The light Italian brunching at Mercato in DIFC

While most brunches are about indulging in gluttony, there are some that take you through a relaxed culinary journey across the most authentic corners of a country. Such is the weekend brunch Mercato in Gate Village, DIFC. The restaurant itself is quite rustic in terms of ambience, what with its in-house deli, wooden accents and the smell of freshly baked bread, giving off an Italian Trattoria feel. The minute you step inside, you know you will be taken care of with the best hospitality. And so were we, thanks to their wonderful manager Grazia.

Exuding the perfect weekend vibe, this Italian restaurant has a nicely put together brunch menu for Fridays and Saturdays that offers a range of breakfast dishes, along with a few selected pizzas and pastas. This is different from their weekday menu that focuses more on sandwiches, salads, and a wider variety of pizzas and pastas. The restaurant is open from 9 am to 6 pm on weekends and the brunch menu is served throughout these hours. It’s important to mention here that all their dishes, including the breads, are made fresh every single day. So whether you’re eating their croissants, cookies or cakes, you can be sure nothing’s stale in their shop.

Read my post for more on Mercato and while you’re at it, plan your next weekend at this lovely DIFC gem.

Hot & Cold Beverages

Who else (other than me) is craving this wonderful latte right now? This is the warm latte from my very relaxing brunch at Mercato.

What would you prefer for breakfast – latte or watermelon juice?

Orange juice or Coffee? What’s your favorite breakfast drink?

I’ll have one of each, thanks!

Eggs Benedictine

When you hear the word breakfast, no matter what and where, you can be sure to find some eggs in there. And isn’t it true, that breakfast can never be complete without these? We stuck to being old school and decided to try out atleast one egg based dish from their breakfast menu.

This was it. These classic Eggs Benedictine brought together smoked salmon on a homemade brioche topped with poached eggs and served alongside hollandaise sauce with ripe cherry tomatoes.

What I loved the most about these, in addition to the yolk beauty, was how fresh the salmon tasted. You know I’m not a fish fan, so when I ended up eating the entire piece, it was quite a win for me. Another thing was the bread. I’m always worried of eating bread pieces that are too crusty or hard for my liking. This wasn’t. In fact, it mingled perfectly with the fork and knife, and at the same time wasn’t soggy or distressed.

Mercato really does know how to bake breads. I would love to have the Benedict again, only next time I’d prefer it with turkey ham. Would you give this a try?

Italian Pansotti

Progressing towards more lunch like dishes, we got trying one of Mercato’s specialty pasta. The pansotti is a type of Italian ravioli and is uncommon in regular restaurants, which makes it a great find.

These Italian Riveria ravioli pieces were filled with herbs and fresh Burrata. Now we all know how much I love Burrata, so this pasta dish was bound to be one of my favorites before I could even try it.

But there was much more goodness to this dish than just the cheese. The stuffed ravioli was covered in a creamy walnut sauce, that was especially good thanks to its nutty texture. And to top it all, the pasta was garnished with walnut pieces adding the perfect finish.

Lasagne alla Bolognese

I could totally lunch on this beautiful piece of lasagna every afternoon, only if such a thing like calories didn’t exist. Although, once in a week is definitely ok. And this week’s lasagna indulgence was over the Eid weekend at Mercato in Gate Village, DIFC.

This Lasagne alla Bolognese doesn’t do anything fancy, instead remains true to its classic taste, which is what, IMO, makes it worth the weight (ahem). Delicious layers of Owen baked pasta, organic beef ragu and bechamel sauce mingle so well with each other, you can feel their harmony in every bite.

Did I bring lasagna cravings to your tummy? Go then, get yourself some Mercato goodness!

Mixed Pizza

Isn’t this the perfect mix of pizza toppings. Balancing pepperoni indulgence with a healthy mix of summer veggies, this dual pizza at Mercato offered an impressive myriad of colors and flavors on one plate.

While the classic pepperoni half came with spicy beef salami and pecorino flakes, both imported from Italy, the veggie half of the pizza featured fresh goodness in the form of eggplants, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms and basil.

The crust was light as a cloud and it’s texture absolutely melt in your mouth. Honestly, we couldn’t eat the whole thing. So I decided to pack some for lunch the next day, and the taste of these pizza slices was totes perfect even after 24 hours.

I would definitely go back for their mushroom goodness, and would love to try some chicken too.

Nutella Bomb

Desserts complete the meal like a charm. And at Mercato, we stuck to the fresh bakery goodness. Oozing with Nutella this dessert, although guilty, was just perfect.

Mercato

Location: Gate Village 1, DIFC, Dubai
Contact: 04 3205207