Late night apps at Il Mercato

Last Friday, some friends and I ended up at Il Mercato on Spring Garden for some late-night munchies. We had all been out at various Christmas parties and events, and planned to meet up later for a couple drinks to kick-off the Christmas season.

After tossing around a couple ideas on the freezing cold street, we realized that we were right in front of Il Mercato which would well serve our jonze for a good bottle of red. I've eaten at Il Mercato a couple of times and have quite enjoyed myself, but this time was definitely the best. Perhaps it was the company, maybe it was the spontaneous decision to meet up in a bustling restaurant full of chatter as opposed to simply sipping martinis at the bar...it could have been the wine...

Since -oddly enough-I hadn't been thinking about food, I was having a bit of difficulty making a decision, so I went entirely on our server's recommendation and went with the mussels. Though the mussels themselves were a little smaller than I would have liked, the broth itself was delicious. Soaked up with some of the resto's yummy foccacia, this appy made for a great meal.

Mussels sauteed in white wine, tomato,

onion, garlic & basil

While I went for seafood, one of my friends ordered the risotto croquettes, another of the server's recos. These were a tasty dish that had all the requirements of comfort food- creamy risotto, a crunch of batter and a warm, sweettomato sauce. Again, an appy, but served with bread made up a nice little meal.

Risotto croquettes w/ wild mushroom & proscuitto
served w/tomato basil sauce