Markets are magical everywhere you travel and Montevideo offers a lot of these. I went to a lot of them while in Uruguay and simply loved them, whether it's a food market or a goods market.
The best one for food was the trendy "Mercado Del Puerto", situated down by the harbour in the Old City (Ciudad Vieja). That particular area of Montevideo is apparently a "no-go" area at night for lone foreigners due to poverty and robbery, so my hostel mate Wesley and I decided to eat there just before dark. However we also did an Irish Pub on the way and I later walked Panny Yu to her hostel in that area after I had moved in with my Uruguayan family. The market was safe and cosy and is mostly indoors. Trendy restaurants serving typical Uruguayan barbecue food and local beer are the norm. The atmosphere is fantastic.
The market is well laid out and very clean. You basically just rock over to a seat by each bar/restaurant and order from the bar. Some are slightly more posh with waitress service. We ended up at La Maestranza, a wee barbecue restaurant with a very pretty waitress who I believe was 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.
To get there I hired a bike and paid a local guy to look after the bike while we were inside, this is actually safe enough!
The menu is vast and has a host of things to choose from - order as little or as much as you want and they put it on the barbecue and cook it in front of you! I chose Chorizo, Rincon, Salchincha and Morchillo and we shared them. Beef and pork meat are the most common barbecued food. You get given sauce and bread with your meat.
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.
I'm never far from drama however and while this was all happening, a local video crew notice I'm foreign, and hear my accent so they come over and make a video of me. I had only started to learn Spanish and wasn't great at it. But they ask me what I think of Montevideo. I said that I love the food, I come from Irlanda del Norte and I liked watching Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez in the 2010 World Cup. It was all over in a flash and I got on with my dinner. It was funny yo be interviewed as you can tell the camera crew are giggling at me!
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.
The market has an upstairs as well and I just popped up to capture a photo. Our restaurant - La Maestranza. Well recommended. Seriously, as foods of the world go - you will love it! Uruguayan Parrilla (pronounced Parisha by the way). Yum!
The best one for food was the trendy "Mercado Del Puerto", situated down by the harbour in the Old City (Ciudad Vieja). That particular area of Montevideo is apparently a "no-go" area at night for lone foreigners due to poverty and robbery, so my hostel mate Wesley and I decided to eat there just before dark. However we also did an Irish Pub on the way and I later walked Panny Yu to her hostel in that area after I had moved in with my Uruguayan family. The market was safe and cosy and is mostly indoors. Trendy restaurants serving typical Uruguayan barbecue food and local beer are the norm. The atmosphere is fantastic.
The market is well laid out and very clean. You basically just rock over to a seat by each bar/restaurant and order from the bar. Some are slightly more posh with waitress service. We ended up at La Maestranza, a wee barbecue restaurant with a very pretty waitress who I believe was 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.
To get there I hired a bike and paid a local guy to look after the bike while we were inside, this is actually safe enough!
The menu is vast and has a host of things to choose from - order as little or as much as you want and they put it on the barbecue and cook it in front of you! I chose Chorizo, Rincon, Salchincha and Morchillo and we shared them. Beef and pork meat are the most common barbecued food. You get given sauce and bread with your meat.
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.
I'm never far from drama however and while this was all happening, a local video crew notice I'm foreign, and hear my accent so they come over and make a video of me. I had only started to learn Spanish and wasn't great at it. But they ask me what I think of Montevideo. I said that I love the food, I come from Irlanda del Norte and I liked watching Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez in the 2010 World Cup. It was all over in a flash and I got on with my dinner. It was funny yo be interviewed as you can tell the camera crew are giggling at me!
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.
The market has an upstairs as well and I just popped up to capture a photo. Our restaurant - La Maestranza. Well recommended. Seriously, as foods of the world go - you will love it! Uruguayan Parrilla (pronounced Parisha by the way). Yum!
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