Mercado Kitchen and Bar is the place to savour great Mexican cuisine. The restaurant has a dynamic vibe, with lively background music. The décor is a mix of eclectic pieces, such as old-fashioned cars, ceiling lights in glass bottles and seats made from swinging benches. From a covered balcony area, you can enjoy the street scenes as you eat.
We went for dinner and the crowd was a mixture of families, couples and groups of friends. On weekends, the restaurant gets very busy, so advance bookings are recommended if you do not want to wait for a table.
Mercado means ‘marketplace’ in Spanish, and the menu is an extensive variety of authentic Mexican dishes. If you are in a group, ordering several meals to share is a good way to sample different dishes.
Some of the starters include tapas, chicken wings and guacamole molcajete with homemade tortilla chips. Or you can warm up with a soup like the tomato-based Tia Maria, Wild Mushroom soup or a Pumpkin Shrimp and Black Bean.
From the main courses, there are good reviews about the rib-eye steak in tequila-flavoured sauce, chicken roulade, shrimp taco, calamari tostadas and the crispy battered snapper fish. I enjoyed the Fish Ajo quesadilla and the steamed Mayan Chicken Tamales wrapped in banana leaves.
Altogether, the meals are very fresh and flavourful and presented with fast and friendly service.
Vegetarians and vegans will not be disappointed, as there are many non-meat options. There is even a Jain menu with dishes containing no root vegetables, such as carrots, onions and garlic. The wonderful-tasting sauces vary from mild to fire-hot.
Dessert includes Mexican delights drenched in milk like the Tres Leche cake, tequila-flavoured chocolate cake, a sugar-free soya desert or deep-fried churro pastries. For something more refreshing, there are fruit sorbets of mango or strawberry.
The wine list is decent and the list of Mexican drinks is impressive, with cocktails such as Mango Chamoy margaritas, rum-based fruit Daiquiris and non-alcoholic mocktails. They also have lovely fresh fruit juices, such as cucumber watermelon fresca and pineapple mint juice.
Location: Kenrail Towers, Westlands, Nairobi
Contacts: 0700 245795
Star rating: 4.5/5