It was lovely. A lot of stalls of the same stuff over and over again but the people were friendly. Of course, they wanted you to look at their goods but no one pressured you to stop or followed you around or made you feel horribly uncomfortable. We walked around a bit and then decided to stop for a bite to eat because we did't have breakfast. There are two restaurants with picnic tables under trees where you can have a nice lunch and just relax. The atmosphere was calm and we will probably go back just for the reasonably priced, quiet lunch. We decided on some things that we liked but didn't purchase anything this time. I'm still in the market for the obligatory Maputo Christmas tree ornament, so we were hunting for that. Dan wanted a carved rhino because he thinks Henry the Elephant is lonely back in Ghana. Luckily, he saw the logic in how impossible it would be to get it back to Ghana. Phew. Crisis averted.
After the art market, we went to Mercado da Peixe (Pronounced peshi... or like Joe Pesci), the Fish Market. Our cab driver... bless his heart... had barely pulled into a parking spot before our windows were stormed with people screaming at us in Portuguese. The cab driver smiled at us and rolled up the windows on them. We got out and people followed us, still yelling about something. The best way I can explain this scene is to say it looked like the seagulls in Finding Nemo. A cab pulls up and everyone runs to it going "Mine! Mine! Mine!".
We figure out that these people work at the restaurants behind the fish market and they want us to pick their place. We select a lady and walk into the market. Holy cow there are fresh fish everywhere. Just stacked and stacked on top of each other on various tables. People yelling again trying to get you to buy from them. Shellfish, clams, prawns, snapper, red fish, even eel and barracuda, all just sitting out waiting to be purchased. We decide on some snapper and some prawns. The lady puts them in a bag and weighs them and then the guy who is now with us tells us what is a completely arbitrary price that is probably 10x what a local would pay. Dan negotiates him down a bit but we are clearly being severely overcharged. Oh well, it's an experience.
After we pay, the kid takes our fish and asks how we want it prepared. Off he goes and we follow the original lady to the restaurant. For as loud and hectic as the fish market is, you turn the corner and it's just restaurant after restaurant with plastic tables and umbrellas and Kenny G playing over speakers. The complete opposite of where we just came from. We sit down and order beers and recap "What the heck did we just do?". Mr. I-clean-the-fish comes over at some point and we tip him 100 mets for his help and his respectable English. He says it's 200. We said for what? It's a tip. He argues for awhile and Dan says we'll see how the food tastes and then decide.
Food comes. It's absolutely delicious. They clearly know what they are doing. The prawns are de-headed, deveined and are pan seared in butter and garlic. The fish has been skinned on one side so Dan deboned the rest of it, which was flakey and cooked to perfection. Sorry, we scarfed down the prawns before I remembered to take a photo of them.
We paid the bill for our beers and the food preparation. We're walking out to the cab when I notice that Mr. Relentless is chasing us to the car wanting his extra 100 mets. We told him we gave it to the waitress at the restaurant and got in the car while he was still yelling. We did not feel sorry at all. If he's that upset, he should go demand a share of the cut from the woman selling the fish since he made up the totally ridiculous price. While we admit, it turned out to be an expensive lunch, it sure was an amazing experience that we will remember for a long time!
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