Tag: restaurants

Dar Poeta Pizza and Gelato in Trastevere, Rome

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The Trastevere neighborhood of Rome, Italy is jam-packed with cool cafes and restaurants, as well as locals and tourists roaming the street in search of food, drink and reverie.

IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT PIZZA

Back in 2010, I had my first encounter with this Roman neighborhood, as my boyfriend (at the time – now husband) and I had done some research on the best pizza places in Rome. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Rome isn’t known for pizza; that’s Naples. And yes, I know that. But it was his first trip to Italy and I had a hankering for some crispy dough piled with tomato sauce and cheese. So, I did my research and found Dar Poeta. We took our chances and headed over to this popular spot located at Vicolo del Bologna, 45. There are two locations now, apparently, according to Dar Poeta’s website.

After waiting a bit for a table (surprisingly not THAT long, given how famous this place is), we were practically wedged in to the corner of the place next to a French couple. And by wedged I mean they had to get up, move their table, and basically play Tetris (yeah, I went there) in order to have us sit down.

But, the pizza? Continue reading →

Reñaca & Sushi at Sushi Home Beach

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Reñaca is your typical beach-side town with tons of highrise apartment buildings and hotels along a beach, but the difference is that they’re all built on hills and on the beaches, you can rent lounge chairs, an umbrella, and anything else for the day (or by the hour). It’s pretty cool. It’s also handy because almost nobody sells beach towels, and the ones that do are surf shops that sell towels by Quiksilver and other brands, and cost about US $50. So, make sure you bring a towel if you go.
We weren’t overly impressed with the area, but the beach is wide and sandy, yet crowded. As you can see, the weather wasn’t cooperating as much as we had hoped.  We had a great lunch at a sushi place there after it got cloudy and too cold to lay out any longer.
Sushi Home Beach was awesome. We were some of the only ones in the place and the staff was really friendly. Our waiter was bilingual but put up with our terrible accents speaking Spanish and walked us through the menu, and gave us excellent recommendations for rolls and side dishes. We started the day off right with some pisco sours (as you do in Chile) and got to work on our rolls.
I recommend the spicy ones and the ones that have octopus. I can’t remember the names. But the piscos are also damn delicious. So go there, if you’re ever in the area.

Viña del Mar – Why You Need to Go

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Valparaiso’s colorful houses and picturesque hills are amazing, but if you go to the Chilean coastline in this area, you’d be remiss if you didn’t make it slightly north to Viña del Mar (about 10-15 minutes) and Reñaca (about 40 minutes).

Moai head, Viña del Mar
Nifty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They’re easy to reach by bus from Valparaiso (and directly from Mendoza) and a major vacation destination for the Argentines, and particularly, the Mendocinos. Everyone goes to Reñaca during the summer. It’s like what the Hamptons are for New Yorkers. Except this is the Hamptons for the slightly less well-off, where there are no impressive houses and everyone is eating empanadas. And a lot of people have rat-tails, but not in an ironic way.

Still, you must go. I will write about Viña del Mar here, and Reñaca in my next post. You can catch the city buses there that run up and down the coastal road and the ride is scary, but cheap.

Viña del Mar has at least 2 things (other than Entremasas) that you should go see while you’re there. One is Moai from Easter Island. If you take a photo just right, you can fool some fools into believing you actually paid the billion* dollars to fly to Easter Island from Santiago.

The other is the flower clock that they are so proud of. It’s not amazing, I know. But it’s pretty cool. And if you’re going to be there to see the Moai and get some sun, you might as well mosey on over and take a photo. I’m told that they change the flowers every now and then, so the colors probably vary.

Flower clock in Viña del Mar
Son las 12:37, perras.

What’s more, Viña is more like a “real city” in some respects; they have a Lider (Chilean WalMart), good shopping, a (VERY nice) Casino, a boardwalk… the whole nine.  I recommend having a drink on the patio of the Enjoy Bar, which is right across from the casino, at the end of the little street that leads to the boardwalk. They had a drink called the “Quiet Relax”… which is just a ridiculous name for a drink that was strong as hell and unidentifiable. Stick with a pisco sour. They are delicious here.

I also recommend renting one of the 4-person Surreys (bikes with an awning above it) and riding up and down the street. We went a little crazy and drove up to the doors of the casino. It was hilarious, but I think you just had to be there. You should probably do it, too, and let’s see if we can start a trend. If you do, please send me a photo. I’ll post it. I swear.

A stroll along the boardwalk should also be in your cards for the day, as well as a good wander of the shopping streets. We ate at a delicious pan-Asian restaurant that night, which by its name was highly deceiving, as it brings to mind a certain bad-mall-Chinese-food vibe; Wok & Roll.

The menu was a bit all over the place, but we all decided on curries (chicken with green curry for me) as our main dishes, with some sushi rolls to start. The curries were fantastic, especially since we were in Chile. We didn’t have much time to eat because we were catching our bus back to Mendoza in a few hours, so we probably would have stayed longer if we could have. The staff were great and called a cab for us while we were eating so that we could leave as soon as we were done.  If I went back to Viña, I’d go eat there again.

Another notable thing for Expats who are missing the flavors of home is that there’s a bagel shop in town now, run by expats called BagelMania. They had a booth at Lollapalooza Chile, and I was really impressed. Check it out. Update: I think BagelMania is closed! Wahhh!

*Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating.

An afternoon in Colonia, Uruguay

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During another trip to Buenos Aires during Easter Week, my friends and I decided that we should make the hop over to Uruguay and see what we were missing in Colonia del Sacramento.

Turns out, not a WHOLE lot. But it was still worth a visit.

We took the Buquebus over, and made a few mistakes that I hope someone else can learn from.

TIPS FOR TAKING THE BUQUEBUS:

  1. One does not simply arrive, buy a ticket, and get on the boat within a half hour. You need to buy tickets online in advance (if you can – the website was not working when we were trying to buy them online the day before), which you can do here: http://www.buquebus.com/BQBWebV2/web/ListadoDayTours. If you don’t, you must go into the terminal in Puerto Madero and find the Buquebus Turismo (travel) agency.
  2. You also can’t book a ticket for any departure within a half hour or so. So, either show up way earlier than you intend to leave, or buy them in advance online or at the terminal.
  3. You’ll need to go through immigration and pre-clear it and customs in Argentina, so be aware.
Look at me, I’m a bullring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second mistake we made was that we booked the city tour sightseeing bus that takes you on a tour of Colonia. It’s a) too long, b) not in English as promised, c) boring and d) time poorly spent. The only things we saw that were of note were the bullring and the old town.  You can actually get to the bullring by taxi or by renting a golf cart in town, and I recommend doing it that way if you really must see it. It was cool, but I’m not sure it was worth the hour or so it took to get there and back on the tour bus, when we could have spent that hour or so walking around and shopping or eating.

Pretty streets in the old town.

And the old town is where you get dropped off from the bus that you get from the ferry terminal.

COLONIA, URUGUAY PROTIP: Don’t waste your money and time on the “tour bus” and just walk the old town for the day. We wished we had more time to spend there, and unfortunately, the bus tour was so long that we didn’t have much time to explore the best part of the city.

Just a tort waiting to happen.

The city’s cobblestone streets are lined with trees and cafes, of laid-back Uruguayans drinking mate and wine and watching passersby stroll along the boulevards in search of often-overpriced “authentic” tchotchkes to gather dust in their curio cabinets for years to come.

We, however, were on another mission. We were starving. And when you’re not in Mendoza, you eat seafood. As much seafood as humanly possible.

Gates of the old town. If there’s anything I like,  it’s a good smattering of plaques.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Through all of my foodie research (including scouring TripAdvisor frantically on my iPhone while walking through said picturesque streets), we decided to try to eat at a pizza place called La Bodeguita. It looked adorable. And delicious. And we arrived 5 minutes past lunch time!!! Total bummer.As we entered the gates of the old city walls, we were immediately transported. I have no other words for the place but “cute” and “awwww”.  You just feel the history, but it’s still quaint and a happy place. There are a ton of little restaurants serving mainly the same things, but the people are happy and there’s a vibrance to the place that I just can’t describe. It almost felt like home, in a weird way.

We ended up eating at a plaza cafe called La Pulperia de Los Faroles. We had fried calamari, several pitchers of sangria and the “seafood pots”, which was like a paella. My friend got adventurous and tried these vegetarian spinach fritters, which were actually REALLY tasty. It wasn’t our first choice of a place to go, and the staff was less than attentive, but the setting was wonderful. A few groups of Candombe drummers performed nearby and we relaxed under the Uruguayan sun, spending some much-needed downtime enjoying the sights and sounds.

We had to head back to the bus terminal, after our short day of exploration and relaxation. The line was enormous (as you have to go through customs & immigration again, if I remember correctly – before you board the boat). We were all exhausted.

If I ever go back to Colonia, I will make sure that I have more than a few hours to see the old town and really get to enjoy it. There’s not much there; there are a few museums, and from what I understand, great gastronomy and nightlife. However, I’d like to go back again and see for myself. This time, I’ll do it right.

Adorable little streets full of restaurants.

 

Samsara restaurant review – Valparaiso

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Brace yourselves for a collection of restaurant reviews, ’cause I’m in the mood to post about food today. And several of the places that L and I have been over the past several months deserve a mention, in hopes that I can save a few weary spice-deprived travelers some valuable time and grief by throwing in my two cents about where to stuff your face in Chile and Argentina.

Which brings me to this restaurant review of Samsara, a Thai place nestled in the winding streets of the hill of Cerro Alegre in Valparaiso. Sure, it sounds expensive. It is. But is it worth it? Oh, yes.

PROTip: Make a Reservation

Make a reservation at least a day in advance. If you forgot, make one in the afternoon as early as possible. The venue is very small (it seems like it’s a converted house), and if you don’t have much time in Valparaiso, you may miss out.   Almirante Montt 427, Cerro Alegre., Valparaiso, Chile   Phone: (32) 2592492

How To Get there

You can take the bus to the bottom of the hill and hail a taxi there to bring you to the top. I believe it’s called Plazuela Anibal Pinto.  It’s walkable, but straight uphill and not very comfortable. Especially if you’re dressed somewhat nicely.

THE EXPERIENCE

So, the prices. It’s expensive. But, the price for each entree does include a salad and a dessert. So keep that in mind when you are reviewing the menu and recovering from sticker shock (if you’ve lived in Chile or Argentina long enough, anyway).
The service was great; our server was from France originally, and very friendly, efficient and sweet. We were really impressed by her. The only problem was that a few of their wines on their wine list were not in stock, and it took 3 tries to find a bottle that they had on hand. In the end, we decided on this bottle of Chamán carmenére (after a bottle of Torrontés or Sauvignon Blanc, I believe.. it’s been a while). Some San Pellegrino to keep us sober-ish, and we were good to go.
Shrimp Pad Thai at Samsara Restaurant in Valparaiso, Chile
Pad Thai

The food was delicious. I ordered the shrimp pad Thai (pictured). Admittedly, it isn’t the “pad thai” I am used to, as the sauce was more savory and less nutty or coconut-y than usual. It did feature peanuts. But it was still really tasty and the vegetables were perfect.  L had the green curry, which he claimed was pretty “damn hot” and he cleaned his plate. A nice touch was the monkey design in paprika atop the rice plate that accompanied his dish.

The candlelight and atmosphere was very romantic without seeming stuffy or trying too hard. We really, really liked it.

Samsara Thai restaurant in Valparaiso, Chile
Paprika Elephant!

All in all, we were very impressed with the food and service and absolutely loved the location and ambience in the place. If we ever find ourselves in Valparaiso again, this is on our list of must-do’s again.

Entremasas empanadas in Viña del Mar

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Ok, gente. You need to do yourselves a favor and go to one of the several locations for this empanada shop: Entremasas empanadas in Viña del Mar, Chile..
Why? Because it’s delicious, and they have so many different options for fillings, you will be paralyzed with indecision. There are 40 different empanadas to choose from. You will be rewarded with whatever you end up choosing.
Entremasas empanadas in Viña del Mar, Chile
Hi, I’m a delicious crab (jaiba) empanada!

We visited the one by the boardwalk on Seis Poniente ( 6 Poniente 235, Viña del Mar. Phone: 032-2979919)  and also their smaller location on 5 Norte (5 Norte 377, Viña del Mar. Phone: 032-2971821) . I recommend the first location, especially if you’re with a large group. I haven’t been to the third location in Reñaca.

Our favorites were the crab with cheese (Jaiba y queso), crab with cheese, spicy sauce and other stuff (ok, it’s crab, creme, turmeric, hot pepper & cheese) (jaiba, crema cúrcuma, merquén y queso)  and the spicy chicken (picante de pollo). Also pretty baller is the shrimp with mushrooms, cilantro sauce & cheese (camarones con champiñones en salsa de cilantro con queso). Stick to the fried ones. The appetizers are also pretty good, with the fried calamari and selection of salsas being a favorite.

Beer is pretty cheap, and the hot sauce is actually spicy. The service is hit or miss (as with anywhere else outside of the USA, really) – but if you’re looking for some delicious fried empanadas and seafood, look no further and stop at Entremasas in Viña del Mar.