Merrill's on the Waterfront — Restaurant in New Bedford

I was so excited to get dinner at Merrill’s. I was in Pennsylvania the previous week and a restaurant I dined at had New Bedford sea scollops on the menu, which were tender, fresh, and absolutely delicious. Needless to say, I was wicked excited to get them in New B at a waterfront restaurant where they literally come off the boat. I ordered the orange ginger scallops with coconut rice and mashed potatoes as sides. The rice was crusty and dry, the potatoes were creamy but cold and slopped on the plate, which made for a very poor presentation. The scallops were the most disappointing- small and rubbery. No sand..not saying they were frozen but they sure weren’t fresh. My friend got the Portuguese steak which was good, but again no culinary integrity in the presentation.

For advertising a “fine dining” experience, with mediocre food at best, the very least they can do is pretend to care by making the plates look presentable and the food edible.

As for the service, the waitress was friendly enough, but didn’t refill our very small (and dirty) water glasses once nor clear empty plates from the table. We put our drinks in right away and the food came out before the drinks. There were only 2 people sitting at the bar both whom had full drinks, but the bartender was engaged in conversation with them that was obviously more important than doing her job.

I have no issue with paying a good amount for good food, ambiance, and overall dining experience, but unfortunately Merrill’s fell quite short on all three for me. I...

Food is pretty good. Been a couple of times for dinner and had a good experience. Tried to go see the venue for booking a wedding. Worse experience ever. After booking an appointment via e-mail, went to see the place with my fiance and was told to ask for a specific person when i got there. When we arrived there was a young girl sitting on a laptop. I asked for the person I was told to ask for and she said she wasn't there and that she would just show us the venue. We proceeded upstairs and she said this is the upstairs and never said a word besides "this seats approximately 100 guests", then proceeded downstairs and she showed us the other room. After asking a few questions her answer continuously was " I have no idea". This was a huge turn off! This girl wasn't the one that was supposed to show us the venue, had no clue what she was doing and had no interest in letting us know what we were there to find out. I left so frustrated and she said okay have a good day. I never received a follow up phone call or email as promised and I'm glad I didn't because after service like this to show me the place, I could imagine what it would of been like to actually have a wedding there. We would of felt awful! I'll book elsewhere with someone that actually makes us feel wanted and comfortable! So if your looking to have your wedding or venue here. Look elsewhere unless you want to feel like your on an island...

Visited Merrills on July 6 for a my birthday dinner. I was accompanied by my daughter my son-in-law, my two grandchildren and my friend Bob. Our server was Hannah who was very pleasant and charming and very efficient. There are so many delicious sounding items on the menu, it was a difficult decision choosing. For appetizers chowder, oysters and chicken wings were ordered and because the orange ginger scalloped entrée was enticing to all of us, it was also ordered as an appetizer so we could all try the scallops For entrées, my son-in-law ordered the Portuguese steak which he said was excellent. My daughter ordered fish and chips. Fish was fried in a delicious light batter which she enjoyed and I sampled also and agreed ,very delicious. I ordered the Tuscan salmon, with coconut rice side and house vegetable which accented the dish wonderfully. My friend ordered the baked scrod which he also enjoyed. Of course I sampled it as well and agreed. All meals were delicious. However we all decided that the outstanding dish for the night was the orange ginger scallops. They get the top billing for this review. I am looking forward to my next visit to Merrill so I can order the orange ginger scallops for my Entrée. Merrill’s will now be my restaurant of choice. And a thank you goes out to our server Hannah who made my birthday...