Los Portales del Mercado — Restaurant in Playa del Carmen

25/1/24 ggl Thursday late dinner - pdc - Mercado10/06

We three pescatarian middle aged guys from London were looking for a cheap fish or veggie deal off the main drag. We had already had a lunch in the Market building and explored it further. It was confusing as the restaurants occupied stretches of the front and seemed to overlap. We saw a menu with fish on, sat down next to it only to be told (by the man in Aca) it was the restaurant next door!

Eventually at 21:45 we sat on a table for food right by the preparation area of the end restaurant Aca which had just lost our custom as they did not serve fish. We really wanted fish and nothing else as we had just been swimming so had a good excuse!

A waiter brought us some laminated menus in English and we chose a fish soup (120) and two fish stakes (120). My friend pointed at the fish steak on the menu. We also ordered Strawberry, Banana and Papaya smoothies at 40 each.

In good time the drinks arrived and were large and good.

The dishes were served by a young man at 22:05 the first fish arrived for my friend- prawns! Mine arrived quickly after - prawns again! Our friend's fish soup arrived shortly after.

I queried the mistake as we had definitely ordered a fish dish each. The waiter seemed to think we're had ordered prawn diablo (190) instead! I said that we could not have ordered shrimps as allergic (a white lie but it could have been true!). He was not convinced. To his credit he offered to change the dishes.

After a bit of discussion we decided to stay with the shrimps as it would have been dangerous to reheat for someone else. We all knew he had made the mistake (my friend pointed at the fish steak!). We were hoping we might be charged the original 120 for the fish as a result. This was out of our budget and we usually want fish anyway as prawns are not tasty usually as not marinated enough.

The prawns were actually very good! Accompanied by rice, salad, crispy French fries and a small sliced lime. They were spicy and well marinated!

Our friend's fish soup was more of a stew and very generous! It was a very powerful flavoured fish, earthy and firm. It came with a small plate of chopped onions, coriander and a half a lime along with a plate of tortilla chips.

We shared each other's dishes a bit and agreed they were tasty.

We finished all the dishes and asked for the bill. It arrived hand written, itemised and accurate at 620 (our most expensive meal of the holiday so far) meaning we were charged the 190 for his mistake. As it was actually good we let it go but I am writing it here!

If this happens to you then quote this or make it very obvious about your choice! He may have had a lot of excess prawns to clear out and palm off to us as pescatarians.

I am not sure what the fish was, I saw monkfish in a review somewhere. It was very strong flavoured, almost sardines. Maybe the filters would have been the same? A bit too overpowering?

As we were eating I noticed a lot of sharing plates, cutlery and tortillas so they must all work together. This just adds to the confusion of which space is run by which restaurant. This restaurant has tables on the 'corridor' of the market with a wooden decorated sign with food on but no name! We nearly sat down at it the day before thinking it was the one serving mole (Portales, I reviewed on TA).

We passed by later in the evening at 23:30 and it was closed but the two neighbours were certainly open! See image.

It took ages to find this on Gglmps as the menus displayed 'Natural10/06' as the restaurant. I have not found it at all on my usual so here is my full review on gglmps. I had to search variants of Natural10/06 and the address to find it as it was not on the gglmp itself.

I am now an 'expert' on gglmps reviewing now (although I have 8300...

Went for lunch and for dinner. lunch was decent I orderd a chorizo torta with cheese and one soft corn pastor taco, honestly it wasn't bad, the pastor was not that flavorful. My husband ordered chicken/cheese empanadas. Dinner was ok orderd chocinto soft tacos and the pork had a lot more flavor than this afternoon. The service at lunch time was relatively straight forward, at dinner not so much. The waitress seemed irritated taking our order. Overall, it was good to try something new, I wouldn't...

Los Portales is the most awesome place to eat authentic mexican food and the regional Quintana Roo cuisine. It's a few steps away from the extremely expensive 5th avenue restaurants and has a diner feel to it. ITS OPEN 24 HOURS!! The waiters are kind but please be patient, most are young, nervous but eager to take your order. The portions are excellent, the menu is diverse and they have a breakfast menu they serve all day!

Super cheap and super good! Loved it. Personally I recommend the plate...