Mercat a La Planxa at The Blackstone Hotel

As we all keep slogging through life, we should occasionally stop and celebrate that journey with food and perhaps a cocktail. I came to Mercat for my birthday dinner and while the reservationist seemed stressed – when I called to reserve my 6:15 reservation for two, there was a moment of silence and she said, very anxiously, “I’m sorry, I’m just not seeing it. You have a reservation for 16 people?” – she also said, “And this is for a birthday celebration?” and I said, “Yes,” in such a way that really meant, “Hell, yes!”

The decorations are very modern – lots of orange, and small lights hanging down from the ceiling, and presumably you’re meant to feel as if you’re attending a very chic picnic where the hostess hands out very small portions of food.

We started out with a white sangria (which was said to be good here, and it was) and a complimentary Spanish-style bruschetta absolutely loaded with garlic.
Our server – who was wonderful, as was the whole team – sweetly brought out a mini-dessert for my birthday, complete with a mini-candle, and thus solved the dessert dilemma of “I don’t know, should we go for it?”

Tip: the servers recommend getting three or four dishes per person; my dining companion and I each got three and that was more than enough.

My friend visited me during the third week of March for spring break, so I wanted to take her to a restaurant to remind her of Spain; she studied abroad in Spain last year. I found out that Mercat had opened recently so we booked reservations on March 20th. We were seated promptly in an open, colorful setting. And our server was very attentive from the get-go.

We opted for the tapas. Charcuteria Mixto featured three different kinds of meats with garnishes on the side. Gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp) was served piping hot; though the smell of garlic was overpowering, it didn’t take over the taste. Espinacas a la Catalana (Catalan Spinach) was delicious! Our server suggested it and he was spot on. The spinach was lightly blanched, with toasted pine nuts and crisp apples complementing it. I wanted to like the patatas bravas, but the popular tapas dish was a bit disappointing. Rodaballo (turbot) was tender, though a bit on the salty/oily side. The real highlight was tocino con xerez (pork belly). The pork belly slices were meltingly delicious, with cider/apple for garnish.

I forgot what we had for dessert, which goes to show how memorable that was. Though I’m pretty sure we enjoyed it. Hmm… Anywho, the meal, dessert, and two sangria glasses came up just under $100 for two people; less than $50 a person for a filling meal. Though it seems as though the restaurant is still working out kinks, the service was attentive and the price fair.