Panama City Fish Market – Our Visit to Mercado de Mariscos in Panama City – The Gifted Gabber

Disclosure: This Panama City Fish Market – Our Visit to Mercado de Mariscos in Panama City post is part of a non-sponsored multi-post series I am writing on Panama City. I was not provided any discounts or payments for this post. 

When traveling through Panama City, Panama, you simply must make a stop at the Panama City fish market. The official name is Mercado de Mariscos.

No, it’s not glamorous.

No, it’s not chic.

And it sure as heck doesn’t smell like a charming little bake shop.

But Mercado de Mariscos, the Panama City fish market, is one of those authentic stops that marks a true visit into Panama City.

If you are one who can’t handle the smell of raw fish, this might be one traveling suggestion you back away from. However, if you can muster through it, you will be glad you did.

Joey, the marvelous new friend we made at PTY Life, suggested the place to us. We had no reason to argue with him because all of his other suggestions had been on point. So. On. Point. In fact, check out my Panama City, Panama tours post I wrote, detailing our tour with Joey! 

There are two options at Mercado de Mariscos. One of them is to go the upstairs restaurant and order your freshly chosen seafood to be cooked by a chef. The other option is to purchase the seafood of your choice downstairs in the fish market and then take it upstairs to the restaurant to be cooked however you want it. Then, you can choose your own sides to go with it. We went with this second option on our visit.

Buying Seafood at the Panama City Fish Market (Mercado de Mariscos)

On the outside of the market, there are some food stands. Ceviche, a popular cultural food in Panama, seems to be the popular hot item out there. So what is ceviche? It is kind of a seafood salad, of sorts. It typically has white fish mixed with citrus flavoring (like lime juice), olive oil, various spices, and salt and powder. The fish is raw but is cooked in the citrus juices. 

Joey took us around the inside of the market to the various vendors to look over the fresh seafood options. 

The prices seemed quite reasonable, as well. We saw various types of fish, lobster, oyster, and shrimp. 

I guess I’m not used to seeing fresh seafood in person these days, but I was shocked at how big some of the shrimp were! 

Eating Fresh Seafood for Lunch or Dinner at Mercado de Mariscos

There is a restaurant upstairs of the Panama City fish market in which you can order your freshly-purchased seafood to be cooked for lunch or an early dinner. The hours of the restaurant are the same as the market – 6 in the morning to 5 p.m. 

The upstairs dining area is a casual set-up with a waitress who takes orders and drops off food.

The food came around and was served family style. We had ordered fried yucca, patacones (fried plantains) and rice to accompany our sautéed shrimp and our Dorado fish. In total, the food price was quite reasonable, especially given that it involved fresh fish and shrimp.

It was sooo good. I mean the flavor was top-notch, which had me thinking we need to buy fresh seafood to cook at home much more often than we do.

When we left the fish market, we rode the new underground metro for the first time. Joey showed us how to purchase a card for multiple rides. This metro system has been added since the last time I was in Panama. The place has gone high tech!

But our poor fellow Subway riders were probably not too happy to be enclosed with a “fishy” smelling crew like us. No doubt, we were not the freshest between the fish smell and all the sweating we had done while walking – it gets HOT in Panama, y’all.

Whenever in Panama, you simply must dine at this (Mercado de Mariscos) Panama City fish market!

Be sure to check out my last Panama City review of the Atlantic-Pacific Restaurant which overlooks the Panama Canal!

Linking up my Panama City fish market post at the following link ups: