Mercat

I know it is busy during Sail, but € 3 for a beer? That’s the sort of price you pay in a fancy hotel bar. And the barman had the audacity to try and pass off one of the beers that had been standing there as a fresh one. No thanks! On an evening where we also visited Hoppy Days, Kanis en Meiland, De Zwijger and Harlem Soulfood, Mercat was the only disappointment. I am not in a hurry to return here.

So torn on whether to give three or four star review here. The food was all quite nice but the service was painfully slow. At least if we had our drinks or some more bread that would have past the time a little better while we were waiting to order. Thankfully none of us were starving.
We went for tapas only to share between us and this was great fun. I don’t think any of the dishes were not good, just some better than others. The only one that was a little poor was the tortilla. Normally they are much bigger with more potato. This one was mostly egg.
As for the building, well it’s beautiful. What a great setting for a restaurant. Lucky people to score such a place and lucky us to be able to eat there. All in it was a good experience but still not great. Will go again to try more.

The tapas are very nice. The aioli was the best I’ve ever had. The paella was… meh. The chocolate cake was fantastic.
Roomy, nicely designed restaurant a bit off the beaten track.

i love tapas. i have been on hunting trips around Spain to find the most delicious Tapas treats available. Just saying that my all-​time favorite is still Tia Pol in NYC and they really set the standard for me with their croquettes.
So that’s where i usually start, the croquettes and at Mercat it was a delicious experience. Their tapas from the menu are served hot, presented well, and the meny covers the basics as well as a few with a twist.
There is a pinxos bar as well to choose from — mostly breads with various toppings, which are very tasty and satisying with each piece. I tried the Tapenade and the Ham & Manchego pinxos, very yummy!
Their calamari is served in «ribbons» instead of the traditional circles, the papas bravas are great — not a creamy sauce as in some other tapas restaurants, and the paelle looked amazing although we didn’t try that!
Wine menu is very good and reasonably priced.
Whole atmosphere is welcoming and nicely designed space helps elevate the experience.
Although a little off the center-​city track it’s worth the trip!

The restaurant is absolutely stunning inside, very well designed. My girlfriend and I ordered vegetable paella for two, which was outstanding and extremely large. I had a mussel-​like seafood appetizer which was decent, and she had a red onion goat cheese pie which was decadent. To deserve 5 stars, they need to step up their service and server knowledge and turn up the music :) would definitely go back.