Mercury Lounge

In search of some good drinks after our dinner at Kirimachi, some fellow (ex-)Seattleites and I made our way down to Nihon Whisky Lounge, both unaware of how well dressed and how horrifically crowded the place would be. Once we were made painfully aware of this fact, we wandered SOMA aimlessly for a good half hour before Tim D corralled the lot of us into Mercury Lounge.
I guess it was mostly empty for a reason (actually, I think it was mostly closed off to a private event, so Tim actually convinced them to let us in), because both the drinks and the DJ were incredibly weak. My ginger sour, at $ 9, tasted very watered down, with the DJ insisting on playing poorly mixed music far too loud.
I’m almost tempted to give them my first one star review, but, I’m not convinced that I wouldn’t come back if someone else were offering to pay, so, two stars it is.

oh i am sad to see you go Mercury lounge. I came here for their closing party, or should i say i came here for have their sisig nachos one last time. I have to say, i’m going to miss this place and i hope you will reopen soon!

Last Supper–
i didn’t know until my friend told me halfway through our meal that this place would be closing soon. Mercury Lounge is wonderful place at the tail end of SOMA for that happy hour after a long day work, when you’re craving filipino food (when i’m homesick), when you can’t get into Holy Cow because one of your friends is wearing shorts, a place to meet up, or to end the night with one last drink…
so that last part was very poorly written but it was the rush of thoughts that flooded my mind as all the memories came flowing back. where else can you get a tasty calamantini to start your evening? Try the sizziling sisig it’s DELICIOUS! come by for one last bite before they close their doors for the last time.
until next time
cheers!

Come here for their trivia nights on Tuesdays starting around 8pm. Cheap sisig tacos and beer, and a good time with friends.
The times I’ve been to Mercury, I’ve made a reservation because it does tend to get packed. Plan on staying the whole night. til around 10pm, there are 5 rounds of trivia (maybe it should be a little shorter?) I’m usually good with tacos and beer, but we did get the open-​faced turon (Filipino banana fritter) with vanilla ice cream for dessert.BOMB.
I’ve also celebrated my birthday here with one other friend and it got pretty crowded. Not a spot for dancing, but the music was good and I liked having all my friends in one place. and in close vicinity. Unlike a lot of clubs, you can actually have a decent conversation without having to yell at the top of your lungs. A plus is that they do keep a couple tables open so you can order food at any time in the night too.

Came here for the first time about 3 weeks ago for a Thursday night happy hour. It was dead! Great for us tho coz get good service/​attention. But no music spinning just ESPN on the tvs and a couple eating dinner in the conrner. I was surprised how empty it was. Like others have stated before me, the décor is simple but not really warm/​inviting, or artistic for that matter. Although I really liked the big wood bar they had in the main dining room. Nice! Looked like a cool antique piece.
Since I was rolling with 3 broke college students and being the good older, working cousin, I was fronting the bill so we stuck to the happy hour menu. We had the lumpia, salt/​pepper sea bass, hot wings, fries and beers, all on special and $ 5 each, or under.
I really liked the fried fish, that was good. Lightly battered and crisp with just the perfect amount of salt to keep you wanting more. The lumpia shanghai was okay, not the best I’ve ever had as the meat inside wasn’t «tasty». The hot wing made with shirracha (sp???) that Thai hot sauce was pretty good too. Not a far departure from traditional buffalo wings. Overall it was a good experience but nothing out othe ordinary that would stand out in my mind. If I was in the neighborhood I’d come here again and try the other things recommended on Unilocal, but there are so many other places in SF to try that I wouldn’t necessarily make this an appointed stop. My recap:
Pros:
–Good happy hour; nice selection of food and drinks very affordable
–Salt & Pepper fish
–Plenty of street parking when we went (Happy Hour Time)
–Attentive service
Cons:
–Ambiance is kind of lack luster, but its clean & simple.
–There was no music during happy hour, the TVs playing SportCenter on very low volume, kind of gave it a dull feel that afternoon. Plus besides the 1 bouncer watching it, the other servers seemed bored. Not that they should have been dancing around but… I dunno, Iour presence felt like we were intruding.

The Ladies and I were out on the town and stopped by the Mercury Lounge. This place is a solid SF spot, offering everything from brunch to a night club atmosphere, each time I go it’s like a whole new place.
We came here to meet up with a Birthday party and get our dance on. The DJ had some good hits between the misses but we tried not to skip a beat. On the plus side, there is never a cover. So you can always stop in and if not, bounce to the next venue. There are a few nearby.

A great little business in my corner of SoMa, came in for Sunday brunch. First of all — I think the brunch standards in this city are extremely high and based on those I don’t know if Mercury can stand up to them. Mercury is definitely not the hotness as far as brunch places in the city go.
But as a place that merely serves tasty breakfast dishes in a relaxing environment, I’m a happy camper. We ordered various dishes ranging from Adobo Fried Rice to Eggs Benedict to Chicken Fried Steak Loco Moco (my pick — does it show? :D)
If it’s not obvious, the place is frequently patronized by the SoMa Filipino crew. We actually showed up on Mother’s Day at 11:30am and we were told that only one table was open — all the rest had been spoken for with 11:30 reservations. Probably timed to coincide with the ending of Mother’s Day church service. Anyway, in true Filipino style only one of those parties had shown up when we left at 12:20pm, the rest were still MIA and the owner looked a little distraught.
We enjoyed the music being played in the place during our meal and we decided that we definitely would like to try coming back here for cocktails and snacks in the evening. Their happy hour menu is definitely tempting.
Minor complaint: during brunch, bottomless coffee is expensive at $ 2.50. We all know that every cup costs a couple cents at most. That is a huge markup. I’m just going to stick to water next time. :)

Happy Hour with the Girls: February 10, 2011 @ 6PM
CLUB OR RESTAURANT?
Mercury Lounge will feed you delicious Filipino and Asian Fusion dishes before you get your groove on on the dance floor. Mercury Lounge is a restaurant/​club in one.
Thanks to Mercury Lounge’s split personality, we were able to enjoy its foodie offerings and able to take off before ML’s DJ started bringing down the house.
SOCIAL SCENE/​AMBIANCE:
My girls and I met up at 6pm for few rounds of ML’s tasty cocktails and fun pan– Asian tapas. The place was almost empty but chill. A group of friendly guys tried to talk to us gals whose main interests now are food and no longer meeting new male friends. The rest was just couples trying to have a quiet dinner. Everything was laid-​back while the DJ and his crew were trying to get ready for that night’s music event.
DECOR:
ML’s swanky yet worn décor is conspicously a casualty of «bumpin’ and grindin’ while imbibin» patrons. However, the place is clean.
ASIAN FUSION FOR SHARING:
The dishes are fusion-​fun and unique. Definitely more fun when sharing. Believe it or not 4 girls demolished all of these:
YUM!
* Fried Tofu w/​pepper adobo sauce $ 5
* Crab Curry Fried Rice (Crab, coconut, chinese sausage) $ 9
(The spices did not quite come together but delish carb galore)
* Cucumber Salad $ 5http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/Jw6hwGhm2­ehPtQVCVLiKgQ?select=3GgtLNPD9IbJ9b11l-aNhA
* Miso Tofu $ 11
* Eggplant Miso $ 6 (Tender eggplants bursting with flavors)
* Salt and Pepper Fish $ 5 (hot and fried but not greasy)
JUST OKAY:
* Samosa $ 5 (Ananda Fuara’s samosas are a 100x better!)
* Basil Garlic Fries $ 5 (Overly fried and greasy)
* Grilled Flatbread w/​curry sauce $ 5 (I think they forgot to grill the flatbread which was cold and dry)
DELISH DESSERT: Bread Pudding $ 6 (Topped with ice cream was a sweet end to a fun savory dinner)
ALCOHOL:
My girls imbibed while I was the only one who remained sober (I was the only one who had a virgin drink). And my 3 friends really did imbibe. They liked their drinks which they reported as yummy and strong. They had the following:
(2) Li Hing Margarita (Herradura Tequila, lime, mango juice, and li-​hing powder) $ 9 each
(1) Mercury Mojito (Bacardi Rum, muddled mint, fresh lime)$ 9
(1) Thai Gimlet (Tanquerey Rangpur Gin, muddled w/​thai basil, fresh lime, sugar) $ 9
(3) Mercury Ale $ 3 each
NON-​ALCOHOL:
I was getting over my flu plus I also drove in that evening so I was stuck with a non-​alc drink. It was as expensive as the alcoholic drink but it was really just an okay fruit juice.
(1) Threesome (The menu says $ 5 but we were charged $ 9)
Calamansi, mango and orange juice, up or on the rocks w/​li-​hing powdered rim
BOTTOMLINE:
If you want to get your groove on or you just have the munchies or both, Mercury Lounge is your destination. Extensive menu, affordable, fun tasty with decent-​sized portion. None of the dishes induced foodgasm but still yummy and we enjoyed almost all of them
The late night kitchen is perfect if you are jonesing for Asian fusion particularly Filipino dishes, before and after a hot night on the dance floor. Mercury Lounge will satisfy your cravings without robbing your dinner savings account. The staff are chill and friendly as well.
TAB: $ 140 including tax and tip (about $ 35 per happy well-​fed girl)
HAPPY HOUR: TUES — FRI 5pm-​8pm
$ 3 Draft & Bottle Beers
$ 4 Well Cocktails
$ 5 House Wines
HAPPY HOUR FOOD MENU
Sriracha Wings $ 5
Basil Garlic Fries $ 5
Tita’s Lumpia Shanghai $ 5
Fried Tofu w/​pepper adobo sauce $ 5
Crispy Fish w/​sambal aeoli $ 5
Grilled Flatbread w/​curry sauce $ 5
HAPPY HOUR RICE PLATE COMBO $ 8
Chefs choice entrée served with rice and steamed veggies
ENJOY! (3.5 Stars)

I like my Filipino food… so when I friend said we were going to this «filipino-​fusion place in the city» I was excited.
Simple and semi-​nothing fancy inside… and I was enticed when looking through the menu.
3 of us ordered lumpia, sweet potato fries, fried milkfish, fried adobo rice, chicken wings, adobo fried tofu, and honey walnut shrimp.
I noticed we had ordered 100% fried foods… but hey, it’s hard not to. I’m biased because I’ve had some killer Filipino food in the Philippines, but this was ok.
Some drunk Caucasian girl was screaming onto the «Karaōke» system in the other room… I was hoping she would pass out at some point.
The waitress lost a point in my book because I wanted a San Mig Light (as listed on the menu) and she looked at me like I had asked for something absurd. She then asked the bartender and let me know they didn’t have any.
The place got the point back though… I don’t mind enjoying my dinner while looking at some nice guns and tattoos at neighboring tables.

Filipino food is coming up!
If you like Attic in San Mateo, or ever been to Poleng Lounge then you’d probably like the Filipino-​fusion food of Mercury Lounge.
Came on a Monday night for happy hour and it was $ 5 appetizers til 8pm. I was able to try a bunch from their happy hour menu since I went with a big group. In Filipino there’s even a word for happy hour food, «Pulutan». Translation = food that’s meant to be eaten while drinking.
Their #1 pulutan is their sisig nachos ($ 8), Spicy, sour, and sweet.
Not fancy by any means but it’s nice finger food while washing down a beer. (
)
— Lumpias –The green lumpia sauce is addicting. Good enough to be bottled and sold.
— The adobo eggplant = It’s tough to make eggplant exciting but this was surprisingly good.
— Garlic noodles — Could use a bit more garlic. (
)
— Adobo fried rice = pass
— Sriracha Wings = meaty, better than Hooters.
Chill spot, good music, good for groups. I’m not sure the crowd on weekends but the Monday crowd was late 20’s/30’s pretty mixed. If you don’t like the crowd here, then you don’t really like San Francisco.
Even recognized some folks from old school Ibiza/​NV days.

Came here for a bday party. There’s two rooms. In the bigger room they had a sectioned off area for the birthday boy. Surprising that they do this since we took up basically a third of the space, that’s how small this place is. So it can get crowded and slightly irritating. The restrooms are what’s really annoying… just one stall for the girls and two «spots» boys. The music was pretty good. But for such a small space you’d think that the sound would resonate, it doesn’t. Towards the back corners of the room the music doesn’t really sound great at all. What made this place slightly special is that they serve food all night. Not just regular food but Filipino fusion: Sisig Nachos, Garlic Noodles, Longsilong… MMM. The garlic noodle was crazy garlicy… they should really give breath mints with the dish. The nachos were different and pretty good too.
However, one star off. When we got here it was not packed yet, at all. The bouncers insisted that we wait outside for a while. Even when we saw a couple people leave they didn’t let us in. Why? For everyone outside to see that this place is poppin’. How annoying… if you’re poppin you’re poppin… don’t fake it… FAKERS.

We came here to watch Game 5 of the World Series, which was a really good decision. This is a great place to watch a game and get great eats and drinks at a reasonable price. Everything we had was amazing!
The Basil Garlic Fries are so flavorful without being too salty. The basil really makes this dish! You can’t go wrong with Tita’s Lumpia Shanghai and the Vegetable Samosas were so nummy. I loved the Sriracha Wings — they were screamin’ good! The addictive heat makes you want more.
They change things up with a special menu on Monday nights from Adobo Hobo. I’m not sure if the Gumbo Cart is normally there on Mondays, too, but it’s nice to have a bigger selection.
I noticed that they have different theme nights which seem fun. I’m gonna have to try it sometime. It’s also great that they offer cooking classes, too. I am definitely interested in taking a class.
Oh, and the bartender makes the best purple hooters!

Let me start off by saying that I’ve never tried the food here. I’ve always wanted to, but never made the time to. I went to this place a while back and once more recently … and let me tell you that this place has changed.
When I first came here this place had 2 entrances/​exits and was quite large. The one entrance had you walking straight into the dance room with a DJ and a bar. The other entrance had you walk into a lounge area that had some lounge seats stuck in between walls, and a bar. This room also had the kitchen and restrooms at the end of it.
When I went back recently the only entrance is the one that leads straight into the dance area, but the dance area was now a dining room area and the area in front of the bar was more of a stand around/​lounge area. The place had a good amount of people, but in reality it was pretty dead.
The music was still good and the drinks cheap (but good). We started our night here, but ended up going across the street to Holy Cow after seeing how dead it was. Oh well, hope this place gets itself back to where it was before. And when I hear that it does, that’s when I’ll be back to make another visit. Before it would’ve been a solid 3/​teetering for a 4 … now it’s a solid 2.

You KNOW how I love my late night eats.
Mercury Lounge was bumpin on a Saturday night: a mash-​up of 80’s hits and Top 40, casual atmosphere and collegiate crowd. If you’ve got a hankering for Filipino staples or just fried food in general, their «Happy Ending» menu is served from Thurs — Sat from 10pm — 2am!
Everything on the menu is less than $ 10 — garlic noodles, adobo fried rice, fried lumpia, longsilog dish, fish n chips, etc. For some odd reason, I wanted to stuff my face with nothing but BAD, FRIED food! We munched on fried lumpia, fish n chips and french fries. Everything was hot and crispy and most importantly NOT greasy. I especially liked the sambol aioli that came with the Vietnamese catfish.
Another tasty thing to be happy about? well drinks are $ 6 all night. My gin and tonic was refreshing, especially because it felt a little bit hot in the lounge because of the number of bodies in there.
Mercury Lounge, thank you for my happy ending. I’d go here again when I don’t feel like dropping $$ on late night eats at NOPA.

Another favorite place for Happy Hour and of course to eat! Even then the location is further in the city, it’s still another HH spot! Filipino inspired. Very affordable, and a kick back spot. Every day they have daily specials on drinks and food.
My favorite item there is Sisig Nachos oooh yum!!! and their Crab Curry Fried Rice: curry fried rice with egg, dungeness crab and chinese sausage, Crispy Salt and Pepper Sea Bass and Sriracha Wings! The wings are spicy but good!
For dessert my fave: Pan De Sal Bread Pudding topped with vanilla ice cream and coconut caramel sauce.
Open Face Turon flaky flatbread topped with ice cream and sautéed bananas and jackfruit with cinnamon rum sauce.
Did I mention they have Trivia Tuesday here? It’s really fun and entertaining! It’s also a lounge spot if you want to come out and party.

I’m going to be biased since the owners & some staff are my friends. The brunch is delicious– the Longanisa sausages and Sisig Nachos are to-​die for. Bottomless mimosas & bloody mary’s are only $ 11. It gets crowded fast so come early to get a table.
Apps and dinner food are good too. Best to try lots of different things & have it family style.