Merchant House — Restaurant in London

Unfortunately we experienced Merchant House when they were very understaffed on a Saturday evening. My husband and I arrived and ordered two cocktails, have to say, both fantastic - negroni and old fashioned made with rum. Two more of our friends arrived, one pregnant and ordered drinks, took a little while to come, mojito and soft drink.

After, two more of our friends arrived and no one arrived to take a drink order, my friend tried to order at the bar but was told someone would come over, unfortunately they didn’t. Drinks were eventually ordered, another soft drink for different pregnant member of the party and a ‘bucks fizz’. Because drinks were taking so long we ordered another drink too. These took a really really long time to arrive.

Our last order was 3 espresso martinis, which we were told would take time as the coffee machine was upstairs, which we were fine with. When these arrived unfortunately they were watery and not drinkable, the colour was a light brown in colour. We explained that these were sadly not ok and we would appreciate something being done on the bill to reflect this.

We asked for the bill. It did not come and we had a train to catch. It still took several more reminders to come.

The waiter then told us that it is to be expected with 3 espressos that they become watery… in the end we asked that they kindly be removed from our bill-as we didn’t drink them. They did do so. Service charge was added automatically, which we asked to be removed as we had waited so long for drinks, to which a senior member of staff responded ‘do you know how many staff are working tonight?’. This is not our fault nor should we be given attitude over removing an optional service charge.

We then asked if we could split the bill, he shouted ‘how many of you’, to which we explained we wouldn’t be splitting equally as we had 2 pregnant members who hadn’t had cocktails. Paying for the bill was unfortunately a needlessly arduous task.

So, whilst our first 2 cocktails were truly outstanding, the attitude of the service was unacceptable. While we totally understand being understaffed, and recognise this, we did not appreciate being treated in this way and therefore would not return...

To further what Anthony Freelove wrote, this place has maybe changed hands or something because I’ve been twice now and the second experience was wildly different from the first and not for the better.

The first time I went was July 2021 on my birthday. The atmosphere was a bit dead but not everywhere was fully open due to COVID and there were still a lot of restrictions in place but the cocktails were at least decent. I paid about £75/£80 for 6 cocktails.

The second time was a few weeks back when I recommended the place to some friends. We were seated and told they no longer give out menus. I ordered a Daiquiri, which wasn’t great, and an El Presidente, which again, wasn’t nice. I had an El Presidente here previously and it was interesting because they make it with sherry, which is different but this time it was horrible. Nobody enjoyed their drinks really.

The bill came up and it was £115 for 7 drinks! A vast mark-up from my previous visit. I was charged £15 for the Daiquiri which for rum, lime juice and sugar syrup is a complete rip-off. They appear to charge £15 a drink as standard which is well over-priced for the quality and contrary to what their online menu states.

I actually apologised to my friends afterwards. I was quite embarrassed at having recommended the place, both for the quality and how much the bill came to. I won’t be going back which is a shame as it used to...

My favourite cocktail bar in London, this is why...

Pros:

Hidden away from the main streets. The quality of service is exceptional and the staffs knows their stuff. If you enjoy good quality cocktails with no gimmicks and doesn't remind you of science class, this is the place for you.

A nice classic ambience in the heart of St Paul, no drinks menu, yes no drinks menu, I usually ask the folks at the bar to make whatever, I just provide the base and they usually build on that.

"Merchant House is home to some 600 whiskies, 400 rums & 400 gins"

There are secret rooms in there too, and if you are lucky, you may get a tour, it is part of the appealing atmosphere.

Cons:

Do not expect to receive or make call whilst inside, sometimes, the WiFi connectivity is good, sometimes it is ridiculously slow.

I'd like to see an alternative food menu to the current option which is just a selection of meats, pickles, olives.

Conclusion:

A must visit cocktail bar. You can thank me later.

PS. No need to take videos or photos for Instagram, you'd be having a...