Where your Love for Fish suffers a hilarious death {Mercado Central Santiago}

When you’re new in Santiago and google “things to do in Santiago”, the one thing that pops up is Mercado Central which literally means central market. I’ve been to a few in Spain and fell in love with em so we said “let’s go!”. It was still winter, cold & cloudy and trudged along the Mapuche river from the parking lot to the place.

Mercado Central is basically a wholesale fish market. After you pass by several stalls you also pass by several eateries on the sides. If you happen to walk into the main restaurant in the center, you’re bound to be accosted by the waiters to take a seat and order something good! I was pretty excited. I’d been a fish lover and wanted whole heartedly to take the plunge in the world of sea food!

It was probably mariachi band that added to the whole vibe ~ but after a month of living in this country, it was the first time it felt remotely latino, i.e. vibrant and lively! 

People here don’t speak Spanish the way Spaniards do, or let’s just say it : the way Sofia Vergara does. They speak without exaggeration, or rolling of the tongues, in a very unremarkable, very undramatic way. Sometimes when I sit in a cafe and close my eyes, I think I may as well be in Sweden with people speaking Swedish around me. 

And for once, we had a menu with pictures! We all pointed to things we thought would taste yummy and ordered away. The waiter warned us that some of those dishes were COLD and we thought, well everything’s new to us anyways! Bring it on! 

“But these dishes are COLD”, reminded the waiter once again, before leaving. 

“You got it!” we replied.

The Mariachi band once again took a round, played something and we clicked a coupla pictures with my small point-and-shoot I carried in my pocket. Then the waiter appeared before us once again with the dishes we ordered. 

And they looked like THIS:

Ahem. Like literally speaking, even if I had my DSLR and better lighting I couldn’t have made it look good. 

“Maybe it tastes good?”

*takes a spoon and tastes some*

*YUCK!*

Which take me back to the scene from Bridget Jones diary when she was goes to Thailand to film “the smooth guide”. While she’s supposed to swear and rave about the yummy flavours bursting in her mouth with every spoonful she takes, she simply throws up with disgust! 

Yup, it was something like that. While I didn’t *actually* throw up, I’m pretty sure the waiter gave us the “I told you so” sneer. 

All I know is that I cannot be a food guide. like, ever. 

Cuz after this, I even had Ceviche a coupla times. And as much as I wanted to love it (I tried hard, I did!) I just couldn’t like it! Ceviche is cut up raw fish cured in lemon. The only other time I’ve eaten raw fish, is sushi. 

I LOVE sushi. CEVICHE IS NOT SUSHI.

If you like sushi, it doesn’t mean you’ll like ceviche but if you like ceviche, there’s a good chance you’ll like sushi! 

I’ve LOVED sea food in India, in Thailand, in Spain and in Indonesia. But *not* in Chile. Not in Mercado Central, not in the best sea food place in Zapallar and neither in the BEST chilean-peruvian restaurant people proclaim to be: CHPE LIBRE. My ratings range from underwhelming to disgusting! 

Anyways, we sighed, we nodded our heads, finished all our food (cuz that’s my what mommy taught me to do!) and walked out never to go back there again. 

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Until later! Stay in touch!

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