Eating in Mercardo de Puerto in Montevideo
Summary
Montevideo is a cool city, and this was our highlight of it. The former railway station that served the nearby port has been converted into a series of open restaurants with parrillas (grills) in their centre. The wrought-iron structures, staff who are clearly either owners or working there for decades and the sheer bustle of the place provide an atmosphere that can’t be dwarfed even by the cruise ships that stop nearby. So grab a seat at the bar, watch the grill, order a malbec and enjoy some of the finest steaks in the world
highlights
#1 Watching the bustling of the market while enjoying a decent red
#2 Enjoying superb food from waiters who clearly care about what they serve
#3 The old renovated train station is a beautiful example of old meets new
Travel tips
- Try to get a seat by the bar overlooking the parrilla. There’s something hypnotic about watching the food sizzle, plus you get served quicker
- Try going a little later than the usual lunch crowd as quietens down nicely at around 3pm
- You’ll likely be doing this anyway, but make sure to take a walk around the Ciudad Vieja to soak up the atmosphere
- Don’t only stick with the meats. Some of the vegetable kebabs were wonderful
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
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Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone