When East meets South
The energetic Merkádo, a new upscale option in Logan Circle, fuses Asian and Latin cuisines with surprising results. Its a bit pricey, but worth it.

By Malcolm Carter
Friday, May 13, 2005

AFTER SOME FANFARE and a few construction challenges, Merkádo has finally opened. Nestled in Logan Circle's thriving commercial-residential district, across the street from Whole Foods, the new restaurant is a welcome addition to this increasingly upscale area.

Merkádo's sister establishments, Logan Tavern and Grillfish, already draw amiable crowds. And like any good neighborhood spot, this place, owned by David Winer and his partners in the Eat Well Restaurant Group, offers the same warm welcome to everyone who enters.

Tables are reasonably well spaced, banquettes are unusually comfortable and Merkádo's ambience is very much like a hip Manhattan eatery in which you might be inclined to linger, even though you might have to shout to be heard.

Highly energized and handsomely designed, with nameless, super-sized portraits on the wall, Merkádo is a high-concept restaurant that has undertaken the ambitious challenge of a menu that seeks to fuse Asian and Latin cuisines in most of its offerings. The menu, created by executive chef Edward Kim, includes such options on the small plate side as shrimp tempura with seaweed salad and tobiko remoulade ($8.50). There's also raw ahi tuna crudo on boniato frita, wasabi crema and caviar ($9).

One of Merkádo's nacho nirvana platters includes wonton skins with sesame ground beef, manchego cheese and wasabi crema ($10.75). In some cases, though, only one of the hemispheres is represented, and that's just fine.

One example is the so-called big bowl, described as a trio of seafood with fresh udon noodles in dashi broth ($16). Not only is the broth exceptionally flavorful, with its base likely of miso, but the bowl is loaded with briny creatures, fried tofu, roasted seaweed, snow peas and sumptuous noodles.

BUT BE WARNED, or gratified, Merkádo's portions are huge.

Soon after sitting down, we were offered the chef's version of salsa and giant, homemade tortilla chips instead of a breadbasket. Made with jalapeno peppers, tomato, garlic and sesame oil, our salsa was insipid the first time around but nicely tangy the second time.

On my first visit, one of the four small plates we ordered, the Cuban pork quesadilla with pepper jack and a different spicy salsa ($8), arrived cold. But it disappeared from the check after we were asked how we liked it.

Two of our other small plates were outstanding. The most memorable was a silky and sublime portion of seared white tuna sashimi with a crunch of chopped black truffles and a compellingly reduced sauce of miso and sake ($9.75). Also worth trying was the hefty and delicately fried shrimp tempura, served with a smattering of fish roe and Russian dressing ($8.50).

For my entrée, or big plate, I ordered ?arroz con pollo ($15.50), which turned out to be roasted chicken in mojo with rice and beans. It did not disappoint. Noteworthy as well were the crisply, panko-crusted crab-and-shrimp cakes, which come with a slaw of jicama as well as asparagus with a flavor intensified by roasting ($19).

Desserts are not always up to the same standard at Merkádo.

The tres leches cake with a rum-and-berry compote suffered from a disagreeable texture and mismatched ingredients. But the crackly caramelized banana spring rolls with vanilla ice cream and caramel seemed like an inspired update of deliciously old-fashioned bananas Foster ($6.50 for all desserts; $5.50 for ice cream or sorbet).

There's room for improvement at Merkádo, but not much.