THE name never did do justice to the 19th-century grandeur that meets you at 62, Castle Street, writes Emma Pinch.

IT WAS one of those trendily unimaginative bar/club monikers that came into fashion a while back. They read like they’d been thought up in a tired moment in someone’s kitchen. Loaf, Sugar Lounge, Milk bar… and Room.

Happily, Room has now made space for the classier sounding Merchants Bar and Restaurant, after the hotel management took over the eating and drinking quarters downstairs.

The lofty ceiling of the former North and South Wales Bank, with its marble carved cornices, balustrades and swags, still provide a feast for your eyes when you go in.

But, anticipating a night chock full with visual delights at the Pier Head later that night, it was the edible type we were after.

Merchants’ new menu is vast and wide-ranging. It flirts with Asian influences like rare beef and udon noodle salad, five Italian pasta, risotto and gnocci dishes as well as a list of grills. The bulk of the menu is British posh nosh.

The larger plate classics list (there are smaller lunch-time dishes, too) features high-class comfort food like shepherds pie, bangers and mash and JW Lees beer battered haddock, chunky chips and pea puree. The mains and starters run from gastro-pub classics like paté and brioche, lamb hotpot and sea bass to plates with a dash more verve, like rabbit or sushi risotto.