MacMillan Whisky Room — Restaurant in Merrifield

Ah...no. Not yet. Wait a few months and see if they get their act together.

We went to MacMillan Whisky Room tonight just for drinks. It takes some time for a new kitchen to get their feet under them and they're still in their soft opening phase (grand opening in four days) and we mostly wanted to try their Scotch eggs so we had dinner before heading out.

First impression was great. It's a beautiful space and their whisky selection seemed good. However, halfway into the restaurant and we were hit with a wall of eau de fish. We lived above a fish and chip shop in London and it reminded me of that long, hot summer, unable to close the windows without dying of heat stroke, but marinating in fried fish smell. It's not the scent I'm looking for in a place that's aiming to sell me $125/ounce Scotches. Either figure out a better way to vent the fryer or take the fish and chips off the menu.

Once we'd made our selections, Manhattan for me (I always order a Manhattan in a cocktail bar--it's my barometer for bar talent), and a Virginia whisky flight for my husband, I asked the server which rye they use in their Manhattan. She came back and told me that a Manhattan is "rye, murmoo??? (you could see the question marks in her eyes and seemed relieved when I supplied "vermouth") and bitters. And I was like, "Yes, thanks, I know. I wanted to know which rye you use." She came back and told me something, but honestly I could barely hear her so I just nodded and let her bring it.

Well...there's a reason I use a Manhattan as a barometer. The Manhattan had WAY too much vermouth in it. It was drinkable, but not good. Husband's Virginia whisky flight was okay. One was horrifyingly under-aged, but a lot of these distilleries are new so that's to be expected. I personally would not have put it on my menu as I think there are better options, but it's a flight and you takes your chances.

Next we ordered the Scotch eggs we had been eagerly anticipating since we saw them on the website. Okay, look. We've been to Scotland. We also frequented a place in Borough Market for lunch that made phenomenal Scotch eggs for $5.75 on a beautiful bed of lightly dressed arugula. These are...not phenomenal. The eggs were totally hard-boiled, the sausage thin and falling off, and the breading all wrong. They also managed to send them out barely lukewarm, which is perplexing for an item that should be fresh out of the fryer? I've attached a pic of what we got at MWR and what a great Scotch egg should look like. We won't be ordering those again as the recipe is clearly sub-par.

Finally we ordered two 14 year old Scotches. The selection was fine. I don't think it's anything out of the ordinary, but we were happy to taste some things we'd never tried. However, our server spent several minutes awkwardly standing at our table scrolling through the menu items on her mobile ordering system trying to find our selections rather than simply memorizing the order and seeking help. This is the sort of thing I'd expect to find going wrong at a brand new place and is obviously forgiveable, but she just didn't seem to be a very experienced server, much less experienced with the menu and the system.

All told, our bill for a cocktail, a flight, an app, and two lowish-priced Scotches was $67 before tip. That's not an inconsiderable amount for an evening out without a full meal attached and is about what we'd normally spend on a date night, but all in all, it's more than I would pay to have that experience again.

My recommendation? For the next couple months at least, stick with B Side and let this place get their kinks worked out. We'll be back in August to see if...

I work as an investigator and frequent the mosaic district for meetings. I was harassed walking to my car by a Macmillan's employee and management never followed up. They choose to continue employing this man that harassed me FOR NO REASON. He came out of the backdoor directly behind Macmillan's whisky house (it's labelled) and wore their uniform.

I was heading to my car in the garage when I heard a voice whisper a hello from behind me. I ignored it because I didn't realize it was meant for me. Then a man that wore Macmillan's uniform started to verbally berate me for not replying to him. I turned around because I finally realized a complete rando was starting to yell at me and it was just so WEIRD. This man I had never even seen before started yelling at me and proceeded to verbally harass me for not saying hello back to him. We were alone in the back of the parking lot of Macmillan's and he started arguing with me when I defended myself.

This man actually thought I deserved to be cursed at with racial slurs, because he felt fragile after I accidentally ignored him. He thought I deserved the rude and threatening gestures as well. When I yelled back that nobody owes him anything, let alone a conversation, he got even more rabid and started to make advancements towards me. I don't know what would have happened if my car wasn't literally a few feet away.

He would never have treated me this way if I wasnt a quiet looking Asian-American woman. I stereotypically hate confrontation of this kind but I was very upset because I was trying to WORK and my new job had been very stressful for me with my ongoing health issues. I physically appear normal and this man saw me and targeted me because of my demographic. This man is racist and has temper issues.

I did nothing to antagonize this man aside from accidentally ignoring him. We never locked eyes and I barely noticed he was even there because again, I was working and I was running late to my next appointment. Employees should NOT be making mosaic patrons feel unsafe. I was literally minding my own business.

I have formally complained to Macmillan's management AND mosaics security and of course nobody cared. No followup; nothing. Just thought to write this here because I went the other day and Macmillan's still employs this loser.

This guy cruises for women in the parking lot like an ugly creep and gets mad when they ignore him. Maybe next time, don't say hello like a decrepit caveman and maybe they'll actually hear you. Passed by the same guy a year later, same exact location, with my 6'2 fiance next to me, locked eyes with him, and he never said a single word to me, let alone a hello....

Absolute worst dining experience in the metro area to date. Our friends made a reservation that the MWR didn't have but they "agreed" to seat us for 45 minutes to make a few hundred bucks before the actual reservation arrived - 45 minutes later. Better than the table sitting empty right? Understanding this, when our friends arrived we were not waited on for 10 minutes, 15 minutes later we received apps with no utensils. Got those in 5 minutes. We then got the "You only have 15 minutes left" from the waiter...and I replied "But we haven't gotten our food yet, what are we supposed to do" and the waiter said, "Take it to go". I'm not kidding. Never, have I ever been treated this way in a restaurant - and we paid for this. Take this "Whiskey Bar" mental attitude out of your mind thinking you will be enjoying a few drinks and a nice dinner. If I ran the place I would have offered the arriving guests a free cocktail while we spent an additional 10 minutes finishing our meal. Everyone is happy. This wasn't the case. Not only were we treated like drive through patrons, others were told they had "15 minutes left" as well. This isn't a Michelin rated establishment - bar food at best. Rethink that special night out when spending your hard earned money and go elsewhere.

Replying to the "owner's response"...if my friend were lying why would we have shown up at our designated time for a small establishment? Is your restaurant the only eatery in that location? The audacity to call a patron a liar and a bully further earns your one star. The only issue with your waitstaff was the annoying "you have 15 minutes left" and then telling us to take it to go. Otherwise, he was very nice. Your microaggression towards your customers is blatant. Patrons, is this the response you would expect from an owner of a restaurant...