Tag: restaurants

Valparaiso, Chile – in November

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So, we’ve been to Valparaiso, Chile twice – once in the off-season and once during New Year’s week, which will come later. When I say “we”, I mean my boyfriend and I.

Valparaiso is a magical little seaside city with cliffs and colorful houses, stacked on hillsides with cable car elevators (funiculars, as they are called in Italy), full of character and gritty to the core. The decaying old buildings are covered in graffiti and art, but somehow remain charming and interesting, like an old friend who may drink a little too much, but is still a blast to be around every once in a while. Despite what you might have heard, Valpo is no more dangerous (or at least doesn’t feel like it) than any other tourist destination – and we stayed in what could arguably be called one of the not-so-nice areas of the city (approximately 4 blocks from the bus station – which we all know is NEVER in a nice area, no matter what city you’re in). We stayed at a little nautical-themed B&B called El Rincón del Marino.

The bus arrived at the crack of dawn one November morning, when the morning fog hadn’t yet cleared and a chill hung in the air. Coming from the desert in Mendoza, we weren’t ready for the abrupt change in temperature, and promptly layered whatever long-sleeved items we had over the tank tops and t-shirts we wore when we left 80-something-degree Mendoza.

Quick tip: $200,000 Chilean pesos is too much money to take out of the ATM at one time. It’s about US $400. You’re welcome. This was a lesson learned the hard way. Much like the time I took out about US $650 from an ATM in Iceland, by accident.

Yup – I could live here.

In a whirlwind 2-day adventure, we visited La Sebastiana, the historical home of Pablo Neruda, which was amazing. He collected a really eclectic, interesting, and beautiful menagerie of things from around the world, all on display in this incredible cliffside home. I could totally live there.

Some street art

Wandering down the hills after visiting his house, we came upon the “open air museum” that adorns the streets of the city. Very cool street art and interesting murals.

Murals…

We ate great seafood at this port-side restaurant (whose name escapes me), where the waiter assembled a Spanish dictionary tray to show us each different type of seafood by its name. He was really sweet. Later that day, we got some coffee at the cafe attached to the Museo Lukas  (on Paseo Gervasconi), which is a museum dedicated to the famous Chilean cartoonist. The mocha was pretty delicious.

Piri Piri shrimp and ceviche!

Another day was spent wandering Viña del Mar  and then returning to Valparaiso to traipse around Cerro Allegre and Cerro Concepción, peeking in the windows of art galleries, taking photos and looking for food and pisco sours.

Cerro Concepción

We ended up dining at Sabor Color Gourmet Bar and had a great cheese plate, fried seafood platter, a bottle of Tabalí Carmenere, and ridiculous brownie for dessert. Seriously – get the brownies! All of this was enjoyed with our friends while listening to the string trio play live in the other room of this converted house-turned-restaurant.

New Years? Now that’s a whole other story… check that out right here.

 

Restaurant Review – Aramburu

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L and I went to two of the best meals we’ve ever had, within 3 days in Buenos Aires during our trip.

Thanks to recommendations from friends, we checked out both Astrid & Gastón and Aramburu. (Update: Astrid & Gastón was TERRIBLE the second time we went, months later, and has since closed!)

We ate at Aramburu second but I want to write about it first, because I’m lazy and who knows if I’ll ever get around to writing about Astrid & Gastón?

First off, it’s on a little street in San Telmo with no sign on the outside, with shutters or blinds concealing most of the windows, and very low lighting. Our cab drove right past it on the way to the place. We then proceeded to back up down the one-way street and find it.

The interior is beautiful. Exposed Continue reading →

Restaurant Review – Molokai (Mendoza, Argentina)

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I went to Molokai with a friend about a month ago, and I wanted to rave a little bit about it because it was such a nice surprise here in Mendoza. And I have a blog, so rave I will. I’ve been eating at some great places lately, so there are going to be a few posts like this in quick succession. Be prepared.

The food at Molokai is really, really good – and not traditional Argentine either. It’s molecular gastronomy without getting a little too weird about it, if that makes sense. Everything has a foam on top of it, but it’s not overdone or too bold.

The place itself is cool; trendy but not uncomfortable, and a unique setting compared to the same old yellow-tablecloth cafeteria-lighting restaurants they have here in spades.

I think it’s a pretty great deal for the money because the portions are huge and for dinner for 2, it was about $350 pesos including 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and a bottle of wine.

We tried the salmon foccaccia and the pear and roquefort salads for appetizers. They were both huge and really tasty. My friend and I both commented that we’d be happy with just those dishes as our whole meal, if not at least for a lunch.
For entrees, I got the Hungarian goulash, which was pretty awesome considering the spaetzle was perfect and the beef was Argentine beef. My friend had the bife de chorizo with croquettes.

Basically, the food was awesome and the place is really cool, so I’m excited to go back again soon. It’s located at Belgrano 1169, between Espejo and Sarmiento (I think???) in the city center.

Open Monday to Saturday from 8pm to 1:30am.

Update: I think Molokai is now closed. Please leave a comment if I am wrong!

Antares… mmm.

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Grab a pint at Antares!

Ah, Antares  It’s a brew-pub here in Mendoza, Argentina (one of the only) that has happy hour from 7-9pm. Two-fers on microbrews? Yes, please. My favorites of theirs are Imperial Stout and the current seasonal beer  “Wee Heavy“. The Cream Stout is pretty great, too. And they have a barley wine with over 10% alcohol. Not too shabby.  Other offerings are Scotch Ale, Kolsch, Honey Beer, and Porter.  My first move when I first went was to get the sampler, which features all of the staple beers plus the seasonal selection.

I went to check out an Irish band here last week, that played traditional Irish music. They were actually really good. But I think I may have enjoyed them the most out of the entire room. Although, I’m pretty sure they were a general hit. The place generally has live music going on, but I’m not quite sure of the schedule.

The music is good and there’s a big screen in the back playing either random music videos to accompany the audio, or a big futbol game if there is one that day.

The other perk of this place is that the food is surprisingly good. The Papas Antares (big pile of fries covered in 4-cheese sauce (like an alfredo), pancetta and scallions, i.e. a heart attack) are good, the pizzetas are very decent – get the Especial, and I hear the cazuelas (stews) made with their in-house beers are pretty great.  I once ordered the kids meal of chicken nuggets & fries (because I’m 5 years old) and it was perfect.

Service is fast and pretty friendly, and I’ve never had a bad experience here. My only complaint is that I once went with some friends and the place was short on degustación (tasting sampler) glasses, and there was allegedly a waiting list for who could get the next sampler.

You can find Antares on Mendoza’s busy nightlife street, Arístedes, close to Calle Belgrano. Salud!

Kato Cafe, submarinos, shopping and fun

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I met up with a friend yesterday at Kato Cafe on Civit and had a lovely afternoon of lounging around on their couches, drinking tea (Patagonia Bee by Inti Zen (Click here for more info)- which is a delicious vanilla, honey, and cacao blend), eating snacks and finishing with my first submarino.  A submarino is an Argentine hot chocolate; it’s made with hot milk and a chocolate bar that slowly melts into the milk and makes this not-too-sweet-but-oh-so-delectable hot cocoa that is perfect for the current onset of winter here in Mendoza.  With reasonable prices and a great ambience, I think Kato will be a new favorite haunt of mine.

We then embarked on a journey to buy clothes/scarves/boots/coats in the boutiques that line Avenida Arístedes Villanueva (or, simply, Arístedes). Found a great little boutique with a French flair called Cosset, which is attached to another really cute cafe called Clementine. The shopgirl was sweet and attentive, and very helpful. I ended up buying a sweater-dress and my friend bought a few other things. From there, we continued down the street hitting other boutiques along the way. I’ll do a post about this experience in a separate entry, for the sake of brevity here.

After working up a thirst buying things we didn’t need, we ended up at Antares, which I’ll post about in a separate post as well.

Last, but not least, I ended up going to see a friend’s band play at the Liverpool Pub in centro. It was great, but there were some problems with logistics and other things, and I ended up going alone and nobody met up with me there. Woe is me. At least they played some Oasis and U2 covers, and I was pleased. 

All in all, a good day.

Buenos Aires Day 2: Dinner at Fabrica del Taco

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I’ve been bitching that I haven’t had Mexican food much here, so I must report on this experience.

Thanks to Gringo in Buenos Aires‘ post concerning Mexican food in BA, I was able to find Fabrica Del Taco, a Mexican food joint in Palermo SoHo within walking distance from where I was staying.

I was starving and in major need of something resembling beans, possibly rice, and things that come on a tortilla. Upon arriving at Fabrica Del Taco, it was clear that I was about to be in heaven.

The décor is cheesy fantastic Mexican luchadores masks throughout, and the staff was really nice. I was flying solo and the place was busy, but they invited me to sit at the bar counter. I opted to sit against the outer bar wall with a ledge/countertop all to myself.  I got the menu and my eyes nearly jumped out of my head when I saw they had micheladas on the menu.

I was SO pleased. The michelada was really good, and made with Corona. So, 1 point for YOU, my dear new friends. Then, the waiter asked if I liked spicy things, to which I replied that yes, I live in Texas, and he brought me some serious hot sauce and chopped onions with cilantro to go with my food. 2 points.

I opted for 2 tacos: one was carne asado on a fried corn tortilla (note: They aren’t quite sure what to call things correctly here – we’d just call it a tostada) with guacamole.  The guac was more saucy than dippy, but it wasn’t bad. The problem I had was the consistency of the meat. It wasn’t ground beef, and wasn’t quite what you’d picture carne asado to be, either. It was kind of in between, and a bit tough. However, it was good enough for me to eat all of it, being deprived of my neighbor of the South’s specialties for so long.

The second taco was much better, which featured pork and beef. I forget what it was called, but it was good (better than just the beef). I ordered a side of refried beans (everything is pretty much a la carte, as far as I could tell) and they brought a basket of tortilla chips. The chips were pretty good, or at least the best I’ve had in Argentina.

All in all, it wasn’t mind-blowing but considering where it is and what the alternatives are, it definitely hit the spot. Bravo, Fabrica del Taco. Bravo.