Merchant House Tavern

This past Friday we went to visit the Merchant House Tavern in Fairfield. We tried getting in one Saturday and were turned away not at the door but in the parking lot by some random kid who I guess was valet? Really weird, but nevertheless it made us want to try it even more. This Merchant House Tavern looks like its related to the Huntley Tavern in Summit, and the newest addition the Tabor Road Tavern in Mt. Pleasant.

The menu at the Merchant House looked the best and the most reasonably priced. So we finally got there on a Friday evening around 9 and surprisingly it was very quiet. I talked to the hostess and she said that Saturday was by far their best time but this Friday was unusually quiet. Upon walking in we noticed the décor was very nice. Very rustic, yet trendy with a lot of wrought iron, fireplaces, orange and terra cotta hues.

Upon the waiters arrival I started looking around at the rest of the servers and noticed they looked familiar. I noticed they were the same servers from when this place used to be the Italian restaurant Aria. I have actually been there when it was Aria and I don’t remember it being bad. Anyways, I was wondering how all these off the boat sounding, older Italian men liked wearing Jeans and taking orders. Being as Italian as I am I felt some kind of tense feelings in the air. But that just may be my crazy head…Most likely is as Brian my dining partner informed me.

Now for the food, takes me long enough to get to it right? So I ended up having the seared tuna over mango, avocado and pineapple. I was really eyeing the pumpkin ravioli with the almond cookie crumbles ontop but something about avocado really got me that night. I have an obsession with avocado. The Tuna was good and nicely prepared the seasoning on the outside was very tasty. Although, the salad underneath could have used more of a balance between the avocado and mangos. It was really all mango. But it was all in all a refreshing dish. Brian got the short ribs. This was tricky because a friend of ours recently made a fantastic short rib dish for us so we were looking forward to it thinking it would be just as great. And well, it was pretty good! The meat was decent and not tough. The sauce wasn’t the sweet bbq sauce I had anticipated but more of a tangy bbq sauce so I guess it depends upon your preference. But the vegetables that came with the ribs were seasoned very well and also very soft, nicely done!

What I think is so great about this place is its almost like an upscale Applebees or Fridays. Which I know might offend whomever owns or works at this place. But really I think it’s a good compliment. There are plenty of times where I didn’t want to hit up a chain like Fridays for “fun food.” But yet I really wasn’t looking for fancy fare. This place falls right in the middle like a happy medium. It can fit into your budget like a Fridays but you can get something a little bit more interesting than your standards.