Mercat Barcelona, 1 Mont Kiara

Finally I arrived at Mercat Barcelona which came highly recommended by my blogger friend Kris of Eat What, Eat Where.

Well, it was not a smooth day. I went to the office but was feeling blah, not in the mood to work (it was Saturday after all).

My brother was supposed to pick me up at 11:00 am but he was slightly delayed. Then we made our way to 1 Mont Kiara. 

When we got there (our first time) we found that it is an old mall with a very narrow ramp leading to the basement carpark. My brother navigated his (new) car very gingerly, swearing all the way. LOL!

After we parked, we noted that the parking lots were very narrow (which caused a problem which I will tell later).

Then we went looking for the restaurant and had to seek assistance from the concierge.

We sat at this small table inside.

Now, let's get to it, our orders. 

Coffee addicts that we are, a hot Latte for my brother and an ice Cappuccino for me. My brother said the latte was good (though not as good as coffee at Marta's). As for my cappuccino, it was thin but I won't fault them for their coffee.

Gambas Al Ajilo. This was good and I am sorry that we can't help making comparison to the one (which we prefer) at Marta's Kitchen. 

Fardos Ibericos, my brother's choice. This is described as "Iberico ham fardos with truffle cream and apple compote". When we chewed into it, there was something crunchy like crackers inside. Yes, this was very nice.

Bread was served to soak up the lovely oil in the Gambas Al Ajilo. We loved the crusty bread which was fresh and fluffy.

I wanted to order the Boquerones En Vinagre (Spanish anchovies marinated in vinegar and roasted red pepper) when my brother piped up - Tacos De Cangrejo (Homemade Crab Tacos with Avocado).

This order was visually pleasing but the most disappointing.

My brother described this as tasting like "tuna mayo" and we could not taste crab because there was too much mayonnaise.

We also ordered half rack Iberico Loin Ribs marinated "al andalus" style. The meat was tender (falling off the bone) and moist and well marinated though the flavors did not wow us. The ribs were served with thinly sliced sauteed potatoes.

It would not be fair to compare these ribs to the ones we had at Marta's Kitchen because the marination/seasonings are not the same. So I shall reserve comment.

And then the Paella De Marisco (Seafood Paella with Cuttlefish, Prawns, Mussels and Clams) was served in a paella pan, as it should be.

This is where the presentation beats Marta's (which is served in a plate). The paella was very moist (wet) and I would have preferred it drier. There was no crust (which some people love) at the bottom of the pan. The flavors were spot on, robust and fabulous.

I think my brother did not quite enjoy this as much (I found out he had a nasi lemak breakfast earlier LOL!) and surrendered before even half of the pan was eaten. So I plodded on happily and ate as much as I could (there was a little bit leftover).

But guess what? The naughty boy wanted Churros.

No matter how full you are, there is always space for desserts, right? And magically we could both finish these Spanish Churros with Chocolate Sauce. 

My brother commented that there was not enough sugar sprinkled on the churros and that the chocolate sauce was not sweet. Well, perhaps some sweet taste would have been nice but I was OK with the bitter chocolate sauce.

All in all we had mixed feelings about Mercat Barcelona. I would prefer to blame that on our unsophisticated tastebuds rather than the execution of the dishes. Or maybe we were not in a positive mood to actually enjoy what we were eating.

Now back to the carpark. Earlier when we parked, there was another car that joined us at that lot and parked to our left. The right hand side was vacant.

When we returned after our meal, a car was parked to our right. So we were sandwiched between two cars and the space between us was very narrow.

My poor brother had trouble getting into the car and had to attempt from my side. But he found the maneuvering a bit tricky. So he went back to his side, wedged himself into the narrow opening and managed to squeeze himself in. It was indeed a stressful day. LOL!

Well, we made our way out, again with my brother navigating the ramp carefully (while noting the scratches on the ramp wall) and we were soon on our way out of the mall.

No regrets in spite of our less than exuberant mood and muted culinary experience. If there is one thing discouraging us from returning, it is the parking experience rather than what we had at Mercat Bercelona.

I enjoyed the paella (maybe can request for it to be cooked drier) and the Gambas Al Ajilo (I loved the accompanying bread). There are many other dishes to be had but I don't think the bro wants to come here again. LOL!