Merchant, Batterseaback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
We had a nasty experience at The Merchant with the theiving bar staff last night.
We ordered a round of 6 drinks and were charged £34. We asked for the receipt to work out why and were told by the bar girl that she would have to get the manager to produce the receipt, but then she magically managed to print this herself. It showed a black sambuca shot cost £10!! We queried it and she shrugged her shoulders. We waited until the end of the night to query again with the manager who said there had been a 'mix up' and refunded us £6. No apology though.
Avoid this pub at all costs if you don't want the bar staff to steal your money.
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Overall not a bad place: better than most of the offerings in Clapham Junction, but nothing that really stands it out as a to go destination. More a bar than a pub; tries a little too hard to be all things to all men (date place as well as somewhere to watch the rugby)
Beer selection is good, if a little predictable; the usual selection of 'premium' continental lagers with a smattering of other ones that are becoming ever more evident (Erdinger, Sierra Nevada, etc.). Food offering is good - priced at yuppie London pricing, but the quality is worth it.
Good, relatively spacious layout with a welcome addition of bar billiards and a big screen towards the back. In this sense it's well proportioned: the front for talking, the back for watching sports.
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Like this place, comfortable, not too loud not too quiet, had billards & old style table football & pinball machines. Decent beer selections.
Had a nice atmosphere, would go back.
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A nice conversion with bar billiards, table footie and a pintable. Thankfully no television or fruit machines. Comfortable with good service and a nice atmosphere.
Before The Merchant, the only decent pub around here was The Falcon.
Good choice of well-kept beer but a tad expensive.
meict - 31 Jan 2010 22:02 |
Had a pleasant drink here on a Wednesday a couple of nights ago. Arrived about 6.30 and it was fairly empty, left at about 7.30/8.00 and it was fairly full, but seats were still to be had.
I liked:
-- open, airy, space; feels more like a lounge bar than a typical London boozer
-- the lack of TV, intrusive music, fruit machines, etc.
-- the beer was fine
-- the two barmaids are very easy on the eye
-- they came around offering to take orders for another drink as we were finishing the first one (it's nice not to have to wait at the bar), but were not pushy
I didn't like so much:
-- that the clientele was mostly a bit hooray / city-ish
-- central London prices
-- that when you pay for a drink your change is given to you on a little platter, as if you are expected to leave a tip (which is maybe fine for a cocktail bar, but seems wrong for a pub)
If you want something a bit upmarket from an ordinary pub, I'd definitely recommend it.
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thebishop,
Thank you for your reply. Bit of confusion all round then. My friend and I do recall service continuing past 11:30 however. Saying that, appreciate the clarification - I'll up my rating as before and shall visit again soon.
Cheers- arc
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Thankyou Arctral.
If your visit in question was the night of the 29th there must be a bit of confusion, as we only serve until 11.30 p.m. Sun through to and including Wednesday Midnight the remaining 3 nights (this change in times occurred about a month or so prior to your visit) .
In line with our license review we have to have everybody off of the premises within 30 mins of the serving time.
However this is no excuse if the staff were anything less than polite, they are however very aware of the seriousness off breaching our license.
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Dear thebishop,
Sent you a personal message a couple of weeks back with the info, but you must have missed it. The visit in question was literally just prior to my posting - Wednesday 29 April 09.
Thanks,
Arc
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Interior nicely done in the usual - trying to be a pub style aka noughties- beer selection not half bad- why the lack of enthusiasm - well lacks genuine atmosphere and soul but this is 'yummy mummy' and' byt's b4 the recession' ites area. Saying that I agree with previous reviewer that for the Battersea Rise vicinity it surpasses anything else so in that context its worth a visit.
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Dear Arctral,
to help me get to the bottom of the issue would you be able to tell me which night, in this instance, that you visited The Merchant ?
regards
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After a few revisits that echo my previous posts I am now very annoyed.
If you serve till 12am and have a discretionary drinking up time of 30 mins I would expect to be left with my pint until around quarter past with my remaining quarter pint. Barmaid tonight insisted grabbing at my glass at 12:03am stating "it's gone half past." By my reckoning that's still 15 mins away as I post. When I pointed out that it was actually just gone 12 I was told "Whatever, we're closed."
I had been a model customer, quiet, brought glasses to the bar when done, and had 3 nice (if under-measure) pints of Explorer with no complaint.
Yet another case of part-time bar staff who would enjoy their jobs if it weren't for a) the hours, b) the work and c) customers. Retraining is needed because at the moment they are just plain rude and borderline unprofessional. If you serve till 12 you give people more than 5 minutes to drink up. The young lady in question would be better suited to Tesco or Currys where she may learn some manners and perhaps something approaching a decent work ethic no matter how poor her social skills.
Avoid until sorted. Disappointing in the extreme.
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Pub was fairly quiet when we went there on Sunday night (midnight serving all week apparently).
The beer was great: I had the Weasel: hoppy, not overly so, and reminded me a little of Landlord. Apparently it's brewed at a sister-pub of theirs in Herne Hill. If the 3 real ale pumps aren't your thing they had a really good selection of continental beers on draught - maybe 5 or more. The staff were both pleasant and efficient, if understandably a little bored with only 8 people or so in the 200ish capacity place. The main bar and seating area is ample and a separate, dedicated "sports" section seems like a sensible and welcome idea.
Slight concerns:
1) it is quite big, open for the most part and plain, although given the original building the conversion to a "pub" has been done as well as could be expected. As it was quiet it seemed a little like a hotel lobby.
2) Given the Battersea Rise location and potential (target?) clientele, it has the potential to be a real nightmare on a Friday or Saturday night. Not trouble, but thousands of braying hoorays. Cla'am and all that.
I will definitely go back because it makes an interesting addition to an area bereft of real pubs for about half a mile in any direction. To be encouraged.
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Was in here last night. Not a Bad pub. Service at Bar was pretty good. Music was not bad either. Would go back again
HENDO - 18 Oct 2008 13:29 |
Local ales - Weasel, Bonobo, and Adnams are all on tap, as well as Meantime pale ale etc. A large selection of bottled beer including Sam smiths and Floris fruit beers plus an array of blonde beers.
Aspall cider on tap - could do with a better (real) cider selection.
Good home made food, small portions, pricey but worth it. Chips are excellent.
The interior is a little too vintage-trendy for my liking, but whatever.
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