The Mercantile Social — Restaurant in Halifax

WARNING I went to the Mercantile Social early February with 6 of my friends to celebrate my birthday. Upon getting to the restaurant I told the server I had a food allergy. When we ordered our food I told the server again in which she responded “yes I got it, my mother is allergic as well.” 5 appetizers were ordered to the table of 7 people, ALL of which were contaminated. I was not told that I was unable to eat anything, including the onion rings me and my partner ordered to share. I didn't even make it out of the restaurant before violently vomiting as my party paid their bills. The manager, Stephen, apologized and gave us his number to contact later to address the situation.

After 3 days of vomiting, taking my epipen, and missing a day of work we called and spoke to Stephen. We had a king suite booked at a hotel for hosting our friends after the supper, the evening the incident occurred. Since I was so sick I didn't get to enjoy my night. We had asked the restaurant to properly train staff on allergies so this didn't happen again, and that we would like the hotel room, rebooked so we can celebrate my birthday like we had planned. He said he would ask the hotel about the room and get back to us. We tried several times to call the restaurant the following 3 weeks after the incident. We were told Stephan was in meetings every time we called. The next week we were told he was unavailable that entire week because he was in meetings. This weekend we were in the area so decided to stop in since we might have better luck in person.

We got to the restaurant and he was there. We asked him what was going on with our situation. Stephen said he was at the restaurant all week and was not in any meetings?(So the staff needs to be trained on phone calls as well). He said he had not heard from the hotel yet. This is because he had not called the number we gave him, instead, used a friend who works at the hotel to give him the information illegally, instead of speaking to the person who we had given permission to, to discuss the details of our stay. We said we would get in touch with the hotel and have them reach out again. As we were leaving Stephen then said we had lied about the price we paid for the hotel. We did not! This offended me and my partner again as we have already clarified this over the phone with him already. I reminded Stephen that we were not asking for money anyways, that we had asked for the type of hotel room that we had booked, to be rebooked! Stephen then had the audacity to say “you smell like alcohol, have you been drinking?” I had not been drinking, so he didn't smell that off me! What kind of person let alone a manager makes a comment like that to a customer on how they smell? If he genuinely thought I had been drinking, that would have been the last thing a good manager would have said! That comment was purely to slander my character, it was degrading, ignorant, and it was also irrelevant.

Knowing that we were obviously upset because the restaurant's negligence almost killed me, now the company is giving us the runaround. It's been three weeks since the incident and we are having issues getting a hold of anyone. Stephen also escalated the situation, while we were literally inside the establishment by insulting us. He is extremely disrespectful! Based on what we have experienced, this guy has shown no management skills let alone people skills. The restaurant is a mess and it makes sense if this is who they have in a leadership role. The food is horrible, the service is negligent and the manager is incompetent. The Mercantile Social is making people sick! If you or anyone in your party has allergies, STAY CLEAR OF THIS RESTAURANT!!!!! They have been reported to Nova Scotia Health! At this point the hotel room is minor, and I will continue to voice my experience so no one else gets sick. This restaurant is HORRIBLE in every...

We stumbled upon this place almost by accident. One evening, while strolling downtown with my wife, we spotted it and thought, “We’ve got to check this place out sometime.” Eventually, we did.

The first impression was great - the interior is beautiful. The restaurant is full of little details that catch your eye: paintings on the ceiling, a stylish bar, unique chandeliers, wine racks and barrels. It’s the kind of space where you instantly feel comfortable, and there’s always something interesting to look at.

The service matched the atmosphere. A friendly hostess greeted us at the door, walked us to our table, and called the server over. We hadn’t made a reservation, but that wasn’t a problem. Our waiter was cheerful, polite, and quick with a smile. The moment we sat down, he poured us water and asked if we wanted to start with something right away or take our time with the menu. He patiently answered all our questions about the dishes - an absolute pro. Overall, the service was solid.

The menu itself is pretty standard - not tiny, not overwhelming. You’ll find meat, fish, some appetizers, salads - enough variety, but nothing that makes your head spin with options.

The food came out surprisingly fast. We ordered three dishes, one cocktail, and a soda. And here’s where the experience took a turn 😅. All three dishes were… average at best. Not inedible, but when a place gives off such a polished vibe, you expect the food to shine. After all, that’s why we go to restaurants - to enjoy the meal.

I had chicken with mashed potatoes. Unfortunately, the chicken was a little burnt, and that bitter char flavor stuck on my tongue and teeth (not the end of the world, but noticeable 🐔😂). The onions on the potatoes had zero flavor - chewing them felt like chewing plastic. The mashed potatoes themselves were fine - you can’t really mess those up. Surprisingly, the broccoli turned out to be the best part of the dish. Not amazing, but decent compared to everything else. And here’s the kicker: the food was painfully bland. I’m the type who always adds extra salt, but in this case, it felt like the chefs skipped salt and pepper altogether.

The pasta in tomato sauce with mushrooms didn’t save the night either. The pasta was cooked properly - nice al dente - but the sauce ruined it. Way too sour, as if they had just opened a can of tomato paste and dumped it on top. No balance, no seasoning, nothing to smooth it out. I poked around with my fork, ate a few bites, and left the rest. Definitely didn’t feel like taking it home.

My wife ordered the duck. The duck itself was decent - slightly undercooked, which isn’t a bad thing, but if you like it well-done, you’d better let the server know. The sauce was actually nice - sweet and pleasant. But once again, the same problem: the meat was bland. No salt, no pepper.

On the bright side, the cocktail was tasty and beautifully presented. The soda, well… it was soda.

The bill came to $120 for three dishes, a cocktail, and a soda - plus taxes, plus tip. Not outrageous, but in Halifax there are plenty of places where you can eat much better for less.

So here’s the verdict: fantastic interior, good service - but the food? Honestly, for that price, noticeably below average. We don’t regret trying it, but it’s not a spot I’d recommend to friends or rush...

Went for a birthday celebration with three guests on a Saturday night. We had had a business lunch several years ago under the old management(?) and the food was expensive and rather disappointing. So we were excited to give the Merc a second try once we had heard the restaurant and menu were overhauled. We took business clients for a Friday dinner and enjoyed our dishes; Miso fish, wings, trout ... Other than the place being very, very noisy (the space with many people talking is very loud to start with but they also play very loud intrusive music to add to the cacophony) the food was good for the price, and we were satisfied. However, we recently went for a birthday celebration. We had the tuna tartare and wings to start, with gnocchi, pesto pasta and tandoori. Cocktails were good, had a bottle of white ($75 versus $27 retail). Wings good. Tuna tartare oddly tasteless, it was served with three sauces, one seemed like Ranch dressing and two others were overpowering (Dijon mustard), just a bad combo to the tuna. Tandoori ok, nice but nothing special. Pesto stuffed pasta had a nice tasting interior, but the sauce was somewhat tasteless and greasy despite all the parmesan cheese. The dish also presented as messy. Finally, the gnocchi was tough and completely tasteless! Had to ask for salt but to no avail, my guest could not finish it. Same for the pasta, half the serving was left. All the while being overwhelmed by a noisy environment (the Merc is a large space, perhaps a section could be made into a more quite and intimate space). No dessert menu offered despite it being a birthday celebration. Service times seemed slow, but it was busy. So inconsistent food plus an uncomfortable environment, and not in-expensive. We would go back for wings and the miso fish if it were quieter, but probably not given many other dining choices - if you want superior tuna tartar and gnocchi at the same price point go to the...