Merchant's Arch — Restaurant in Dublin

I am a local and not a tourist so this review is coming from a place of embarrassment for the city of Dublin that I love dearly. I’ve been here a few times , brought my parents over too for some food and live music. Last night my partner and I popped in for a quick drink on the way home. We got 2 shots of baby Guinness for €19.60!! Knowing fully well we will be over charged I bit my lip and paid for it. That’s on me, I’m fully aware of the temple bar prices and how outrageous they are becoming. The problem came when we went n got a seat right after having our overpriced shot at the bar. Hardly 2 mins of sitting down to enjoy the live music the waiter/lounge boy came over and asked if we wanted a drink, which at 1st I thought was great that they had table service. We declined as we had just had a shot and weren’t planning on staying long. He very quickly changed his tone and said if you’re not having a drink you cannot stay. I was gobsmacked. No matter what I tried in the next few mins to change my mood to enjoy a few mins of the live music I did not want to be there. That was utterly rude and humiliating. To treat people like idiots and cash cows is DISGRACEFUL. I have been to a LOT of restaurants in Dublin , from 2 Michelin to street foods but have never once encountered this level of disrespect and stupidity. I’m not one to go and complain to the manager or write long reviews but this just did not sit right with me and I went and had a word with the manager. What they do with the feedback I have little to no faith in. Because unfortunately Merchants Arc like a lot of pubs in Temple bar are now all about looting the customer with a veil of happy tourism painted heavily with Irish culture that they simple do not give 2 shits about. Utterly disgraceful I will never be...

Myself & my partner called in here yesterday afternoon around 3pm after we had been walking in Phoenix park, we had just ate lunch & fancied a drink with a bit of music so went here. First off €18.50 for two pints !!! Secondly very rude barman who told my partner that he wouldn't be serving him anymore drink because he was wearing a tracksuit bottoms which is ridiculous, he said he didn't see him coming in the side door so served him but said we were to leave after we finished our pints. The place had at most 20 people in it and we were being told to leave because of how we were dressed early afternoon !! I feel sorry for the young staff having to work in this place with bar staff like that, all of the other bar staff where told not to serve us by a really small and older guy, I dont know if he was the owner or the manager but he has a bad attitude problem. Imagine making people feel like that when they are just trying to relax and have a quiet drink with a bit of chat.

My partner finished his pint before me & I tried to explain that we were decent people just out walking & all I got was a dismissive barman who wouldn't listen. We decided to leave my drink which was half full & go next door to The Halfpenny Bar where we were greeted so warmly and there's a lovely atmosphere plus the pints are not a rip off. I work in the hospitality industry looking after pubs and I would suggest going elsewhere, when the bar trade is on its knees in Ireland this is how you are treated by a very average pub. I'll never go there again. Reading some of replies to people's reviews and concerns it seems like the owner / management dont...

My boyfriend and I ate here on our trip tp Dublin and the food was sooooooo good. The place was absolutely packed though. We were a bit confused when we entered. We went in the side door and not the main one out front and the inside was large with several different areas. Walked around, finally found an employee and told him we wanted to dine in. He told us to go up to the balcony area. We climbed up a VERY narrow stair case and entered a packed balcony. The server located up there seated us. Even with how packed it was he was quick to take our drink/food orders. There was also live music on the first floor right below the balcony which was nice, but it was extremely loud. Between the crowd and the music it was very hard to even have a conversation without yelling. Overall though, it was a nice experience and the food was yummy! Just looking at the pictures makes me want to go back and eat there again. I will say, if you have to use the bathroom while there... have fun. My boyfriend attempted to locate it first and couldn't find it. He had to ask for help. To get there you have to go down a bunch of stairs and then down a super long hallway. I started to second guess if I was going the right way when I went to use it, but I found a nice clean bathroom at the end! Haha. A very unique experience indeed. Check this place out...