il Mercante — Restaurant in Pisa

🥬👩‍🦽🚭 The owners at the restaurant were very kind to offer me the "lunch menu" deal, in the evening, as I had misunderstood the offer. That was a good beginning. I'm usually attracted to restaurants who have gone out of their way to offer vegetarian, and gluten free dishes, and here one can find them all, even vegan. I was also offered a welcoming alcoholic drink right at the beginning, which after a full day in the heat of the summer was very refreshing. The pappardelle al cinghiale that I was served, and that I promised myself I'd only eat once in my life 😑, were one of the two choices on the"lunch menu", with the other option being vegetarian and even gluten free. All of the Primi piatti have basically fresh pasta that the restaurant gets from a local "pasteificio" (local fresh pasta maker) , whether normal or gluten free. That's quite rare! The pappardelle were simpler in taste than I had expected, but having no other experience with "la carne di cinghiale" (boar meat) I cannot comment objectively. Let's put it this way, the name sounded more exotic than the taste itself, so now I am feeling double guilty! The aesthetics of the dish, leans on the elegant and minimalist look, with a small little container of parmesan and the free non-salty bread that is typical of Tuscany. The dark colored furniture and a big display of wines contrast the modern English pop music in the background. The wines I was served...

We came here and ate using The Fork app. Pricing was reasonable and most dishes were very good. The waiters were cordial but, maybe because of the table we chose, the dinner did not feel very relaxing. The dishes were brought out to us in an unorganised way and sometimes too quickly. The lack of ambience music and slightly harsh lighting were also negative factors. Surely if he had sat somewhere else, instead of next to the wine wall (at which waiters had to come multiple times to get wines for the customers), we would have had a better experience. The food was good, price reasonable, service felt unorganised and atmosphere could definitely get an upgrade. Using warmer lights and having some ambience music would have definitely improved...

Such a mistake choosing this place out of the so many nice ones around. Food was average at best, something I could easily replicate in my kitchen and I’m not a good cook. Wine.. just look at the photo, this is what she poured me, I asked her if that’s a full glass and she said yes.. Also, most dishes I’ve seen here on Google were not available on the menu. Service was slow, she came back about 10 times to serve other tables before bringing the bill that I asked for. Paid half of what I paid here for a meal at Giusto yesterday, a meal that was life changing !! I wish I went and had decent food since I only had 2...