Merchants Wine Cellar & Store

First time I went to this store I had great service and good wine. Second time I stopped by they gave me some terrible wine (which I did not drink, I think it turned to vinegar) and they made me pay the full price. Will never go back

Merchants is well worth making a booking and sitting around one of the larger tables and sharing some great Australian or new Zealand win. Bar Bits are delicious. The staff here are extra cool and friendly — and they really know there wines. The management seem to have the team trained to perfection. Lots of smiling faces can be found here. It’s just along Duxton Road in the Tanjong Pagar area and I believe they have another outlet in Pasarbella at the GrandStand In Bukit Timah.
I also heard from the staff that another location is opening soon on East Coast on Joo Chiat Rd.

We all know how expensive wine can get in this island so I am always on a look out for places with reasonable wine prices. I’ve been to Merchant twice and the wine selection is pretty extensive and the prices reasonable. Note that food options is limited so I would recommend this as pre/​post dinner place.

My friend and I came here since Department of Caffeine was closed (on Wednesdays).
The place was interesting with its adjacent room stocked up with wine bottles. Apparently, this place is known for its wide selection of wine. However, my friend and I were starving and decided we will just stick to ordering food.
Apart from the set lunches, the rest of the items on the menu is a tad expensive. Both of us got the roasted marinated chicken leg with mash potatoes and it was a set, so it came with the soup of the day: cream of chicken and mushroom.
The soup was a bit salty but the bread complimented well with the soup. The soup did not give the ‘fresh-​out-​of-​the-​can’ taste which most soups taste like.
Our mains were of a good portion! There was a scoop of mash potatoes, organised salad and a decent size piece of chicken, doused with some mushroom/​pepper sauce (not sure which it was). I won’t say the taste was out of this world as it is a type of chicken chop you can get from the western food stall from any hawker but given the ambience and location, the food was decent. The set lunch cost $ 15.90.
Next part was dessert — sigh.
We ordered the Chocolate Jivara. According to the menu, it was supposed to be this dark chocolate mousse on this delectable praline wafer with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and this cost $ 10.
It was equivalent to a kinder bueno and a scoop of Wall’s vanilla ice cream.
I was really disappointed. Worst part, they forgot about ice cream until we pointed it out to them.
I would have given this place 3 stars but the overpriced dessert was too much of a disappointment.

I come here about once a week for their great wine selection at very affordable prices. Definitely tastes better than all those from Straights Wine Co around the corner on Craig Road. These are all boutique vineyards from Australia or New Zealand. They often have wine tastings which are fun to join.
As for food, I always order the spaghetti pesto: it’s delicious. Their truffle fries and cheese plates are ok too, nothing super impressive. I’ve ordered the steak sandwich/​hot dogs before and wasn’t a huge fan. Mostly I’m there for the wine anyway. On weekends they have a decent brunch menu and good coffee.
Sit outside or inside, dogs allowed outside. Service is great too, which is a huge factor in my returning each week.

Nice food, good atmosphere and amazing coffee.
Would happily return. Only negative would be the flavours were a bit bland.