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Hong Kong restaurant reviews
LifestyleFood & Drink

Restaurant review: El Mercado, Wan Chai - Japanese-Peruvian

Accommodating staff, fare with varied flavour and textures make this Wan Chai eatery a sure thing

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Interior of El Mercado on Hennessy Road in Wan Chai.
Susan Jung

Price: about HK$450 without drinks. There is no service charge.

Ambience: unassuming but comfortable, with friendly staff.

Pros: the staff are accommodating. We were initially seated in a place where people would have been continuously passing close by, so asked for another table and they moved us to a quieter spot. We asked for fresh mint tea (which wasn’t on the menu) and after consulting with the kitchen, the waitress offered it to us.

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Cons: the Machu Picchu nigiri (HK$68) with sea urchin, lemon granita, pickled ginger and cucumber had rice that was too hard, and the cucumber overwhelmed the other ingredients.

Barranco sushi
Barranco sushi
Recommended dishes: the Barranco sushi (grilled flank beef with orange chimichurri, HK$68) was much better, probably because there was a higher proportion of topping, so the quality of the rice wasn’t as noticeable. Ika ceviche (H$178) had tart and vivid flavours, with leche de tigre-marinated ohnibe fish topped with soft chunks of sweet potato, which balanced the acidity, and fried calamari rings. Grilled beef heart anticucho (HK$148) with a light corn purée was delicious, with chewy, intense meat.
Cochinillo con tacu tacu
Cochinillo con tacu tacu
We loved the varied flavours and textures of the cochinillo con tacu tacu (HK$308): soft meat, crisp skin, a concentrated sauce and mild, sweet and soft banana. For dessert, the jardin de rosa (HK$108) had just the right amount of rose in the ice cream, along with raspberry foam and flower petals.
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Grilled beef heart
Grilled beef heart
What else? We didn’t notice until we left that they didn’t have a service charge – we should have left a larger tip.
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