Dining Brief: Mercat

My love of the Tapas dining style has led me to a number of different Spanish restaurants that say they offer Tapas, over the past few months. I have been to Azafran, Urena, Casa Mono, La Paella, and Boqueria (several times.) Last night I finally made it to one of the new darlings of the ever trendy Tapas world—Mercat.

Tapas style and small plate restaurants are part of a growing trend in NY dining, a trend that I wholeheartedly embrace. When done right, I love the idea of being able to have small plates of excellent food at (reasonably moderate prices.) Small plates help us satisfy our urge to try several different menu items without having to break the bank on a tasting menu. It’s conceivable to be able to go to Boqueria and order half the menu for the price of the of a tasting for one at Chanterelle. Often times this price point also enables you to dine in a more casual and relaxed setting than if you splurged on a three star restaurant. It’s nice to have the Daniel’s and Gramercy Tavern’s of the world, but for many young people like myself, dining at these places with any regularity is simply not an option. Where do I go when I want to comprise my own personal tasting menu of soulful, delicious food? I hit up a Tapas joint.

I arrived at Mercat about 15 minutes before my reservation time and about ten minutes after I received a text from my dining companion, indicating she might be 15 minutes late. The next order of business was to find a seat in front of the lively wood bar and browse the entirely Spanish wine list for a pre-dinner drink. The bartender was kind enough to let me sample of a couple of Sherries by the glass before I settled on an Oloroso whose slight sweetness and candied nut finish went perfectly with the salty, complimentary olives.

Saltiness would be a theme of the night. Not only was most of our food salty (which can be both good and bad), but our waitress also reflected a somewhat poor attitude, something not present in the other staff I spoke to last night. She seemed a little miffed that my friend and I spent so much time talking before ordering and that it took me a little long to select my Bierzo from the wine list. She even took the bottle, leaving what looked like two sips, sitting sadly at the in the bottom.

Other than the waitress however, I thought the meal was a success. Sitting in a rather dark room with exposed brick walls, an open kitchen, a ham station and a rather neat looking open wine cellar on the second floor and enjoying some of what I hear is fiercely traditional Catalan cuisine is a really pleasurable way to spend a night.

Our meal started with a dish of sautéed pea shoots, toasted pine nuts and plump golden raisins, a dish that if you don’t mind a little saltiness, is well composed with the pine nuts lending a pleasant crunch and the raisins leaving a sweet finish, making you forget about the salt for a moment. ‘Fideus Negres’, short noodles, smothered in sepia ink and adorned a luscious, pleasantly plump pieces of sepia and biting garlic aioli is one of those dishes, that after tasting it, makes you wonder why it doesn’t appear on more menus. Every bite was soft and packed with flavor, the aioli lifting the savoryness of the noodles to a higher level. Sautéed seasonal mushrooms were pleasant but not altogether amazing. The fried egg on top wasn’t quite runny enough to lets its eggy sumptuousness spread over the dish and let the perfectly crisped potato strings sop it up.

What really impressed me during the meal was the innovatively paired pork belly dish. Mercat now serves it with arugula, toasted pumpkin seeds, and the real surprise—watermelon chunks. I wouldn’t conceive of dish like this, but upon second thought it’s, a really innovative take on the classic Prosciutto and melon. This was clearly a well thought out dish, incorporating the different tastes and textures of the arugula, pumpkin seeds, and the meltingly rich, piggy, pork belly. The juicy, sweet, melon freshened each bite keeping the dish from being overwhelmingly heavy and helped bring out the good qualities in all of the other elements.

I found my experience at Mercat—sans waitress-- to be a very good one. The Sherry and Bierzo were on point, the food was good at times and extremely good at others and my company was enjoyable as well. The famous noisy room that I had read so much about didn’t even cause us problems (maybe my eardrums are younger and fresher than those of other critics.) In the end, good food plus good drinks and good company equals an enthusiastic endorsement of Mercat, a Tapas destination I will be returning to in the future.