Malagon Mercado y Taperia is a neighborhood spot that offers tapas as well as a market of wines and foods.  It was a awarded one Michelin Star in the inaugural 2025 ceremony for the American South.  The deep space has tables in front and along the wall for those with reservations and the long counter seats walk-ins.  Owned by Chef Juan Cassalett (who is married to the chef at Chez Nous Jill Mathias) and restauranteurs Patrick and Fanny Panella, they’ve been very busy since the recognition.    The Spanish restaurant harkens to Cassalett’s origins and offers shared plates from a number of regions with some variations on typical themes.  The fun sounding options are available with a good variety of wines by the bottle and glass as well as non-alcholic drinks.  The service was attentive and didn’t overload the small table but the food was mixed.  Still if you’re craving tapas and located in Charleston this is a great option.

Set-up

Food

Setas a la parilla contained grilled King Trumpet mushrooms, garlic and almonds. The meaty mushrooms were good with crunchy topping and lots of garlic.  A bit of chocolate in the mix gives a sweetness to the dish that is appealing.

 

Padrons were roasted peppers with sea salt.  This was a huge plate of nicely browned peppers.  Some of the peppers had a bit of zing but mostly they were mild.  I enjoyed the plate but wish we could have ordered half of it.

 

Tortilla Española was a combination of potato and onions in an omelette with aioli.  It was delicious.   The puffed up omelette was stuffed with the perfectly cooked and sliced potatoes and covered in the herby aioli  This came in a small cast iron skillet and offered excellent flavor.

 

Shrimp and escarole were in a vinegar sauce.  The shrimp were overcooked and the escarole had too much vinegar for me.  The vinegar turned the nicely cooked escarole quite brown which wasn’t appealing.  I would have liked the tradtional garlic sauce.

 

Secreto de cerdo was a grilled Iberico pork skirt steak with quince and pine nuts. The nicely cooked meat came sliced but it didn’t have near the flavor or the wonderful texture of the pork we had yesterday at Chez Nous.  The generous dusting of pine nuts was tasty but overall this meat disappointed.

 

Arros con cangrejo was a crab rice with squid ink and paprika.  The moist rice was dotted with tons of crab meat bits but it was mostly texture as the curry base took over the flavor profile. There was a nice bit of spice to the dish but overall it was not a favorite.