Mercado de Mariscos and More~Panama City

Mercado de Mariscos and More~Panama City

     There are Fish Markets, and there is the Mercado de Mariscos in Panama City. The market is located at Avenida Balboa and Avenida Eloy Alfaro at the edge of Casco Viejo. It is open every day from 6 a.m. (brutal!) to 5 p.m. except for the third Monday of every month, when they close for a thorough cleaning. If you don’t mind the smell, it is an entertaining place to pass an hour, wandering around and checking out the day’s catch. The vendors are quite skilled with their knives, and can trim, slice, and fillet so fast that a photo of the task is blurry.

     Most of the stalls are named after a religious theme, “Power of Jesus”, “God is My Strength and Refuge”, “Saint Michael’s”, that sort of thing. If I were out on the high seas trying to make a living by what I could hook and net, I’d pray pretty hard, too. Actually, it’s not the fishermen running these stalls, but wholesalers that buy from them. There is a restaurant, also, where you can take your purchase and have it prepared to your liking, but we did not avail ourselves of that option the day we went.   

     You can find sea bass, grouper, red snapper, sole, octopus, crab, shrimp of every description, tuna, and many others I can’t even name. The prices are excellent, and it doesn’t get any fresher. We bought big old shrimp and had them with our pasta that evening.

     A short walk away is a produce market and meat market that sells chicken, beef and pork. The meat market is definitely not for the squeamish. The day we were there, whole pink hogs were on the counter being turned into pork chops and other cuts. Chickens lay with their feet in the air (no longer crossing the road) and sides of beef hung from hooks, waiting for Rocky Balboa to come along and punch them. Again, watching the butchers with their ninja-like knife skills is impressive.

     As for the produce, it is huge, vine ripened, because it is grown locally, and actually tastes like it is supposed to. The bananas are as sweet as ice cream, and the pineapple is like ambrosia for the gods. I am patiently waiting for the ageless immortality that consuming these fruits will bestow upon me. Some of the stalls in the produce area sold dried foods, like beans, and rice, and seasoning packets, bottles of rum, sauces, and the like.

     For those that live near these markets, it’s a great place to shop. For the tourist and occasional visitor to the city, it is a fun and interesting place to visit. Don’t forget your camera!