Mercante, Mar y Brasas
Asturias
At a glance
Mercante, Mar y Brasas is a seafood restaurant and charcoal grill on Cuesta del Cholo, in the upper part of Cimadevilla, Gijón. The dining room sits close to the port and near the Elogio del Horizonte, giving the restaurant a distinctly maritime setting without taking attention away from the food.
The cooking centres on fish from the Cantabrian coast, with the grill used for preparations such as charcoal-cooked scorpionfish and vine-grilled sea bass. The daily fish and seafood selection follows what arrives through the Gijón fish market, so those options are presented at the table or on the blackboard rather than treated as a fixed part of the menu. This makes the restaurant a natural choice for diners interested in seasonal marine produce.
The permanent menu brings together seafood dishes, small plates, Asturian cooking and grilled meats. Fish and seafood starters include anchovies with smoked sardines, scorpionfish pâté, fried hook-caught squid, fried monkfish and prawns with monkfish in a house salad. The kitchen also offers familiar sharing plates such as croquettes, chorizo cooked in cider and Avilés-style sausage from the grill.
Asturias appears through dishes such as fabada, while rice preparations provide a more substantial option, including seafood rice made with fish stock, bomba rice and Cantabrian prawns. The menu also includes meat from dry-aged preparations and desserts, giving the restaurant some flexibility for tables with mixed preferences. Cooking remains straightforward and product-led, with charcoal, fish stock, traditional sauces and carefully handled ingredients shaping the style.
Mercante, Mar y Brasas suits diners looking for a relaxed meal focused on seafood, grilled cooking and regional flavours. It works for a plate of fried fish, a shared selection of starters or a longer lunch built around the catch of the day. The port-side location also makes it convenient for combining a meal with a walk through Cimadevilla, down towards the muelle or up to the Elogio del Horizonte.
