There are heaps of good restaurants and bars in Mercadillo but I only had time to try a couple, both recommendations from Toko the hotel receptionist. There are lots more places I wanted to try on my Google map, but I didn’t have the time for them all.
This is the second half of a tapeo I started in Barrio San Francisco. Please see my separate post for there.
La Lechugita (Intermediate B), 35 Calle Virgen de los Remedios
The Little Lettuce is a classic Spanish tapas bar, tiny, crowded and a lot of fun. You order by ticking items on a menu pad, tearing off the page and handing it to a barman.
I had a selection of Masitas, the small bread buns that are a local speciality, with various fillings. I wasn’t that impressed unfortunately (especially because I’d eaten a better one at Bodega San Francisco earlier) as it was quite hard to tell what was what due to them being very salty. I had fillings of Pringa (a meat stew, B-), Salchichon (sausage, B-) and Morcilla de Ronda (local black pudding), which was my favourite (B).
Morcilla de Ronda differs from other varieties due to the inclusion of pancetta and bacon it seems.
I ordered some of the famous lettuce to put in the buns to try and override the salt. It tasted really nice by itself (A), maybe because it had been lightly vinegared .
A glass of unimpressive local red called Chinchilla scored B-.
So not the best food and wine but an A for Atmosphere and I’d love to come again to explore their menu more.
El Almacén (Intermediate B+), 7 Calle Virgen de los Remedios, tabernaelalmacen.com
A modern tapas bar with friendly enthusiastic staff. The young proprietress told me they’d only been open for three weeks when I went.
The food is really good. I had tapas of Croquetas Boletus (B+)…
… and the wonderful Cochinillo (A).
They specialise in local wines so I tried glasses of red called Morillas, a crianza from Bodega Los Villalones (B+)…
… and Lunares by Bodega Lunares de Ronda (B+).
At €2.50 a glass the wine was a bit more expensive than elsewhere but the quality was better. Definitely somewhere I’d go again.