Mercato Centrale Weekend Market

Today, November 21, was the launch of the newest weekend market in the metro, Mercato Centrale.  I woke up early in the morning just to get a glimpse of it.  I ended up not only getting a glimpse but went home with tons of food goodies and an almost empty wallet hahaha!

Mercato Centrale wasn’t the 1st weekend market I went to.  I remember the 1st tweetup I attended was also in a similar environment.  In fact, while I was talking to some merchandisers earlier, they were telling me they also have a stall in Salcedo Market (located in Makati).

The 1st day of Mercato Centrale was very successful.  I arrived a lil before 8AM and there were tons of people already.  Sellers were very enthusiastic too as it was their 1st ever venture in bringing their products to the now popular Bonifacio Global City.  Whenever we walk along a stall, they would offer us free taste of food, provide brochures of their products, explain what their products were, it was overwhelming! 🙂

I even saw some celebrities checking out the stalls in the market too.  I gathered enough guts and walked up to them and asked if we could take pictures with them.  Coincidentally, we were watching Sports Unlimited in ANC before leaving the house then we saw Marc Nelson in person!  My mom and I are also a big fan of Angel Aquino who was awesome in a TV series titled Magkaribal.  I was telling her that we watch the show then she told me that I have great skin.  I told her it’s because of Olay, she laughed and thought I was just teasing her (she’s a model of Olay).  I then told her that I’m actually working for P&G (company who owns Olay).

Brought to us by the same people behind Ultimate Taste Test & Mommy Mundo events, Mercato Centrale promises us with unique, great tasting food finds.  Following the footsteps of Mercato Centrale in Florence & Boroughs Market in London, I believe they did a good job with the inspiration.

So many stalls in Mercato, they have over 150!  You can find almost any kind of food you can think of in the weekend market.  They have pastries, frozen meat, organic foods, fresh juices, snacks, sauces, desserts, vegetables, cooked food, sandwiches, ice cream and a lot, lot more!

Here are some of the stuff that we bought:

• Picole Healthy Ice Pops (Php 35)

I love popsicles!  When we saw this stall near the back entrance of Mercato, my mom already knew that I would love to buy one.  We chose the blueberry cheesake flavor which they call Yogu Pops.  Apparently, there are different nutritional facts in each kind of ice pops.  The one that we got has high calcium, low fat, fiber and low calories.  Healthy eating is the way to go!

• Assorted Vegetables

My mom, of course, was in the lookout for fresh vegetables to cook for me! 😀  There were lots in Mercato, that we ended up just buying and buying as we strolled around the place.

I also found this guy, in the photo below, interesting.  While my mom was buying vegetables from the neighboring stall, he was actually teaching my mom how to cook it hahaha!  I actually felt bad that I didn’t get to buy the free range chicken (Php 950) that he was selling.  It definitely looked delish but I have kept in mind the location of his farm which I plan to visit in the future.

The name of the farm is Pamora and it is located in Abra.  They raise French breed free-range chickens, organic vegetables, fruits and other things.  There’s a guesthouse where we can stay for the night while being served with healthy food.  It’s so nice that aside from producing healthy products, they are also promoting tourism through the beauty of Abra.

• Frullati Smoothies

The girl told me they offer delicious fruit smoothies which are made from natural ingredients.  I was curious.  Based on what we bought so far, I believe that whatever we buy in Mercato would be something worthwhile.  They put frozen buko cubes (lots of it) then poured milk (Milk Magic), I’m not that fond of milk but boy, it did taste so fresh & natural.

• Chile Vitas Chile Cheese (Php 164) & Cropeck (Php 50)

My favorite among the things that we bought today.  I tried all 4 flavors (Chile Cheese, Chile Mustard, Chile Pepper, Chile Vinegar) but I just couldn’t forget how delicious the Chile Cheese was.  We immediately bought one and also bought several packs of Cropeck.  I’m opening one now as I write this post 😛

• Herbs Best Chips (3 for Php 200)

I am constantly looking for a healthy snack to munch on while I’m at the office.  when I saw this, I thought it was noodles.  Apparently, they also have noodles but the one for free taste were their snacks.  They have malunggay, luyang-dilaw, carrot, spicy tahong, ampalaya and carrot-kalabasa flavors.  We bought malunggay, ampalaya and spicy tahong.  I’ll surely enjoy eating this without feeling guilty.  My mom also bought the noodles.

• Rawlicious Green Monster Xavier – 500 mL (Php 95)

Another option for natural beverages.  The owner was very enthusiastic that I ended up buying even though I wasn’t planning to at 1st glance.  The different smoothies have their own good effect for our body.  The one that I bought is particularly good for digestion, in short, for detoxing.

• Organic Balut/Organic Salted Egg (Php 15)

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Organic eggs!  I asked them what’s the difference between a normal egg and an organic egg.  I was told that the chicken was fed with only healthy and natural food thus the eggs that they put out were organic.  I believed them that’s why we bought several.

Whew!  Whatta morning!  I really enjoyed my experience.  It’s good to see sooo many selections of wonderful and healthy food.  Truly a haven for people like us who love to eat!

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Mercato Centrale at BGC
Corner of 30th & 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Philippines
(0917) 531-8949