We headed up to Rockville Town Center a couple weeks ago with some friends for a fabulous tapas meal at a small, but wonderful place called EL MERCAT Bar de TAPAS.
The brick walls are exposed and the cement floors simple and it makes for a tad too much noise, but it was never impossible to hear. There is a small bar at the rear with the open kitchen behind that.
Service is friendly and Alicia was very helpful and seemed to manage considering she was handling almost all the tables! we tried the white sangria which was nice but the special Sangria of the day with Vodka, Mango & Passion Fruit was fabulous; you have to ask what the special is each day as it changes.
Pimentos de Padron were perfectly blistered peppers and the Bunuelos de Bacalao were hot and crispy (let them cool a tad, before you bite in, and for heaven's sake, do not pop the whole thing in your mouth like I did!!) and come with a yummy citrus aioli. Pan Con Tamate in it's plain state was plain, but we added yummy anchovies for a bite, and the Patatas Bravas with Garlic Aioli disappeared fast. Perhaps the best tapas is the veggie option of Zanahorias Rostizadas, simply roasted carrots with Marcona Almonds and a whipped goat cheese that were seasoned to perfection.
Montadito de Carne is a nice seared steak sandwich with olive chimichurri and the Albondigas here are meatballs made of ground lamb in a yummy sauce with Manchego cheese. Pulpo was nice as well and the octopus comes with the traditional roasted potatoes.
We ordered a bottle of red, Vina Otano Crianza 2018 that was 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano 5% Mazuelo and drank fine with everything or anything.
The Brussels Sprouts come with Lardons(large chunks of bacon, which we got on the side) and the Chorizo Chicken Paella is also very nice, if a tad creamy, although a lot of the rice was cooked so it stuck to the cast iron pan. I loved the crispy sections, but it was hard to pry it loose from the pan!
Save room for dessert and while you might think Crema Catalana is nice, go for the Churros that are cooked perfectly and splurge to have them stuffed with Dulce de Leche; you will be in heaven! Great place, great fun and a very casual local feel.
