301 North Spurgeon Street
Santa Ana, CA 92701
Now that restaurants and other businesses are opening back up, it's time to face some facts. It's going to still take some time for things to get back to where they were before. Restaurants have had to pivot in all sorts of directions in the last year. Delivery and takeout ordering only, placing their employees on furlough or letting them go permanently, social distancing guidelines, mask-wearing mandates, and dealing with people who do not want to comply, are just a small percentage of what restaurants have had to deal with.
So, as we move forward it's important to remember that we've all been through a lot, so a little compassion and understanding needs to be the rule of the land. I bring this up because there's going to be some growing pains at some of your favorite spots, including our recent visit to El Mercado in Santa Ana. This was not the smoothest of evenings that we have encountered in a restaurant.
I am totally cognizant that restaurants are having a hard time finding staff, that there might be new cooks in their kitchens and there could be new management running your favorite restaurant. Since people read this restaurant review site to help them decide if they want to part with their hard-earned money on a particular place, I feel it's my duty to give you an unbiased, honest review, even if there might be some issues with a place that I'm unaware of. They may have just had an off night or maybe it's a regularly occurring problem, but the following was our experience.
Last month was Orange County Restaurant Week, and since both Katie and I had gotten our first shot, we felt comfortable enough to head out and support Orange County restaurants. I had made a plan to eat from six restaurants in seven days, all but this meal at El Mercado was going to be eaten at home. I made reservations at El Mercado for 2 at 7pm on a Saturday evening. We arrived promptly and were seated near the back of the restaurant, close to the bar.
El Mercado is situated in Downtown Santa Ana, right by the Yost Theater, and a stone's throw away from Playground, Wursthaus, and 4th Street Market, among others. Their menu leads off with nine appetizers, there's four taco plates to choose from, and ten entrees to select from. Prices range between $13 to $29 for entrees. I was going to be having the prix-fixe $30 restaurant week menu and Katie decided to order off of the regular menu.
A big thing for Katie growing up was ordering Chips and Guacamole ($9.00) as an appetizer at every Mexican restaurant that they would eat at. It's a tradition that her parents still do to this day, sometimes ordering two or three if it's the ten of us. This version at El Mercado was pretty stellar. It had a good chunky consistency to it, was seasoned well, and came with pepitas, tomatoes, and onion. They also have a version that includes crickets, but Katie chickened out when I suggested trying it.
Brussels Sprouts ($12) are having their moment in the sun right now, as they are on almost every menu in OC, including this one. At El Mercado, they crisp up their sprouts nicely and then add parmesan cheese, pickled veggies, and toss it with a chile ancho and xocconostle sauce. Balsamic was not used here, they instead utilized the contrasting slightly sweet and sour sauce, which was a breath of fresh air. I was also a fan of the pickled vegetables that were added. A nice choice of stater if you are a fan of Brussels sprouts.
We've had the good, now the ugly. With my OC Restaurant Week pre-fixe menu, I could choose between either chicken or vegetable enchiladas, or what I went with the Carnitas ($18). Even the vegetable enchiladas had to be a better option than what I got. This big chunk of pork was as dry as August in Palm Springs. It came with a moat of pork jus, pickled onion, and a sprig of cilantro. The menu said that it was supposed to come with some salsa verde, but they must have forgotten it. It definitely needed it. Each bite was like sandpaper going down. I tried to salvage this by asking for some sour cream to help moisten things up a bit, but the small, thimble-sized amount of sour cream I was given was no match for this dried-up piece of swine that I left half-eaten as our plates were taken away. This was really one of the most awful meals I've had in recent memory. Barely edible.
As I was struggling with my meal, Katie was waiting another 20 minutes for her Mole ($19). There must have been a snafu in the kitchen or our server did not key in the order. This chicken breast was placed in a pool of reddish mole, with dots of pea puree and jocoque on the plate and plenty of toasted sesame seeds and finely diced onion topping the bird. The chicken itself was for the most part pretty good, but some bites were a little on the dry side. I expected a little more depth of flavor from the mole, but it was passable. Katie ended up liking this more than I did, but she'd get something else if she came here again.
The last part of my restaurant week experience was this Carrot Cake ($9). The carrot cake was formed into a mini loaf, with a pineapple compote placed on the side and plenty of whipped cream on top. The cake on its own was fine, moist, but not overly sweet. The sweetness of this dessert was provided by the pineapple and whipped cream. I liked this take on a carrot cake, but I do admit to missing the traditional cream cheese frosting that is a big part of any carrot cake experience.
Okay, so our visit to El Mercado started off really well, and then took a deep drop off as soon as my meal reached the table. Like I said earlier, maybe they have new chefs in the kitchen, maybe they were having an off day, or some other unforeseen things were happening here, but I expected more especially after the glowing reviews I have read about this place from other food writers who I respect. I do give our server and the manager credit that they did try to make things right by giving Katie a free carrot cake, and free guacamole to take home, but I did have to end up getting something at the food truck outside. Other than the long wait for Katie's meal, the service was pretty solid on this evening. I'm going to chalk this one up to getting back into the swing of things after a long year, but I'd definitely avoid the carnitas on future visits.
Out of five walnuts, (because this restaurant sits on Spurgeon Street, named after the founder of Santa Ana, William Spurgeon, who not only was the towns first mayor but also was a walnut farmer), five being best to zero being worst, El Mercado Modern cuisine gets 2 walnuts.
For more information about El Mercado Modern Cuisine, head to their website here: https://www.mercadomodern.com/
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