Markets are an amazing part of travelling!! Montevideo has a lot to offer market wise, none more so than the indoor Puerto del Mercado in the Old Town. I loved it!
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.
You won't get lost in the market - it's a an easy square layout with an abundance of restaurants and bars. Take your pick then sit down anywhere you want and order a beer and some food. It's that easy and it's that relaxing! I went to a restaurant called La Maestranza and was served by 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.
You can get a bike to take you there and pay someone to look after your bike, which was actually quite safe!
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.
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!
The menu - prices are individual in Uruguayan Pesos. At the time my bus from Parque Rodo to Plaza Independencia cost me just 17 Pesos, and a 1litre beer was 100 Pesos so you can see the barbecue was quite cheap for what you get. Some of the options were meal deals, but Wesley and I chose the "pick and mix" idea, choosing our own and sharing them. We did this in order to get some variety for our money.
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.
You won't get lost in the market - it's a an easy square layout with an abundance of restaurants and bars. Take your pick then sit down anywhere you want and order a beer and some food. It's that easy and it's that relaxing! I went to a restaurant called La Maestranza and was served by 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.
You can get a bike to take you there and pay someone to look after your bike, which was actually quite safe!
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.
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!
The menu - prices are individual in Uruguayan Pesos. At the time my bus from Parque Rodo to Plaza Independencia cost me just 17 Pesos, and a 1litre beer was 100 Pesos so you can see the barbecue was quite cheap for what you get. Some of the options were meal deals, but Wesley and I chose the "pick and mix" idea, choosing our own and sharing them. We did this in order to get some variety for our money.
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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