Dinner & Theatre at Stratford
Mercer Kitchen + Beer Hall + Hotel and the Festival Theatre are the perfect combination for dinner & theatre at the Stratford Festival.
The Stratford Festival is Canada’s most prominent theatre festival and is famous the world over for its production of Shakespeare plays. This has resulted in Stratford becoming an artistic mecca and the tourism and food landscape has grown along with the festival.
The Stratford Festival runs from April to October and takes place in the Festival Theatre, the Avon Theatre, the Tom Patterson Theatre, and the Studio Theatre.
I have been going to the festival for more than 25 years and had one of my first dates with Debbie at Stratford.
This year we saw Rent at the Festival Theatre and Richard II at the Tom Patterson Theatre.
The question I am often asked is where I eat either before the play or after. In other words, what is the best dinner & theatre combo at Stratford?
Stratford has become a destination for epicureans and foodies who want to experience the culinary talent graduating from Stratford Chef School.
Mercer Kitchen + Beer Hall + Hotel is my favorite spot in Stratford with its cheerful, peppy, and spontaneous atmosphere. It’s a short walk from the theatres and has an amazing selection of beer and an Asian-inspired menu.
It has an amazing patio and an amazing dining room inside that has something for everyone.
As you enter the restaurant, the ambiance resembles the izakaya, an informal Japanese beer pub that the owner visited in Japan.
The menu is an all-day focusing on salads, sides, shares, noodle & rice bowls, burgers, and kid’s eats.
The server recommends the Spicy Green Coconut & Basil Curry and the Mercer Bento Box. We decided to go with her recommendations.
The bento is a Japanese practice of carrying food in a box. It initially contained dried fish and as food tastes changed, onigiri which is vinegary rice balls was added.
The bento box at Mercer consists of Karaage chicken, peanut crunch salad, vegetable dumplings, steamed rice, kimchee pickles, and a bowl of miso soup. Karaage (Japanese fried chicken) is juicy, flavorful, ultra-crispy, and delicious. The peanut crunch salad is on a different level.
The spicy green coconut & basil curry is creamy, flavorful, and the right amount of all the ingredients and authentic.
I chatted with the GM and am super impressed with the hospitality, food, ambiance, friendliness, and top-notch service.
If you are in Stratford to see a play or a musical and want to have dinner after then Mercer is the place to experience dinner & theatre. Even if you are visiting Stratford for the day, then go to Mercer. You will not be disappointed.
Mercer is located at 104 Ontario Street, Stratford, Ontario, N5A 3H2.
Oh, this would be such a lovely date night for me and my hubby! I’m really in love with this!
This looks like a lovely way to spend this afternoon! I will need to checkout this theater and try some of the food you shared!
Sounds like you had a great night out. The food you had sounds amazing. I’d love to try the spicy green coconut & basil curry. That sounds delicious!
I went to something like this for a theater appreciation class in collage. I don’t care who you are, these are so fun to go to!
Ahh! I just went to Stratford for the first time last month! We ate the Mercer Beer Hall before our show and loved the food! It was delicious. I saw Macbeth and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels while there. I look forward to going back. How cool to come across your blog! That bento box looks delicious!
WOW, I bet you had a wonderful time! This would be a perfect place for me and my husband to visit, I love all tings theater related, and the food looks amazing. This would be a perfect date night outing!! I love this :0)
Getting to have dinner and watch a performance of King Lear sounds like a dream!! I would love to visit this theater and try the experience.
Dinner and a movie sounds so nice. OMG, that food looks so delicious! I definitely want to try the Spicy Green Coconut and Basil Curry. Yum!
Their bento box looks really good and the servings are generous. I am curious with the peanut crunch salad as I have never tried this before. Will consider Mercer during our next trip.