Merkato 55 - Reviewed
Opening a Pan-African restaurant in the Meatpacking District doesn't exactly sound like a sure thing. After all, this is a part of Manhattan where the scene outshines food as a nocturnal crowd ricochets from one nightclub to the next. But chef Marcus Samuelsson
has never been afraid to take chances. At Aquavit, he earned praise for
a thoroughly innovative approach to Scandinavian fare. With his newest
endeavor, Merkato 55, he strives to recast African cooking in an
equally modern and prominent light.
It's surreal to enter this splashy brasserie and discover a sea of stylish diners spreading aromatic chutneys and sambals onto homemade African breads. Taking a cue from the exotic cuisine, the sprawling, two-story space is embellished with woven basket lamps, ebony tabletops and sheer curtains with illustrations of African faces. Likewise, the menu is colored with the vibrant flavors and seasonings of the African diaspora.
There's a lot of territory to cover on this vast culinary road map, and it can make for an exciting night out, not to mention a welcome reprieve from the blitz of seasonal American eateries this year. Merkato 55 is Ethiopia by way of a splendid, butter-spiced lamb and South Africa by way of mustard-spackled venison skewered with apricots and smoky chunks of bacon. It's a quick trip to Mozambique via meaty, head-on shrimp sauced with a pungent piri piri (chili pepper).
For the most part, Samuelsson tones down the spiciness for a broader audience than this kind of regional cooking usually attracts. So if you're craving a fiery doro wat (Ethiopian chicken stew) that turns your mouth numb, you won't find it here.
Instead of piling on the heat, Samuelsson...
flavors the stew with just enough berbere spices and red onions to produce a tingling sensation without rendering your taste buds useless. It arrives in a cast-iron pot with a cooling lump of cottage cheese and sour injera flatbread.
The jerk pork belly is tamer than traditional Jamaican jerk, but this is just as satisfying and more intriguing. It gets a crunchy tangle of green mango and chocolate-chili sauce that coaxes sweetness from the pork.
Samuelsson's creative interpretations also produce an unforgettable appetizer of octopus so generously portioned it's an entrée in disguise. A blissful marriage of flavors, the aggressively seasoned octopus is paired with cured beef and a chewy date jam. Just as unique, a dish of savory-sweet plantains and bananas amplifies the delicious nuances of a cardamom-scented duck leg.
The kitchen does turn out its share of flubs. Spicy links of Merguez sausage sparred with a salty corn porridge that lay beneath it. With such boldly flavored cooking, the chicken soup seemed like it belonged to a different restaurant altogether. It arrived as a vapid broth with mismatched accoutrements: a dollop of peanut butter, celery, avocado and diced apples. And though "foie gras chutney" advertised foie gras, I couldn't detect any traceable amounts of it.
While dessert wasn't nearly as interesting as the rest of the menu, there was a wonderfully sticky malva pudding served with rum raisin ice cream. The house-infused rums are apparently "still infusing" and the menu seems to be evolving, with stronger dishes replacing weaker ones. Authentic or not, Merkato 55 might just have you craving African cuisine.
I had dined at Merkato 55 two weekends ago, and I think you are being generous with your comments. I have had better store bought dips than what was served, and I can probably even concoct a better hummus. The oyster appetizer was over-iced and lacking in flavor. The cut of the steak entree seemed like it was bought on sale at the corner supermarket - it was tough and tasteless, though the sauce on the steak was tasty. I agree on the sausage app - my dining partner barely took a bite of it because she thought it was inedible.
Disappointing - I expected so much more. I would wait until they revisit the menu and work out the kinks.
Posted by: tad_mom | April 03, 2008 at 09:20 AM