mercado spanish food market, market street.

grain bowls are all the rage nowadays, and there are so many such places sprouting up. saw on instagram that a spanish-inspired grain bowl place has opened at raffles place, offering paella, and of course, i couldn't say no to that. i tried googling for their opening hours and the exact address, but there seemed to be no such details easily available- i know they're new, but they should really look into making such information available. after some in-depth googling i managed to find out their exact address; it turned out that they are open all the way until 7.30 in the evening.

it was about two-thirty by the time i got there, and the place was suspiciously empty. i was already starving by then, so i didn't think too much about it, and just decided to order. they had two options; one to build your own bowl at $16.50, and the other was pre-crafted bowls, but i was told before ordering that the pre-crafted ones weren't available. no matter- i was there for paella, anyway. the concept was pretty similar to other grain bowl places (*cough* grain traders *cough*), with a choice of base, protein and veggies. it was simple to order- just point and the server would ladle the items onto a plate.



the paella was counted as a base and protein rolled into one, so i didn't get to choose any protein. i got a choice of hot veggies and two cold ones- i chose creamy cauliflower for my hot veggie, brussels sprouts salad and beetroot for the cold ones. there was a choice of topping as well, with a few different types of nuts to choose from. i got what looked like ground almonds. there was dressing available too, but i didn't feel that my bowl needed that, so i chose not to get any.



it was, all in all, a very vegetable-heavy bowl. don't get me wrong- i like vegetables, but coming from the gym,  i need a good portion of protein to feel satisfied. i was looking forward to the paella, but it was a letdown. the rice was gluey and gluggy- i haven't eaten that many paellas, but this was the worst. to add insult to injury, saying that it was a base and a protein rolled into one was just too generous on so many levels- there was perhaps just three small pieces of sausage in it. my favourite dish was the creamy cauliflower. the rest of the sides were just meh. really not a satisfying meal- i only finished the food because i was starving.

with strong competition all around in raffles place, it's going to take a lot for mercado to survive if they don't up their game. the food was meh- for the same price, grain traders practically next door is a much better alternative. obviously, i'm not returning.


mercado spanish food market
50 market street