Last weekend, I was invited to brunch at El Mercado Modern Cuisine, a Mexican restaurant located in downtown Santa Ana. One of my favorite cuisines is Mexican food, so it’s such a delight to be able to find these hidden gems in Orange County!
I really appreciate restaurants that not only focus on building a delicious, well thought out menu, but also take the time to step up their interior design. To me, it shows that they not only want their customers to enjoy their food but also the ambiance. During the day, El Mercado Modern’s walls are a bright, eggplant purple covered with bright colorful artwork from a local artist in Laguna Beach. At night, the atmosphere changes, where the walls turn black giving it a more cozy, intimate vibe. When speaking to Fernando, one of the owners of El Mercado Modern, he explained that he wanted to incorporate some of his memories from Mexico into the design of the restaurant. The purple walls represent his grandma’s casa (house). He also mentioned, that the menu is built on traditional Mexican dishes but incorporates other cuisines and flavors into it.
All of the ingredients that are used in the dishes I’m about to describe are all made in-house. Fernando and Jose make sure to work with local, premium businesses in order to provide the best quality meals and drinks! And let me tell you, Akshay and I could definitely tell.
To start off, Akshay and I got to taste two of their hand crafted cocktails:
Silent Night: This is a new cocktail not even on their menu yet! It’s a pretty pink colored cocktail mixed with piscina, hibiscus and apple cider shrub topped with mint and agave. By the way, I just want to call out how thoughtful the bartender was! After he served us the drink, he ran back with another serving platter just so I could get a cooler shot of the drink.
Chile Soy: This drink was inspired by their popular dish called Aguachile. It’s mixed with Pisco, dehydrated Serrano, mint and citrus dressing. The way they served this drink was pretty unique as you can tell in the photo. If you like more savory/ slightly sour flavors, I definitely recommend this drink. I personally prefer less sweet, so I enjoyed this one! (Akshay’s note: weird, because she prefers her husbands as sweet as possible)
We also got to pair these drinks with three amazing dishes:
Buttermilk pancakes: I have never seen Akshay drool over pancakes in the 4 years we have been together. We were actually fighting over these. The batter is made out of corn meal and is fermented overnight. They top the pancakes with burnt Pilonsillo (similar to Maple syrup, but tastes way better). This is a definite must order! (Akshay’s note: she isn’t kidding. These were unique and amazing. Only the second pancake dish I’ve enjoyed this much besides my mom’s chocolate chip pancakes. Highly recommended.)
Aguachile: As I mentioned earlier, this dish inspired the cocktail, Chile Soy. It’s served cold and has shrimp soaked in an amazing lime dressing. The ingredients really mesh well together with the crunch of the cucumbers and the softness of the shrimp. So good! (Akshay’s note: I also love sour dishes. This was really good too.)
Huevos Rancheros: This is a very traditional dish, with runny eggs served over beans and crispy corn tortillas. I loved the bean purée they used. It is super creamy and the queso fresco was so good!
After the three dishes, we were pretty full. However, we always leave room for dessert! They ended up serving us a delicious pumpkin spice ice cream topped with Oaxacan chocolate crumble, pickled blueberries and hibiscus shrub. It was the most fancy ice cream I have ever had. The texture of the ice-cream had a slight crunch to it and was a very light and refreshing dessert.
We had such a great experience at El Mercado Modern! Check out their website here. You can really tell that everyone who works at the restaurant is really passionate and genuinely enjoy being there!
