Mercat in Chicago: Not So Relaxing Tapas (Chicago Area Restaurant Review No. 61)

We love tapas, and we are both fans of the Blackstone Hotel, newly refurbished and reopened after years of litigation (damn lawyers). So we were particularly excited when we heard a tapas restaurant had opened in the Blackstone. This actually was our second attempt to find Mercat, which is very well hidden. The first time we wandered the hotel just to look at it and we found a couple ballrooms, a lounge and a very nice lobby, but were at a loss as to where the restaurant might be. This time, we asked and learned that to reach Mercat we needed to go through the bar (which is one staircase down from the lobby) and then go up a camouflaged curving staircase. At the top of that staircase is a large trendily decorated room with high ceilings and large windows overlooking Michigan Avenue and Grant Park (a very lovely view). The colors also are interesting oranges and yellows. The table are a bit close together, but the decor is worth seeing.

We started with a bottle of Marques de Vargas Rioja. We both enjoyed the tart, fruity flavor, which also went well with all the tapas courses. The menu here is somewhat limited for a tapas place for diners who share our tastes (which are not too exotic). So we needed to search to find enough small plates that we thought we'd like, but we found them. First, we shared three cheeses and three cured meats from the cold meat and cheese section of the menu. There are 8 cheeses and 8 meats to choose from. We avoided the raw cheese, which made us a little nervous, and had one each of goat, sheep and cow's milk cheese. All of them were excellent, the portions were ample, and we thought this was one of the best cheese plates we have tried. We found the goat cheese particularly interesting because it was not soft like most goat cheese, yet still had the same smooth flavor. And it came with caramel and garlic spread that sounds like a bad combination, but which tasted great (who knew). Our favorite meat was the jamon iberico, which our waiter explained was from a pig that was fed a diet of 70% acorn. Unfortunately, the 100% acorn pig was not yet ready for consumption, so we couldn't try that. But 70% was really tasty and well worth the $23 for the plate, which also came in an ample portion with plenty of bread. The other two meats were less interesting but decent, but the acorn pig stole the show. We also got complimentary bread with a tomato paste, which Steve loved.

We then had the a beef shortrib flatbread which was out of this world. Steve could have made a meal of just that. The beef was tender and flavorful, and the dish was perfectly cooked. Lisa was excited to see the bacon wrapped dates, especially served with cheese fondue poured over them, but utlimately, as often happens with the dates, she found the flavor a bit overwhelming. Steve initially thought these might not be so bad, but. as usual, ended up finding them wretched. (We vow not to order dates again.) The next two plates were somewhat boring. The garlic shrimp were cooked in a nice garlic butter, but the shrimp tasted somewhat fishy. The potatoes were advertised as spicy aioli. This led us to believe we were getting the staple of all good tapas restaurants (in our opinion), the garlic potatoes, however, these potatoes were more like hush puppies with paprika mousse on top. They didn't taste bad, but they were a big let down from what we were expecting, and actually did not taste that spicy to us.

Dessert disappointed. First, Mercat was out of the chocolate dish Lisa wanted. So she tried the Crema Catalina, which turned out to be basically an orange flan. Since Lisa doesn't like custard, it wasn't the best choice for her, but Steve liked it, and LIsa liked the cake on the bottom. Steve ordered sheep's cheese mousse with an almond cookie and black grapes. The cheese tasted like ricotta and didn't really work with this dish because its taste overpowered the rest of the ingredients. But the cookie wasn't bad (Lisa ate it). The grape slices didn't have much flavor.

The bathrooms, in keeping with the rest of Mercat's atmosphere, were trendy. They were also clean, though Lisa found the Women's Room slightly odiferous, and the water in the sink only got luke warm. Steve had no complaints (for a change) about the Men's Room.

Dinner for two, with a bottle of wine, was $230, and would have been about $175 with wine by the glass. This seems a little high to us for a tapas restaurant, but Mercat is right downtown and is a poseur's paradise, which entails overhead. For our tastes, the atmosphere here was a little too intense for a tapas place, especially once the crowd picked up. Nonetheless, the service was good, if a bit amateurish, with a few too many servers per table. (We also found the music a bit jarring, but we probably are not the target patrons.)

Our ratings for Mercat, 638 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois:

7 of 10 Steak Knives; 2 of 3 Bathroom Brushes