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- Hours:
Mon-Sat 9:00 - 0:30
Sun 10:00 - 0:00
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Children:
- No
- Price Range:
-
€€
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Music:
- Live
- Best Nights:
- Fri, Thu, Sat
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Loud
- Good For Dancing:
- No
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
7 reviews for Merchant's Arch
7 reviews in English
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Review from Melissa D.
31/3/2012 1 Check-in Here
Ok, yes, it can be kitschy and touristy but for a visitor this place made it memorable. This pub welcomed me with open arms as I waited for some friends for the night.
I must rave about the bartenders now. They were skilled in multi-tasking by pouring pints and having conversations and working the bar with ease. The live music was awesome and great to sing along to (yes, they do have a speaker outside the bar to attract the US tourists) but I had such a fun time - just making you feel welcome - now that's service!
I did go for the fish and chips which exuded the standard pub food. It was a bit greasy for some people's standards but I loved the portion size and the crispy, thick fries that are lightly salted.
I think the best thing is they know how to pour their pints and use the right glasses which you rarely get back in the States. So if you are a tourist, come here, feel welcome and enjoy a wonderful start to the night. -
Review from Hazel M.
Updated - 7/5/2012 1 photo
I popped into the bar on Sunday morning with brekkie in mind. Ten minutes later I got a meal fit for three hungry people. The quantities were enormous, so much so that the barman laughed at the shocked expression on my face. It was more of a brunch than a breakfast I guess. There were two sausages, two rashers, black and white pudding, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and fried spuds plus toast and butter. Whew. Tea had to be ordered separately.
The sausages were the salty type I don't really like but everything else was spot-on, and I was fed for the day. The brekkie was €9.95 and the tea was €2.60. Nearly €13 for a breakfast, huge though it was? Good service though.Listed in: Foodliness is next to…, Irish Breakfasts of Legend
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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17/5/2011
Firstly, the food and location are fantastic, and the staff are really nice. But I have really mixed… Read more »
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Review from Sam S.
25/3/2012 1 Check-in Here
Nice pub great choice of beer and whiskies. Nice live music and good service. I will defenitely be back. Whilst its in Temple Bar it still feels like it stands on its own :-)
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Review from Maire B.
10/8/2011 1 Check-in Here
I must say that dinner at the Merchant Arch last night well exceded my expectations. I don't know why I expected it to be mediocre but I did. However I was delighted to see a lovely dining area at the top of the stone staircase. We were early so we have our choice of tables and were able to grab a seat with a view.
They have a really great offer at the moment - 3 courses for two people and a bottle of wine for 50 euro. The meal was pretty good. I must speak up for the fish and chips though. It was bulmers battered cod and it was the best tasting batter I've had in a long time. It was light and crispy and I ate it all!!
Service was good, but they were a little understaffed and we almost disappeared from sight when a large group came in -
Review from Anthony P.
5/7/2011
We were in Dublin for a week, and this ended up being our "home pub". No matter where we ended the day in Dublin, we made our way back to The Merchant's Arch. Why? Great food, excellent staff, wonderful traditional Irish music, and the best Atmosphere of Fun in the city.
Here's the scenario: my friend and I stumbled in mid-afternoon on our first Sunday there. There were a few locals watching the horse races. Tom, the owner, immediately made us feel at home. He pours us each a perfect pint of Guinness and invites me behind the bar to inspect the Irish Whiskey selection. We were treated as regulars from the word Go.
As I mentioned before, we always seemed to end up there, and always left at the end of the night with a belly full of Guinness, a smile on our faces, and the knowledge that we were leaving the company of true friends. -
Review from Annie L.
18/1/2011 3 photos
This is another new business to the city which is great. I remember it when it was Abrakebabra and my friends and I would go here after a concert to wait for our bus - ah innocent times. The building is beautiful so it's wonderful to see it open again.
I did not drink in here but I noted that a reviewer for the Irish Independent gave out about the drink prices saying that they were in lieu with that dreaded phrase "Celtic Tiger" times.
We don't have roaming tigers here whatever genius came up with that phrase, you should of said "Celtic Cow" and boy have we sacrificed it. Anyho political rant aside...
I got the Guinness stew which had beef shank in it and dumplings - absolutely delicious and exactly what I needed on a cold January day. My business date had the fish and chips which got a big thumbs up. Also both were only €10 each.
The menu is very Irish centred, coddle, bacon & cabbage etc. Most of the mains were just €10. There is a restaurant upstairs which is not open on a Monday we were told so I have no idea the pricing there.
Service was a bit of country in the city - so very friendly. The music was very Irish, not any of that diddle iddle do stuff but more like Irish country music, the type of stuff my Mam subjected me to every summer in Galway... We do really bad country music.
So all in all a solid experience. It's very obvious that they are aiming for the tourist flow from Temple Bar, there was a few Americans in there when we were there so here's hoping that they don't use tourist prices. I can't give it a full assessment till I drink in there to get an idea of prices and crowd. -
Review from Slim D.
Dublin
22/1/2011
I heard about Merchant's Arch from a friend of mine who owns the Gypsy Rose and he advised me to visit this new venue 'just to experience the building's beauty' and oh what beauty it is. I entered through the main Liffey-facing side which leads into a delightful little Dublin pub that feels like its been there for decades. On enquiring about the early bird menu, the bartender said I could dine in the bar but I should go up the stairs because it's 'lovely'. He directed me through a large door at the back and that's when the experience began.
In front was a wall-hugging stone spiral staircase that stank of upper-class Dublin of yesteryear. At the top, I was greeted by a huge smile and directed to a table in the corner, the perfect place to take in the Glorious room that is the restaurant. It's one big open plan room that screams at you about how listed it is. There's a handsome mezzanine level which I may try one day but sitting by the window looking over sweet Anna Livia is highly recommended.
Service was lovely and quite swift. I ordered off the early bird menu (€15 for two courses or €19 for four). The market veg soup was a bit lacklustre but the coddle......jesus! Now if you have read my other reviews, you'd know I'm partial to two things being coddle and stout. At merchant's arch, both were amazing. The coddle was cooked in a way I hadn't had before where instead of rashers, they put big dirty lumps of bacon into the mix complimented by barley. Absolutely delicious!
And as for Annie saying the music wasn't idlly diddly but the sort of music her mother subjected her to every summer in Galway, I was listening to early 90's dance classics and the Happy Mondays, playing ambiently from somewhere in the rafters..... I'll be back and it'll be a treat!
PS, they played EMF's 'Unbelievable' as well...classic!
