220 Mercato Gdańsk Tricity Poland

Mercato

 · 5 mins read

Degustująca Istota visited @mercato_restaurant at the end of November. The restaurant is located in the Hilton Hotel’s building. Mercato’s Chef is Paweł Stawicki. He won @archimagirus_konkurs last year and because of that he did internship at the RAW restaurant @andrechiang_sg in Tajwan. In the last edition of the guide @gaultmillaupolska the restaurant received three Chef’s hats.

The interior of the restaurant is elegant and calm. Through windows you can see beautiful view of the Motława River.

Stoliki z białymi obrusami i szare fotele w restauracji. Z okien widać biało czerwony napis Gdańsk, świecący w ciemności.


  

The Degustująca Istota together with a companion, decided to test a five courses tasting menu at Mercato.

Degustation:

Bread

Mini rosemary breads and dark beer rolls were excellent. Additionaly a butter and a lard with dried apple were served. 4 eggplants.

Two black tiles, placed on the table, on which are placed two pieces,  mini breads and dark round rolls. Butter lays next to the bread and the lard next to the rolls in a white bowl.


  

Shot

As an Amuse-bouche, to stimulate the taste buds, a strawberry shot with red orange was served. 3 eggplants.

A glass with thick red liquid.


  

Roe deer tartare with cauliflower fungus and mustard

Delicate, a bit sweet tartare and a slightly sour pickled cauliflower fungus, were composed perfectly together. The whole dish was sprinkled with boletus powder. 4 eggplants.

In a deep plate with blue patterns there is a tartare arranged in the shape of a circle, on which a wavy, light gray mushroom is placed.


  

Gdańsk fish soup with no fish

Baked potato consommé with fried eggplant and paprika oil. 5 eggplants.

Orange coloured soup while pouring. In the center of the plate are arranged slices of mushrooms, eggplant cubes, little onions and nasturtium leaves.


  

Intermezzo

Another non-alcoholic shot. This time with celery, apple and melon. 3 eggplants.

In the glass on the tall leg is hazy, yellow liquid with light foam.


  

Fried plaice with armillaria mushrooms, cabbage puree and Kvass sauce

The first main course. Well-prepared fish fillet, which was additionally decorated with orchid petals, onion chips and roasted butter sauce. As you can see in the picture there are chanterelles rather than armillaria. However, I think that the dish by this change lose nothing. 3 eggplants.

Fish fillet on a white plate,  next to a sauce of butter, a tablespoon of cream puree, chanterelles, slices of crispy onion and white foam.


  

Lamb shank with edible chestnuts and cognac

The meat itself was great. Covered with a thin slice of speck. Perfectly fried king oyster mushroom, morel mushroom, chanterelles and delicate chestnut puree with the addition of cognac. The whole dish was enriched with the Demi-Glace sauce. 5 eggplants.

Two halves of fried, cut into chequered oyster mushroom, next to chanterelles, morel, a piece of meat glistening with speck and gray puree


  

Pre-dessert

Rosemary sorbet with lemon, sea buckthorn petal and tangerine gel. 3 eggplants.

In a dark gray bowl, white ice cream with a golden flake on which orange gel dots are applied.


  

Gdańsk almond cake

Marzipan ice cream, roasted almonds, adzuki bean cream. A surprising dessert. Sweet with a hint of acidity. It seems heavy, but with juicy elements. 5 eggplants.

In a deep, dark blue plate there is cream puff, next to white ice cream. The whole decorated with almond flakes and  dark crumble.


  

Summary:

As you can notice, considering the number of eggplants that were awarded to the courses, the dinner was of an excellent standard. Surprising and well thought-out combinations of flavors, great technique and beautiful design. It’s a pity that the tasting menu is so short. We would like to have twice as many dishes. Pralines (from tonka beans and oranges) were served after the dinner.

On a golden bowl, on high metal rods,  full of coffee beans lie two white pralines and two of milk chocolate.


  

The service was professional and nice, although there was some tension and rush. If everything was great, why the score is so low? It is not the Chefs or service fault. The restaurant is connected to the bar. It’s basically one room, which introduces a lot of confusion. At Mercato we were at the time when very loud and troublesome guests were there at the bar, which caused a headache and that is why we don’t mention it pleasantly. We wanted to eat the last dishes as soon as possible so that we could escape and rest. This is not what we expected after Saturday evening in an elegant restaurant. After giving complaint to the staff, they apologized to us and explained, that there is nothing they can do about it.

The Mercato restaurant receives: 220/250

Link to the restaurant Mercato

Address: Targ Rybny 1, 80-838 Gdańsk

Title picture: Roe deer tartare

Restaurant: Mercato
Location: Gdańsk Poland Tricity
Tags: Fine_dining Gault_Millau Restaurant Tasting_menu