A sad take on pub food

The other day after a silly accident which cost me my cellphone, I made my way to The Junction mall to find food and some sort of repose. Deciding against the other establishments for which food is their core business, I went up to Mercury, a nicely set up Irish pub.

Naturally, the interior is dimly lit and loud, panelled with dark wood and dotted with leather upholstered stools and booth seats. In the true spirit of Irish pub culture, I ordered a Guinness and found myself an isolated table where a menu was brought to me. Now for tavern food, the menu is quite impressive, featuring offerings from burgers to skewers and everything in between.

The wine and cocktail lists are rather comprehensive too. To start with, I ordered Buffalo wings and requested they be accompanied by a blue cheese dressing which to my irritation, they did not have. Luckily, their wings made up for that first disappointment. Unlike the standard unbreaded wings, the ones at Mercury have bread crumbs added to the recipe; a rather unconventional but welcome variation.

Under the crispy coating I could taste the hot butter which I was quite impressed by. On my request, the spicy heat had been tempered allowing for a little kick without causing me agony.

By the time my main course of fish and chips arrived, I was happy and my frustration had dissipated somewhat. This joy was however short lived as my meal turned out to be the worst I have had in recent weeks. The coating was soggy and the two fillets sat sadly on top of each other in a most unappealing manner. It’s probably the first time I have cursed for a food portion being sizeable.

On biting into the fish I found a mushy inside which led me to think they must have been frozen cutlets which someone steamed to defrost or something similar. What’s worse is that in place of tartar sauce, I was brought a portion of extremely eggy mayonnaise. Famished and upset, I struggled on but gave up midway and instead inhaled my chips and beer.

Surprisingly, my stomach survived the ordeal and I never felt any intestinal discomfort. I’m not sure if the general quality of food at Mercury has deteriorated or if this was a unique incident but I can promise you I will not be going back to find out. Sure it is a great spot to have a drink or watch a sports game with the gang, but if you are seeking a dining experience, look elsewhere.