[Pigging by Wilfrid: July 14, 2008]
Dismaying reports recently, both online and by word of mouth, that the two cavernous floors of Merkato were devoid of diners even during peak service (and the restaurant works from lunch/brunch through to the small hours of the morning.
Given the hordes battering at the doors of Spice Market and other nearby restaurants serving more or less familiar Asian or Mediterranean food, I inferred that Merkato - with a menu which does need to be explained, even to diners with a passing familiarity with the food of the Sahara, Ethiopia and the Caribbean - was just too difficult a proposition for the clubbing/dating youth of the zone.
I gave Merkato an enthusiastic review about three months back, but perhaps the mere word of the Pink Pig is not, after all, sufficient to create a restaurant sensation. I went back for a second look, late on a weekend evening (following a performance by the punk-pirate crew of Jollyship the Whiz-Bang - an experience I can't recommend too highly).
Even very late, the downstairs section of Merkato was fairly busy - the outside tables too - upstairs more sparsely populated. Tragically, the guinea-hen, upon which I'd set my heart, had sold out - just as it had last time. The meal had to begin, anyway, with that remarkable selection of breads and flatbreads I described back in April.
Among the accompaniments this time, a rich creamy South African chutney called blatjang, studded with pieces of apricot; a hummus which was fine, but not distinctive; and a fiery pink mix of shredded cabbage and hot peppers called pikliz. The menu, incidentally, changes all the time.
Absent the guinea-hen, I ordered the merguez sausage dish I'd enjoyed so much before.
And the kitchen had tweaked it. The slim smoky sausages served over a much creamier corn-based sauce, and now accented with chunks of seared watermelon. Good, as were the saffron artichokes ordered as a side. The coconut rice, like the hummus, was kind of like-anywhere.
Too late for desserts, but my impression was confirmed: this is cooking much better than you'd expect given all prejudices about the location, the crowd, the hours and the sheer size of the place. It's a pity if it's being overlooked in favor of tired renditions of spring rolls and pad thai. Lunch looks tempting too: a burger with pepper relish, a jerk pork sandwich with green mango.
Merkato deserves your attention. The singalong website is right here.