Mercado

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 16 reviews

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26-30 Stoke Newington Church Street,
Stoke Newington,
London,
N16 0LU

0871 971 4402
Note: Calls cost 10p per min plus network extras.

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Reviewer moorhaunt
09/04/2012
How this restaurant is still open is beyond me.The food(served cold)looked and tasted like a £1 microwavable meal.The bottle of red wine was chilled and the service was terrible(the waitress dumped the unopened bottle of wine on the table and left).Anything more than a cocktail in Mercado is not recommended.
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Reviewer katwmn6
30/03/2012
Don't know what's up with all the negative reviews of this place. I'm originally from a large Latino area in the US and have been eating at Mercado for years. Food is delicious and, while relatively pricey for Latin food (not unusual for London), is some of the only authentic Mexican you can get in London. Service is friendly and the ambiance on a Saturday night is great. Look out for their cocktail specials and meal discounts! Absolutely love this place.
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Reviewer katwmn6
10/05/2012
Just joking! I went back last month and it appears they've changed ownership. The food was disgusting and the service was just as bad. Real shame as this place used to be a gem.
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Reviewer Peter36
04/08/2011
Sorry but cant understand the recent reviews. I am regular to this place since last 1 yr and must say they serve margaritas. Also tried their food so many times and it is delicious. Its always busy on weekend as we have to wait in bar for table. But if someone knows about mexican food this is the only authentic mexican restaurant in london. May be these people dont know what to order.:-; well recommended and late night dance not to miss.
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Reviewer ultrasade
24/07/2011
Horrible! The nachos were good but that is the only nice thing I can say. The food was bland, sickly and overpriced. Service was appalling, with rude waitress ignoring us and taking ages to bring drinks and food. This was made worse by them having the cheek to add a service charge. Never go here, there are much better Mexican restaurants in London
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Reviewer stantonlogic
05/05/2011
I love Mexican food and had wanted to try this place for ages. Finally went with my girlfriend the other night and can safely say I will not be going back.

Waitresses were clueless, didn't know what I was talking about when I asked for Jalapeno Peppers! Food arrived promptly but unfortunately the waitress had not laid our cutlery so we had a 3 minute wait while she fetched these.

Things didn't improve when we ate the food. My enchiladas were just a spicy, tasteless slop under which some tortillas appeared to have been buried. My girlfriend's dish was much the same, but with what tasted like HP barbecue sauce smeared everywhere.

When we finally got the bill they had the cheek to add 12.5% service charge to the bill - a pet hate of mine. Needless to say we (begrudgingly) paid (minus the service charge) left promptly and will not be going back.

As another reviewer has said, Stokey has a vast array of good restaurants - avoid Mercado and try somewhere else.
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Reviewer livingboy
31/01/2010
Awful place. Drinks orders were forgotten. Food was overpriced and cold. It took ages to get the staff's attention. A dish came completely different to the menu and when queried was told that they had run out of the ingredients, with no apology or discount. And then, despite having a 'cards available' sign in the window, we were told that they only took cash (with no apology) which then led to a 5 minute schlep to the ATM and back. There are far better places in Stoke Newington and I implore you to go to them.
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Reviewer chrissyn117
27/08/2009
Great margaritas! Very nice salsa and the fajitas were delicious! We ordered nachos to share on our table and they were very good as well.

Wait staff were pretty attentive. The 2 for 1 cocktails (which they have from 5-8 on fridays, I believe) was a great bargain, just beware...the drinks are not for the faint at heart as they are pretty strong (which we didn't complain about!)

The passion fruit daiquiri was a favorite. Not my favorite Mexican restaurant in London, but would return for happy hour.
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Reviewer mike111
10/07/2011
This has obviously been writen by the staff! Do not go there the food was terrible, no jalapeno's, no cheese but lots of orange kraft fake crap. They even had the cheek to charge us extra for tortillas!! RIP OFF!
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Reviewer chrissyn117
10/07/2011
Not affiliated with the restaurant at all actually. If you read the review it said not my favourite in London but was ok. Maybe it's gone downhill since we went there... was a decent restaurant when we went, but that was probably based more on the margaritas.
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Reviewer jilska
05/06/2009
Love this place, always great service and even better margaritas. The corn is to die for and the crepes mexicanas simply Divine. Obviously things have changed since the last review on this site below because we have been going there once every two weeks for the past year and a half and have never been let down by the service, the cleanliness or the amazing food. Love it so much I am having my birthday there....which is why I was on the Internet looking for a link.....Just cant imagine how a bad review about this place could ever have been written.
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Reviewer Anonymous
21/05/2007
Mercado was possibly the worst restaurant I have ever experienced. Our poor excuse of quesedillas for starters arrived before the drinks, the cutlery was filthy, and when we asked for new cutlery, the staff did not return with replacements.



We ordered chicken enchiladas which were drowned in chocolate sauce and served with chinese style rice, like some sort of bad desert from the eighties! When we complained to the manager, there were no apologies, and when we wanted to leave there were no staff available to even pay for our drinks.
Diabolical! Never again.
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Reviewer victoria42
15/02/2007
Mercado is possibly the worst restaurant I have ever been to. Not only did we wait half an hour to be served but then waited another hour and a half for our actual meal! We were promised a reduction for this and at the end of the night we where still charged the full price! Mercado was completely disorganised! We even got the wrong order!
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Reviewer Anonymous
08/02/2007
I was really looking forward to eating at Mercado, as I'd heard a few good reviews. However, I was very disappointed. The food was all clearly pre-frozen. The quesadillas were like no quesadillas I'd ever seen before! They were like cheap cheese and onion pasties, very doughy and very tasteless. My main was just as disappointing, with prawns and vegetables straight from the freezer, drowned in a nasty sauce.


As for the service, the food arrived quickly, but the drinks took a lot longer, possibly because the waitress didn't seem to speak any English. All in all, Mercado was a real restaurant nightmare, topped off by the friendly manager being too friendly, if you get my drift.
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Reviewer Anonymous
29/12/2006
I've been to Mercado a few times since I discovered it this year. I love Mexican food and have been to Mexico many times. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to see that Mercado was offering authentic Mexican cuisine. Although I found the decor in poor taste and the service rather lack lustre the food was delicious.


However, I was horrified on my recent visit. The food had deteriorated terribly, and it was cold and tasteless. It was served in the usual heartless disinterested manner but without any compensation by way of the food. Something has gone terribly wrong with this place which is such a shame as there are so few places in London selling real Mexican food.
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Reviewer Anonymous
14/09/2006
I've recently discovered the delights of the new Mercado via a recommendation from some friends who love the place. I've never tasted food like it, so many new flavours and vegetables! I had a Chiles Capones last time and the sauce has a lovely taste of cinnamon to it, it was delicious!


As a vegetarian they have plenty to keep me going back to Mercado. I found the manager a delight to talk to when asking about the food and recommendations.
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07/08/2006
Mercardo has been a long time coming, so long I've searched for real authentic mexican food in this country, but to no avail! And finally, here is Mercado!



Everything about Mercado is great, from the staff, who are very friendly and have a good knowledge of the food to the food itself. Prices are good and the margaritas are excellent.



I live in Stoke Newington, so I'm more than happy to have this place on my doorstep. It's getting busier and busier everytime i go in there, so the words spreading fast...

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Reviewer Anonymous
26/07/2006
Mercado is a great place, with great food and friendly staff. Also Mercado has good prices. What else do you need?
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Reviewer Anonymous
05/07/2006
Mercado Cantina is Mexicana heaven! The food, the staff, the tequilia (generally I won't touch the stuff) and the atmosphere are all brilliant. Mercado is real Mexico bottled and displayed for all Londoners. you should get yourself a piece now, before it's all gone.
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