Merchant's Oyster Bar

I did not know a lot of places are closed during dinner hours on Sundays. I was struggling to find a decent priced restaurant for my belated belated belated birthday dinner (this happens every year, none of my friends expect to do anything on my actual birthday anymore. XD). I ended up choosing one relatively close by, Merchant's Oyster Bar on Commercial Drive, the sister restaurant of Cork & Fin in Gastown.


They do have an actual bar area where you can see them shucking oysters. They serve a variety of oysters which are written on a mirror.

 Daily specials written on a chalkboard on the wall.

I thought I had missed happy hour since my reservation was at 6:30pm but they told me that Sunday is buck-a-shuck ALL DAY! Woohoo, happy birthday to me! Hahaha it was a weekend full of oyster eating, because I just had some oyster the day before! Half are Chef's Creek and the other half are Little Wing oysters. I don't remember which is which. They tasted pretty similar. So good.

Bison Tartare, cornichon, house mustard, quail yolk - $13

 I shared the Bison Tartare with a few of my friends. It is served with a quail yolk! It was pretty good!

Manabu's Pork Belly, soba noodles, cucumber and radish - $15

I decided to order the Manabu's Pork Belly with soba noodles, cucumber and radish. The pork belly was so delicious. Tender, juicy and flavoured just right. Yum. I really just inhaled it.

Ling Cod, almond pesto, lardons, white beans - $15

The ling cod looked good, too. I was debating whether to get this or the pork belly.

Parppardelle, Barston Wild Mushrooms, Cream, Egg Yolk - $14

The food was good and service wasn't bad, it was just a little slow. Took a while for the food to come out and we had to wait a while for our table to be cleaned for us as well when we first arrived. Our server was really nice though, which makes up for it.