As a precursor to the full Peruvian dining experience, the restaurant’s two-page food menu is replete with a vast selection of light bites, sushi, maki rolls, ceviche, main courses and side dishes. While making your selection, you can also enjoy a complementary basket of freshly homemade sweet potato chips.
As an appetizer, we began with chunks of chorizo, lovingly cooked with caramelized white onions in a rich red wine sauce, then garnished with finely chopped parsley and served in a metal pan alongside freshly made and thinly sliced raisin walnut bread. The sausage was soft and well-seasoned with a hint of spice and the bread was glorious dipped into the sauce of the chorizo.
This was accompanied by Prawn and Tuna Maki rolls– sushi rolls served with a filling of breaded prawns, cream cheese and avocado and a thin layer of tuna on top. Each was fetchingly adorned with chopped red chili and parsley. Instead of being served with the expected soy sauce and wasabi, it came drizzled with a creamy and runny mayo dressing, giving it something of a unique twist.
Next up was the Chicken Anticucho, a knowing homage to traditional Peruvian street food consisting of grilled chicken skewers marinated in chimichurri, all served over diced potatoes with a red brava sauce and with a grilled corn cob on the side. While the chicken was tender and zesty, it could perhaps do with a little more chimichurri, although the potatoes and corn were an excellent accompaniment.
For the main course, it just had to be the Arroz Con Mariscos, a seafood rice cooked in white wine and Peruvian red peppers and more than ample for two to share. Somewhat evocative of a fine paella, its combination of shell-served prawns, squid and scallops proved both fresh and heavenly. The rice was appealingly moist, temptingly garnished with a vegetarian take on ceviche, a satisfying blend of sliced red onions, coriander and chili. A truly delightful and scrumptious combination.
And then it was over to the dessert menu for its simply fabulous selection of seven attention-grabbing and mouthwatering options. Taking a recommendation from our server we opted for the Rose Garden and Peruvian Picarones. We were not disappointed.
The homemade rose ice cream came served with triangular slices of sponge cake, and fresh raspberry foam and proved as refreshing as it as exotic. This divine creation was flawlessly sweetened, and is definitely a must try, while the serving was easily enough for two to share. The Peruvian Picarone, meanwhile, proved to be a Latin American take on the doughnut, lovingly rendered from squash, sweet potatoes, flour and eggs, then all topped with a brown-sugar, orange-flavored sauce and served with vanilla ice-cream. Quite lovely and with an aperitifs and digestifs menu to follow as well.
We visited on a weekday, so the restaurant was typically quiet but, at the weekends, it is quite a different story. The service, though, was attentive and efficient, with the waiters quick to clear the tables, refill our glasses and change the place settings.
During lunch, the restaurant serves a set menu consisting of a two-course meal for only $130 with options to add more items, if required, at an additional cost. The dinner menu has also recently been updated with new selections.
El Mercado is open daily for lunch and dinner from 12pm to 3pm and 6pm to 11pm. If you’re a foodie looking for a different cuisine experience at a reasonable price, then a visit couldn’t be more highly recommended.
EL MERCADO
Address: 21/F, 239 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Reservation: (852) 2388 8009, www.elmercado.hk
Food: 7/10
Drinks: 8/10
Ambience: 7/10