If you could time travel to any era, when would you choose? Would it be far back when dinosaurs ruled the planet? The European Renaissance? Or would you look to the future when humans might inhabit space? The team behind cocktail bar and eatery House Of Merlin has another idea. Inspired by the 19th century alternative history known as “steampunk”, House of Merlin invites guests to a period first conjured by some of science-fiction and fantasy’s most imaginative writers. Visiting on a humid evening in mid-October, I was transported to a world of steam-powered industrial design, where magic and mechanical craftsmanship co-exist.
As I walked up to House Of Merlin, the spell was already cast. Opening an iron-coloured door with a massive M at its center, I came face to face with a red curtain. A staff member promptly pulled it aside.
“Good evening sir. Do you have a reservation?” he asked.
“I’m here to see Nam,” I replied. My vision adjusted to the dim lighting, taking in the plush, maroon furniture where a few customers chatted away. On the walls hung framed atlases of places I couldn’t recognise, illuminated by plasma globe lights and glass sconces bubbling with unknown yellow liquids. A deep, earthy smell of citrus and smoke permeated the room.
“Are you Liam?” Nam walked up. He looked every part like House Of Merlin’s head bartender. Short hair gelled back, thick-rimmed black glasses, and an outfit made up of a tie, crisp white shirt, grey vest, trousers, and leather shoes—the rest of the team wore similar versions of the look.
“We can talk upstairs if you like. I can introduce you to more about the bar.”
The stunning breadth of House Of Merlin’s liquor selection is best appreciated from the counter seats upstairs. Placed in an open cabinet with red inner lining, premium bottles were boxed up in the top rows while bartenders reached for spirits below. However, what caught my eye most was a brass armillary sphere suspended in mid-air. Etched on a band wrapping around the sphere were the words “House Of Merlin”, as if the name wasn’t merely a designation for the bar itself, but a title for a parallel universe where steampunk’s essence embosses all aspects of life.
“As of next month, we’ll be open for three years,” Nam started, handing me two menus: one for drinks and one for food. “Our owner loves the steampunk style and came up with the concept. He even chose the name Merlin because he searched for the most popular names in the 19th century and it was first. Right now, we’re on ‘Season Two’ for the drinks. It’s called ‘Things Around and Evolution’.”
As I flipped through the drinks menu decorated with drawings and stories of their house cocktails, Nam explained the three best sellers. Inspired by the solar system, the Silent Sphere contains aged rum, Disaronno, and fig strawberry liqueur. The Memory in Glass played on many children's recollection of biting into a peanut butter sandwich. It also includes Wild Turkey 8-year Bourbon, pineapple vinegar, and milk. The cocktail’s illustration showcased a glass placed under a funnel of the kind you’d expect in a science lab. Finally, The Stogie. I already knew this was something I’d be into. Wild Turkey 8-year Bourbon, Islay whisky, Tio Pepe sherry, saffron chocolate, walnut Angostura bitters, and apple cigar smoke.
“We’re going to keep these three bestsellers for our next season of cocktails,” Nam said.
“What’s the next one called?”
“The three F’s: Flower, fruity, and flour. We’ll make drinks based on these.” Turning to the side, he whispered into an earpiece before returning his gaze my way. “Would you like to try some?”
Downstairs, my girlfriend and I sit at the counter to watch the cocktails made up close. I order The Stogie and she goes for an Espresso Martini. We also get a Pizza Bò lá lốt (minced beef and lolot leaf), a creation that Nam told me was a succinct representation of their food menu: a fusion of Western and Vietnamese flavours. Two portraits flank the towering liquor display. On the left hangs a rendition of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, holding a champagne glass and dressed in Victorian-Gothic garb. A portrait of a man resembling Vlad the Impaler takes the right, eyes covered by aviator goggles popular in steampunk fashion. On the counter in front of me sits a device I’ve never seen before: an antiquated Nixie tube clock that to my surprise is actually telling the time. The bright orange seconds count up and rewind, count up and rewind until the minutes gradually tick.
Behind the bar, a glass case fills with a cloud of fragrant fumes. The bartender brings it over, places it down and lifts the lid with a twirl. Aromatic smoke spills out and disperses to reveal The Stogie. There’s a playfulness to the presentation, a charm to the delivery that makes the experience enjoyable even before I’ve taken a sip. Another bartender places an Espresso Martini in front of my girlfriend. What strikes me most about The Stogie is the smell. Bringing the glass to my nose, a fruity hint wafts beneath the leafy smokiness. Taking a sip, it tastes much smoother than expected, with little trace of the cigar’s earthy tobacco body. On the speaker, a cover of Something by The Beatles plays. George Harrison crooned, his ethereal voice filling House Of Merlin. With another sip of The Stogie I imagined that perhaps in some parallel universe George Harrison had been a character in a steampunk comic, and Something was the song he sang with his legs dangling from the rooftop of a clock tower. Gazing out at the night choked with steam as black as coal, he played a guitar made out of brass and wondered about a girl.
The Pizza Bò lá lốt arrives. My girlfriend asks for chilli sauce and a homemade chilli oil is handed to her. Biting into a slice, the flavour is a combination of fatty beef, nutty cheese, and the tang from the herbaceous lá lốt cutting through it all. Drizzling a bit of the homemade chilli oil introduces another dimension of flavour and the whole pizza disappears with satisfied nods. There’s a few more pizzas I’d like to try, not to mention an array of bruschetta dishes I’m certain would make an ideal bar snack. The Bruschetta with Smoked Salmon & Cheese looks especially appetising but drinking the last of The Stogie, I opt for another drink instead.
The North-West Fashion is House Of Merlin’s play on the classic Old Fashioned. A mix of 8-Years Bourbon, brown syrup, and a Vietnamese spice bitter made from mắc khén. The spice is harvested from the forests of Tây Bắc in the northwestern region of Vietnam, and is often referred to as the soul of northwest Vietnamese cooking. Though commonly used as a dipping salt or a marinade for meat and fish, the crafty bartenders at House Of Merlin adopted it for their North-West Fashion. Once again, the smell stuck out. Pungent and intense like a Szechuan peppercorn, my nose cleared as I raised the glass, then drinking the cocktail, the bourbon’s velvetiness bloomed. A one-two punch of sense and flavour. A cocktail that exemplified the spirit of House Of Merlin: bold, distinct, and ingrained in storytelling.
House of Merlin strikes a rare blend between craftsmanship, quality, and that often overlooked trait of loving what you love without shame. Stemming from its owner’s pure appreciation for steampunk, what you get is a place that pays attention to the details and honours its own mythology. It’s an escape from Saigon. An escape into a period that never existed and yet now comes alive in an alleyway in District 1. And so you visit, open the iron-colored door with a massive M at its center only to come face to face with a red curtain. What world lies behind it?
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