Thursday, March 1, 2012

Wednesday Midnight Snack @ Mercato

Being a day person, I never quite appreciated the notion of the Midnight Market and found nighttime snacking a rather pesky calorie loading experience. All these negative sentiments have been wiped off my consciousness as last Wednesday, bearing an evening hunger not even Jamba Juice could solve, we were left stranded in this remote place we call Bonifacio High Street.




[caption id="attachment_1516" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Nocturnal Snackers at Mercato Centrale"][/caption]

Good thing free wifi led one thing to another and finally we found ourselves at the launch of the Wednesday Midnight Mercato. It will probably be hard to believe, but this accidental journey marked the climax of the day (or night), hands down.


While I’ve maxed out on my daily sugar, written off my list, in the meantime, were Mochiko, Med Chef, and a host of cakes, sweets and shakes that would just do nothing but infuriate my raging insomnia.


I spied deep dish pizza with all sorts of meat, all-cheese and what seemed to be shrimp toppings. Unfortunately smacked in the center were ham and pepperoni, so off I went to search for the anti-thesis of animal fat or my inner PETA might have exploded in front of the poor vendor.


Spotted was a rather appetizing Mexican joint (pardon my lack of name recall, it was past my bedtime), but we found the quesadilla serving a bit pequeno for my appetite. Another spot had shabu-shabu and balls, but then I felt like dining on cheesy-salty, not Oriental-salty. Burgers and bagnet were also abound, but my carnivore of a father did not feel like dining amidst the smoky atmosphere.




[caption id="attachment_1513" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Panzarotti"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1514" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Panzarottis in a Row"][/caption]

Finally, drawn to the Italian flag which most likely signaled—what else but—Italian food, we ventured to the Panzarotti stall with the hope of finding pesto, ravioli or anything that remotely rhymed with cannelloni. What we unearthed was tat strangely named foot item, the Panzarotti, a calzone-like fried pizza that was craftily shaped to resemble an empanada. Too long for words, it was best to just leave its name as it was.




[caption id="attachment_1515" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Margherita"][/caption]

Four flavors were offered but only one made it to my vegetarian cut, the Margherita. Fried on the spot and topped with Arugula and alfalfa sprouts, it was a cousin to the panizza, dipped win tomato sauce and enjoyed with toothpicks. Like a picnic at the park, or more or in a hazy tent, it was an enjoyable and filling P100 that I enjoyed eating with tissue; well, the toothpicks broke upon contact. Filling yet not that disastrously doughy, it made a reasonably good pretext to have pizza as a pre-midnight snack.


While returning to Wednesday Mercato may not be likely in the near future, I savored the moment it saved me from starvation and provided a light at the end of the road (literally) that evening.


Should I get stranded in the BGC area again, I will make sure it happens on a Wednesday evening. And yes, I will surely  get a green tea mochi this time.

14 comments:

  1. malou delos santosMarch 1, 2012 at 12:50 PM

    Hi J.Anne, sorry was not able to email you the direction going to The Fort Strip, tried to call and txt you but either was not succesful. I even go to fort strip just to check if you were able to locate the place. Going to mercato ka pala. Malapit lang ofc namin dun. Anyway,the Panzarotti looks good, i will try that tom. :-)

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  2. Malou! We went to the Azkals Sports Bar, then Jamba Juice, then Sonja's then didn't get full still.. That's when we accidentally ended up in Mercato. Try the milk teas also!

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  3. malou delos santosMarch 1, 2012 at 1:38 PM

    Really?was at jamba juice 8pm, what time ka andun? Sayang hindi kta nakita

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  4. 7-ish. My feet hurt from wearing (and walking in) heels so my protein berry workout tasted like raw banana.

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  5. I will certainly give that Panzarotti a try when I find myself lost in BGC. I love Italian pizza or bread topped with alfalfa and arugula. I had nice time reading your posts. :)

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  6. I'm a fan of Mercato Centrale but ironically I haven't been to their midnight stint! Will surely visit one of these days especially now that your photo for Panzarotti got me hungry!. Thanks for sharing this post.

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  7. Hi J. Anne, thank you for the nice write-up. We're glad you enjoyed the Panzarotti. We're at Mercato Centrale every wed, fri, saturday from 10pm-3am and Soderno every Friday, Saturday 6pm-3am. Hope you can also try out our restaurant whenever you're at the south = )

    facebook.com/mamalous
    twitter: @mama_lous

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  8. You have a restaurant? That's great! Should our road trip take us far south, I sure hope we can swing by your restaurant. (Sadly we're from up north, so we haven't been to Soderno as well.)

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  9. I agree with your sentiment. Not much of a midnight snacker too (need to loose those pesky pregnancy pounds pa) which is why I'm steering clear of Mercato for a while. Hehehe! =)

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  10. I love buffets. This one I have to try. And soon! :)

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  11. Sorry, this should go to your Viking Buffet post. :(

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  12. You should get stranded soon! Those Mochi balls are delicious!

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  13. I know! I never thought getting stranded would be this fun.

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