I love the global and diverse appeal of markets the world over. Montevideo has it's fair share and I visited about 4 or 5 markets in the city during my stay there. Whether it's a food market or a goods market, I love my visits to them.
Mercado del Puerto is obviously down near the port and is actually indoors, the area nearby can be dodgy at night I heard but by day and especially late afternoon, this is the place to eat! A great atmosphere and aroma within!
The layout of the market is easy to navigate and it is clean. You find a seat by any restaurant and oder directly from the bar in front. Some bars and restaurants have waitress service. We ate at a place called La Maestranza a barbecue restaurant with a waitress called Natali.
You have a few options for beer, I chose Patricia one of the local Uruguayan beers and it went down well. Buy it individually by bottles and share it - this saves it from getting hot which was a hot time when I visited.
You can get a bike to take you there and pay someone to look after your bike, which was actually quite safe!
You choose what you want from the many items on the menu - as much or as little as you want (and you can buy more if its not enough) and they fire it on the barbecue and cook it in front of you. When it's ready they put it on a plate and you share it. Wesley and I both had similar tastes so no arguments! We chose Chorizo, Morchillo, Salchincha and Rincon - 4 types of cooked (pork or beef) sausage and meat. You get bread and sauce to eat them with.
The garnish, bread and crackers that come with it is free. So you only pay for the meat they cook and the beer. Tipping is optional, but we left a bit for the staff.
During the meal a local TV crew came over to make a video so we managed to get on video while eating our Barbecued Uruguayan meal!! My Spanish wasn't great but at least I could say something to them!
The prices were decent - a 1 litre of beer was 100 pesos and we foundt hat to pick and mix the barbecue food is the best option - variety and a deal by buying in bulk. The menu is fairly easy to read.
To summarise, Montevideo is excellent for barbecued food, known locally as Parillas and you should head to the excellent Mercado del Puerto to try it!
Mercado del Puerto is obviously down near the port and is actually indoors, the area nearby can be dodgy at night I heard but by day and especially late afternoon, this is the place to eat! A great atmosphere and aroma within!
The layout of the market is easy to navigate and it is clean. You find a seat by any restaurant and oder directly from the bar in front. Some bars and restaurants have waitress service. We ate at a place called La Maestranza a barbecue restaurant with a waitress called Natali.
You have a few options for beer, I chose Patricia one of the local Uruguayan beers and it went down well. Buy it individually by bottles and share it - this saves it from getting hot which was a hot time when I visited.
You can get a bike to take you there and pay someone to look after your bike, which was actually quite safe!
You choose what you want from the many items on the menu - as much or as little as you want (and you can buy more if its not enough) and they fire it on the barbecue and cook it in front of you. When it's ready they put it on a plate and you share it. Wesley and I both had similar tastes so no arguments! We chose Chorizo, Morchillo, Salchincha and Rincon - 4 types of cooked (pork or beef) sausage and meat. You get bread and sauce to eat them with.
The garnish, bread and crackers that come with it is free. So you only pay for the meat they cook and the beer. Tipping is optional, but we left a bit for the staff.
During the meal a local TV crew came over to make a video so we managed to get on video while eating our Barbecued Uruguayan meal!! My Spanish wasn't great but at least I could say something to them!
The prices were decent - a 1 litre of beer was 100 pesos and we foundt hat to pick and mix the barbecue food is the best option - variety and a deal by buying in bulk. The menu is fairly easy to read.
To summarise, Montevideo is excellent for barbecued food, known locally as Parillas and you should head to the excellent Mercado del Puerto to try it!
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For further information on Uruguayan cuisine, Mate in Uruguay and Uruguay football trip head to Jonny Blair's travel lifestyle site for further marvellous stories.
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