Merchantman Fresh Seafood & Oyster Bar

No! Sorry, the food here is inexcusable. Mussels were an abomination of tepid watery yuck. My wife’s scallops were tiny hockey pucks. My friend’s salmon special was more like fish soup. There’s no excuse for food this bad. This restaurant is in existence simply because there’s an abundance of tourists. Service was adequate. Atmosphere was ok. Go elsewhere.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 4

Food was very Mid overall. Ordered calamari and mussels to start. Both were just okay, sauce with mussels was very watery. For mains we had the lobster roll, burger and summer berry salad with salmon added. Lobster mixture was just okay, there’s better ones to choose from in town. Burger had decent toppings but the patty was definitely overcooked. Summer berry salad was drenched in the vinaigrette leaving the leaves wilted and the $18 salmon added to it was extremely dry…couldn’t finish either the salad or salmon. The berry catalan dessert was decent. Overall, if you’re looking to spend $200+ for food that you’d never eat twice, be my guest.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 5

Chose here as our last meal on PEI. You gotta eat here !
We had the smoked fish charcuterie and oysters to start. The fish board was well thought out- variety of flavors and textures. The baked oyster was delicious, great taste and texture. All oysters fresh and well-shucked. Chowder was flavorful with an inventive twist adding pesto on top. We chose the lobster boil. Best we've had ever. We travel quite a bit along the coast and have had our share of seafood boils. At Merchantman, each part is flavored differently and cooked with care- scallops perfectly done and succulent. Shrimp seasoned well and cooked to perfection. Mussels juicy. Crab and lobster juicy and soft- not overboiled. Served with browned butter for extra flavor. The lobster boil fed three adults- we struggled to finish. Priced very fairly at $135 for a mountain of food, all well cooked and thoughtfully seasoned.
Service was attentive. Ambience nice with lovely touches to the historic setting.
Thanks for a memorable meal and tasty send off.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

This was one stop I had to make on our visit and we were not disappointed. My steak was cooked to perfection, lobster was amazing and the drinks were awesome. Great service and nice atmosphere. Make the time to come here for a meal.Highly recommend

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Very friendly service. We sat on the patio where they have fire tables.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Tasty food and friendly service.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Nice restaurant in Cavendish. The haddock and raw oysters were definitely a must try. Excellent service. Loved the patio seating area.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Homard

We came here for dinner (2 adults, 2 kids) & all of us loved our meals. We ordered the calamari as our appetizer which was delicious. Love the aioli drizzle on top & the dip accompaniment. I ordered the Buttermilk Fish Sandwich which I will think about until I’m back in P.E.I. one day - it was THAT good! Our server told me it was many of the staff’s favourite menu item as well. My husband got the open-faced steak sandwich which was cooked to perfection. Our kids got the chicken tenders kids’ meals - 3 chicken tenders which were nicely seasoned & a generous portion of fries. BIG BONUS - if you go on a Sunday (like we did) kids meals are only $5! We didn’t have to wait too long for our food & our server was friendly & helpful. Overall, we’d definitely recommend this restaurant.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Not bad, not great.

I had a reservation for 8pm but the hosts' stand was over run and not staffed. Occasionly a host would come by but would only talk to next person in-line so reservations were pointless.

We had calamari and the smoke/pickle board as an app for 4. Lots of food and the calamari was above standard. The smoke board however suffers from a lack of bread (6 small pieces) and no other crackers or anything similar to go along with an otherwise generous portion of seafood, cheese and pickles. Unfortunately our pickeld mussels were not cleaned sufficiently so they were inedible due to the grit. The pickle on them was nice though and the idea of a cold pickled mussel was a good one.

I wish there was more thought and execution in the main offerings. I found it hard to find enticing offerings. This part of the menu seemed to lack imagination.

All our mains were mid-level with the only highlight being a low point. My son was served three ice cold yet buttered 1/3 cobs of corn with his very unimagitive daily special of scallops with roast potatoes and a blueberry sauce that is used on several other dishes on the menu. Really not a special at all.

The atmosphere felt old and similar to a casual dinning experience in a stripmall with the interior showing signs of wear and tear. This is an absolute waste of an edge here given their location. We asked to be seated outside but that was completely ignored.

To Merchantman's credit they knocked 25% off the smoked/pickle board and the scallop special. I was prepared to spend a bit for a nice night out for our vacation dinner but in the end I wish I went to a nicer place that executed better. We only had so many chances out. I can't get that time back.

My Manhattan was excellent. I wouldn't go back.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 3

Had a great experience. Will be back

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Fantastic food and atmosphere. The fish Tacos was so tasty and the amount of fish in the chowder was plenty! Our server Clayton was awesome.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Have been trying to contact this restaurant to make a reservation but cannot get ahold of anyone. Please get back to me - thank you.

Great meal and friendly service!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Great customer service

We didnt love it. Came across it by chance, it was too busy to dine in so they suggested their patio around the corner. It was very chilly. Service was very slow, took over 45 minutes for 1 hamburger, 1 chicken burger and 1 lobster roll. Although I arrived with two kids, they never offered me a kids menu (I wasnt aware there was one until I googled after). Once we were done the patio was fairly quiet and we waited about 20min for our server to make their way back to us. It was $85 for one adult and two kids. Personally, I wouldnt return.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 1