merchant for lunch and had such a great experience that we went back for dinner. Lunch with no reso. Definitely glad that we made a reso for dinner. Two in our party so we had 4 meals; 2 lunch entries, a dessert and in the evening cocktails, oysters, salads and entries and all were delicious! My favourites were the seafood pasta at lunch, beet salad at dinner and vinegar pie. All the services a great and our lunch server (Vanessa) was stellar..... next time we are in St John’s, we’ll be back!