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.
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 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.
The beer was Patricia - very popular and thirst quenching in Uruguay. You buy beer by the bottle and share it in glasses. This is the cheapest option and the beer doesn't get too hot quickly. At that time (November 2010), Montevideo was enjoying a hot summer.
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!
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.
While we were eating a local TV crew were filming and they came over to ask us questions! This was funny as my Spanish wasn't very good but we were able to have a chat and talk about a few things! I enjoyed it!
A beer cost around 100 pesos and for the food it's best to do a pick and mix option which gives you variety and saves a bit of money as you are buying in bulk. The menu is straight forward and no problem with ordering.
The market is actually on two floors and at one point I popped upstairs to check out the view! I would strongly recommend trying the Parrilla (that's what Uruguayan barbecue is known as locally) if you happen to be in Montevideo!
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 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.
The beer was Patricia - very popular and thirst quenching in Uruguay. You buy beer by the bottle and share it in glasses. This is the cheapest option and the beer doesn't get too hot quickly. At that time (November 2010), Montevideo was enjoying a hot summer.
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!
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.
While we were eating a local TV crew were filming and they came over to ask us questions! This was funny as my Spanish wasn't very good but we were able to have a chat and talk about a few things! I enjoyed it!
A beer cost around 100 pesos and for the food it's best to do a pick and mix option which gives you variety and saves a bit of money as you are buying in bulk. The menu is straight forward and no problem with ordering.
The market is actually on two floors and at one point I popped upstairs to check out the view! I would strongly recommend trying the Parrilla (that's what Uruguayan barbecue is known as locally) if you happen to be in Montevideo!
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