El Mercado: Hong Kong’s First Nikkei Restaurant

December 1st 2015


By Delphine

Restaurant Nikkei? What's that? Here’s a bit of history to illuminate you: at the turn of the 19th century, a large number of Japanese immigrants arrived in Peru, known to locals as the “Nikkei”. They combined Japanese culinary flavors with Peruvian ingredients, giving birth to a wonderful combination of flavors: Nikkei cuisine. And our verdict? DE-LI-CIOUS!!!

Peruvian-Japanese fusion cuisine has been making waves in Europe for a while, and now it has arrived in Hong Kong. Successfully!

Starting with the decor, El Mercado has an airy, open layout, with vegetable planters on the walls creating a relaxing ambiance.
The dishes served are spectacular! Lunch set consists of a Bento box including a vegetarian salad, a vegetable soup and one main of your choice. An option we recommend.  As for the A la Carte menu, you can choose a variety of small bites (everything is amazing, the oyster with squid ink foam is a must, as well as the sea urchin with Leche del Tigre), the larger dishes for sharing, sushis with a Peruvian flair, ceviches with Japanese flavoring, etc. Each plate is strewn with flowers and fresh herbs. When they arrive, the dishes are such a ravishing sight to behold that it is almost unimaginable to ruin them with a fork (or chop sticks). Each dish is refined, refreshing and original.

The only downside is that the service is a bit slow, but should hopefully improve with time.

El Mercado
21/F, 239 Hennessy road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Phone: (852) 2388 8009
Website: www.elmercado.hk
 
Lunch for two:
Lunch menu: from HKD158 to 188
Bocado Del Mar (oysters): HKD48
Ostra AChevicada (sea urchins): HKD58
Tuna Ceviche: HKD158
Rose Garden (rose and raspberry ice cream): HKD108

Opening hours: Monday to Sunday:
Lunch: noon-3pm
Dinner: 6pm-11pm

 

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