Don’t get me wrong, I love southern Italian cuisine. When I was a kid, it was pretty difficult to convince me to eat much else besides spaghetti, tortellini, or ravioli covered in marinara and parmesan. To this day, I still buy the industrial size jars of pasta sauce from Sam’s Club and go through them faster than any single male probably should (but hey, lycopene is supposed to be really good for you, right?).
Somewhere along the line, though, I lost much of my desire to pick southern Italian restaurants for dates or other nights out. I think this must have been shortly after I moved out on my own and it sank in that, instead of spending $15 at a restaurant, I could buy a pound of pasta at the Harris Teeter for $1. And it’s not like I don’t appreciate good chicken parmigiana, but I find it really difficult to drop $20 on anything that I could pretty easily make myself at home for half as much.
This provides a lot of the explanation for why I hadn’t been to Mercato, one of Charleston’s most visually appealing restaurants, since it opened in 2006. Even from the outside, the space looks very impressive. The large windows that nearly make up the entirety of the restaurant’s front wall showcase the dark luxurious dining room, a site that’s especially striking at night. Still, regardless of the aesthetics, the restaurant is what it is, and I was nervous because you can only dress standard Italian fare up so much.
Despite Mercato’s expensive appearance, I think most diners will be pleasantly surprised to learn that its menu prices are pretty reasonable. Sure, you could find Italian food for a little less money elsewhere in town, but not by much, and certainly not in as romantic a setting with quality live jazz. Appetizers at Mercato (with the exception of the Antipasti Platter) fall between $6-10, pizzas (like the Spicy Sausage with caramelized onions, tomato, and fontina cheese - $12) and pastas can be had from $10 to $17, and entrees range from $16 all the way to $28.
Although we were tempted by the Crispy Fried Calamari ($10) that every table in the restaurant seemed to be ordering, we decided to start a little lighter with Beef Carpaccio ($10). The thinly sliced pieces of raw Wagyu were topped with roasted red peppers, arugula, and a light lemon-garlic aioli and served with crostini. If you’re hesitant about the prospect of eating raw beef, I urge you to give Mercato’s carpaccio a try. The meat tasted incredibly fresh and was well complimented by the flavors of the pepper and the aioli, neither of which overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the meat. I would suggest, however, avoiding eating the crostini with your Wagyu, because the meat tended to get lost amidst the thick, crunchy bread.
Next, we chose the classic Caprese Salad ($8), a wonderfully simple dish that is, in my mind, Italy’s second greatest contribution to the world, right after Da Vinci. It’s difficult to mess up a caprese salad (if you give me fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil in any form, I’m almost certain to be happy) and Mercato’s version did nothing to disappoint. The only way the dish could have been improved was if tomatoes were a little better quality, but it’s still pretty early in the year, so I don’t think you can blame them for that.
For my entree, I opted for the Veal Marsala ($19), which was unquestionably the best dish of the night. Lightly breaded and sautéed with Porcini mushrooms, onions, and marsala wine, one bite of my veal was enough to make my partner jealous. The meat was perfectly tender, and the mildly sweet sauce was delicious. I was a little disappointed to learn that Mercato doesn’t make their own spaghetti in house (although I was told that they do make some pasta on-site), but I can’t complain because it tasted fine to me.
My partner settled on the Spaghetti Cabonara ($14), which struggled to match-up with the marsala. The dish was serviceable, but not particularly impressive in any way. The pancetta was tasty, but we wished there was more of it, and we both were left wishing that she had gone with her plan-B, the Wild Mushroom Risotto ($15) with mascarpone and white truffle oil.
For dessert, we considered the Tiramisu, before deciding on the Cioccolata e Vaniglia ($8), a flourless chocolate cake with a molten nutella center, topped with housemade gelato. Our opinions on the result were split. While I, as a confessed chocolate addict, was enjoyed how rich the cake was, my partner thought it was a bit much. The rich, creamy gelato was excellent, and the nutella was an interesting deviation from standard molten chocolate filled cakes.
There are two other things that I have to mention before I close this review (which City Paper’s Robert Moss also pointed out after his recent trip). First, the olive oil which accompanies your complimentary bread is out of this world. It’s got an outstanding, light fruity flavor that will make it very difficult not to fill up on bread. The good news about filling up on bread, however, is that you’ll have it in your stomach to soak up the vodka in your Mercato Martini, a combination of homemade limoncello and Firefly Sweet Tea vodka. I’m more of a rum guy, but my partner absolutely loved it.
In whole, I was pleasantly surprised with Mercato. The prices were better than I expected, the atmosphere was great for a couple, and for the most part, we really enjoyed the food. I still don’t see myself dropping this kind of money on southern Italian food very frequently, but my preconceptions about Mercato have been disproved. If you’re looking for this style of food in a classy, upscale atmosphere you should definitely consider heading down to the Market.
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