Thank God Michelin-star-spangled ”˜chef’s chef’ Nuno Mendes ”“ elBulli alumnus, crab-doughnut innovator, and crafter of emotionally resonant salads ”“ abandoned a career in marine biology. The sea’s loss is London’s dining scene’s gain. Mendes’ meals gently agitate the memory and invoke history; this is especially true of his Spitalfields outpost Taberna do Mercado. Less papped than Chiltern Firehouse and a little more straightforward than his former Bethnal Green eatery Viajante, Taberna do Mercado exists in the haze of a Mendes flashback to his agrarian childhood and Portuguese heritage.

Portuguese dining has an excellent spokesperson in Mendes, who ”“ with chef Antonio Galapito ”“ designed a menu familiar to Lisboetas: pregos and bifana sandwiches and a high-end take on conservas de peixe (spiced canned fish) sit alongside superb charcuterie and cheeses: slices of earthy chouriço vinho tinto (black-pig chorizo), and sharp yet creamy terrincho velho sheep’s milk cheese served with freshly baked sourdough. Excellent petiscos (small plates) run the gamut from cuttlefish and pig-trotter broth to 150-day-aged beef. Desserts are for the brave of palate with fennel-laced meringues and a pork-lard-slathered crème caramel, all washed down with vinho verde.

Taberna do Mercado’s decor is deceptively insouciant; simple and modern with whitewashed brick, rabo de bacalhau chairs, pendant lighting and menus collated with slender metal hooks. It’s intimate, so much so that the only bathroom is reached through the kitchen, where you can catch a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes culinary magic.

http://www.tabernamercado.co.uk/

Taberna do Mercado London
Old Spitalfields Market, 107B Commercial St
London E1 6BG
+44 20 7375 0649

As part of Mr & Mrs Smith’s editorial team, Kate Weir has been dispatched to some of the world’s most luxurious and unique hotels. Aside from subsidising her travel addiction, she’s previously flitted from gallery to gig as an arts correspondent for Spoonfed London, covered artsy miscellany The Journal of Wild Culture and Eye See Sound, and surveys west London’s cultural scene for the Kensington & Chelsea Review.

(All photos courtesy of Taberna do Mercado London)

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