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Image posted by Will Larter
Submitted on Friday, 26th July 2019
With picture contributions to 12229 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (23 more images)
Detail Pages
Merchants 1688, Lancaster
Lancaster
LA1 1YN
Served areas
Reviews of Merchants 1688 (Average Rating: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Merchants 1688
Just down the road from Lancaster station, this is a smart restaurant and bar, set in what appears to be an old wine cellar. You enter via an outdoor seating area with plenty of benches overlooking the road from the station, into a quarry stone floored, narrow room with impressive sandstone walls and the servery down the rear half of the right-hand wall. The bar has a nice dark wood counter and exposed stone bar back, making it a good fit with the pub's general aesthetic. Limited high stool seating can be found in this space, either serving small tables to the front or a drinking ledge along the rear wall. A board on the wall details the cellar's history dating as far back as 1688, including the fact that the ceiling timbers partly derive from the shipwreck of the Pusey Hall. Elsewhere there are old maps and photos of local interest on display. To the left, two doorways lead into good sized side rooms, the first of which is a lounge of sorts, with some decent comfy seating in rows to the front and rear, whilst the second is more of a formal dining room with pre-laid tables ready for diners. A nice indie pop soundtrack was playing on a quiet Monday morning and a few punters slowly started to trickle in as we approached midday.
A wide ale range was evident at the bar, including a house beer called Merchants WIPA, Lancaster IPA, Rudgate Ruby Mild and Snow Wonder, Boland Pheasant Plucker and Settle Old Smooth Porter. Unfortunately, it seems this is too wide a range for the pub to support, as my half of the Porter was in fairly poor condition.
I think this place has a few good points, such as the use of an interesting space with a long history, a pleasant pavement side patio area and the prospect of some interesting beer, but overall, I felt that the pub was focused more on the food side of the operation, with limited indoor seating for those just wanting a drink and some questionable beer quality. With plenty of great pubs around town, I would have no hesitation cutting this place from future crawls.
Date of visit - 15th January 2024
On 7th April 2024
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about Merchants 1688
A brief visit earlier this year found a distinct improvement, with eight beers on the bar and the Reedley Hallows Beer O'Clock was in excellent condition. Back on good form.
Date of visit: 4th March 2022
On 26th August 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 4273 recommendations about 3935 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about Merchants 1688
This place has gone down in my estimation since my visits a few years ago. On entering, there was a strange smell, of long-unwashed socks in a kit bag, or a male changing room, something unsavoury anyway. Service was not as good as when I've been here at busy times, and I wasn't as impressed with the five beers (on eight hand pumps) as on previous visits. And why are they charging over £4 for a pint (£2.05 for a half of fairly ordinary Tirril Nut Brown Ale 4.1%) when it's less than £3 for a slightly stronger beer at the Cornerhouse, five minutes walk away? I went and sat outside to avoid the smell (I hope it's only temporary); I'll be back before long, and hope things are not going permanently downhill.
Date of visit: 23rd July 2019
On 16th August 2019
- rating: 6
[User has posted 4273 recommendations about 3935 pubs]
View more reviews of Merchants 1688 (17)
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- Official site of Merchants, contains menu and real ale list - www.merchants1688.co.uk
- Facebook - Merchants 1688
- CAMRA WhatPub :: Merchants 1688 - whatpub.com
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- CAMRA Discount : Yes - 10p per pint - last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Car Park : No last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Darts : No last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 07 April 2024 by Pub SignMan
- Function Room : Yes last updated 07 April 2024 by Pub SignMan
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Jukebox : No last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Karaoke : No last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Live Music : Yes - Saturday - last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Micropub : No last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Pinball : No last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Pool Table : No last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Quiz Night : Yes - Sunday - last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- Real Cider : No last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra
- WiFi : Yes last updated 01 November 2017 by ROB Camra