Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing with the King: April 2024

Monday, April 29, 2024

Eating BIG in Santiago

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
- Exploring Santiago de Chile

When me and my wife decided to take a trip to Argentina this past winter we also had to decide where else we would visit as we're the types that like to cross multiple countries (plural) off our visited list when we take a trip like this (we would have a couple weeks to work with). Travel in South America isn't quite as easy as Europe and it's not as cheap as it is in Asia so Santiago Chile seemed to be the most logical decision based on the fact we were looking to add on a second place to see and explore for four days which meant we wouldn't have enough time to do Peru and since Brazil is on the other side of the continent that left us with Chile which wasn't at the top of my travel bucketlist but I do want to see as much of the world as possible so it made sense to check it out while we had the chance. Most tourists in Santiago only stay a night or two before and or after a trip to Patagonia so we really weren't sure what to expect from Chile's biggest city and I think that was a big part of the allure.

Sights from Santiago (click pics to enhance)

With the seasons in South America being reversed it was the dead of summer in Santiago. In fact they were in the middle of a brutal heatwave that caused wildfires in nearby Valparaiso. The heat really did a number on me and because of it I didn't get to explore the city the way I usually would. I had plans to take a daytrip to Valparaiso but the fires and the heat prevented that from happening. Four days was enough to get a feel for the city but it took a couple of days getting used to that heat. Santiago gets a bit of a bad rap as being boring but it's a very modern city with lots of history and a beautiful backdrop surrounded by the mountains. It's also the home to a rising food scene as documented by Nicholas Gill of the New Worlder Substack (highly recommend subscribing). As travel becomes more widespread, the world gets smaller so eventually Santiago will get it's due but before we get to the food here's my advice to you - I wouldn't plan a trip solely to Santiago but it's worth checking out paired with somewhere else in Chile or Peru or Argentina.

Sights from Santiago
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Bocanáriz

Our first stop was at one of Santiago's most popular restaurants. Bocanáriz is a wine bar with modern-ish Chilean dishes and an extensive collection of Chilean wines to pair with them. Chile is one of the ten largest wine producing countries in the world so the wine selection here is abundant. We sampled a variety of bottles and had a fantastic ceviche that was probably the best of the bunch of those we tried in Chile. Ceviche is almost as popular here as it is in Peru which makes sense since the countries are neighbors and both are on the coast. Unfortunately a piece of fish was a big miss but go for the ceviche and wine and get a reservation as it stays busy on a regular basis.

Ceviche at Bocanáriz
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Emporio Zunino

After a stroll through the popular Mercado Central we made our way over to Emporio Zunino which is said to be the city’s oldest empanadería. They're been serving empanadas de pino and empanadas de queso since 1930. You have to get in line and pay at a kiosk setup and then take your ticket to the guys behind the counter who put your order together. Chilean empanadas are bigger than their counterparts and traditionally made with beef and can also include ingredients like olives, onion and potato. I'd had a few Chilean empanadas before this but none of them satisfied quite like this one did.

Empanada at Emporio Zunino
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Squella Restaurant

We walked by a ton of seafood restaurants at the market but most of them had mixed reviews. I'd found an online article written in Spanish that featured some of the city's most iconic seafood eateries and Squella looked like my type of spot so we walked over to check it out. Squella is one of three restaurants working out of a three story building near the up and coming Barrio Yungay neighborhood. It occupies the top floor and has an open air dining room with nice views of the city and lots of local seafood options to try. I started with a well made pisco sour which really hit the spot on a hot day. After that we got a bottle of Chilean white wine to pair with the seafood. We tried some ceviche, clams, and the local treat of the sea that Chileans call "locos" aka Chilean abalone. Mixed seafood ceviche was a miss and the clams weren't for me but I enjoyed the locos which was quite similar to scallops. The sliced abalone was served in a ceviche like broth with bits of charred avocado.

Lunch at Squella
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Fuente Alemana

Santiago has the richest sandwich culture in South America which was one of the main draws in visiting. I was excited to check out all the different sandwiches and did quite a bit of research in figuring out exactly what to try and where to try them. Fuente Alemana is perhaps the most famous sandwich shop in Santiago as it's been a popular stop with locals and tourists since 1954. You can really feel Germany's influence on Chile here in both the atmosphere and the food. Their best selling sandwich is the lomito which consists of thinly sliced roast pork loin piled high on Pan Amasado (Chilean country bread) with your choice of toppings. The most popular way to order one is a "Lomito Italiano" which includes tomato, smashed avocado and a small jars worth of mayo. It's called an Italiano bc the colors of the toppings match that of Italy's flag. I’d heard Chileans love mayo but I didn’t know they make southerners look tame with it. This was near impossible to pick up which is why it comes served with a fork and a knife. The pork was unfortunately rather plain in that it had little flavor or seasoning to it. Same goes for the avocado which could've used some salt. But in the end it was the mound of mayo that made this one a bit off-putting. Don't get me wrong I loved the overall experience and needed that ice cold glass of lager I got with my sandwich but the overload of mayo was enough to make me completely skip the locally loved Completo Italiano hot dogs.

Lomito Italiano at Fuente Alemana
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Osaka

We had a nice Nikkei forward meal at this Santiago outpost of a popular Lima restaurant. With Chile bordering Peru and Santiago's love for seafood you'll find a ton of Peruvian restaurants here. Osaka is connected to the W in one of the nicer parts of the city so with that comes a very chic dining experience revolved around Peruvian-Japanese food. I was actually a bit disappointed with the menu because there wasn't as much creativity as I was hoping for. But we got a couple rounds of crispy tuna rice which was well prepared and also a few rounds of assorted nigiri which was pretty good. The ceviche sampler consisted of three different preps of ceviche and each of them was excellent.

Dinner at Osaka
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Fuente Mardoqueo

Next up on my self guided sandwich tour was a Chacarero from Fuente Mardoqueo. As I came to learn all of the sandwich shops in Santiago have a similar vibe just like the hot dog stands in Chicago do. The Chacarero is made with sliced churrasco steak seared on a hot flattop. The toppings on this one were sliced green beans, aji verde, tomato, and banana peppers and it comes on Pan Amasado. I opted for no mayo on this one just to play it safe and while it was a bit easier to eat I still found myself needing a knife and fork to get down on it. I felt like it could've used more seasoning. I'm not sure they put anything on the steak before cooking it judging by the way it tasted. The other problem with this one was the meat was as much steamed as it was seared. Maybe I picked the wrong spot.

Chacarero at Fuente Mardoqueo
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99 Restaurante

We had what was perhaps the best meal of the entire trip at this recently reopened restaurant that's hidden in a major eating enclave. Chilean Kurt Schmidt is the head chef at 99 Restaurante and he almost exclusively sources his ingredients across Chile's rich landscape. Chef had recently returned from a visit to Northern Chile where he was gathering goods to feature in our tasting that would focus on ingredients from Chile's northern region. We entered the small four table dining room through an open air bar where we were welcomed with a few sips of super smooth small batch pisco and some olives grown in Chile's wine region where olive oil is also a big business. I found the ten course tasting to be very intimate. Each course was prepared to order right there in front of the diners and was delivered with an explanation from the chef in both Spanish and English (for us). We also found it to be a great deal at $150 per person with Chilean wine pairings included. Odds are the menu will be different if and when anyone that's reading this visits but you can get good idea of the quality of their work through the pictures and descriptions listed below them. A slice of dried donkey sausage was seasoned to perfection while the chefs prep of locos (Chilean Abalone) in a soul warming soup was one of my favorite bites of the trip. Conger eel cooked over coals was killer and the only thing missing from the baby goat roasted in local leaves course was some warm tortillas. What a meal.

Mussels, Clams, Donkey Sausage

Mix of Chilean Seafood with a Salsa Verde

Abalone aka Locos Stew

Wood Grilled Eel with Salad, Grilled Pepper Sauce, Shrimp Mousse

Baby Goat in local leaves cooked over wood

Goat Cheese Ice Cream with Olive oil

Chilean Cheese Plate

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Liguria

Phil Rosenthal says Liguria has the best fish sandwich ever so I had to try it for myself even though I don't take the food opinion of the creator of 'Everybody Loves Raymond' turned host of Netflix’s 'Somebody Feed Phil' too seriously. His show is good for an easy watch but he’s clearly learning on the job so to say as far as his knowledge of food goes and that’s kind of the shows whole premise. But anyway as the unofficial mayor of the Fish Sandwich Club I took note of what he said. Liguria is a small local chain with three locations serving a full menu of Chilean food in a time capsule with a full blown bar. We got the famous pescado frito sandwich and I had a beer and Erica some wine. The fried fish comes with sliced avocado, tomato, lettuce, shaved onion, banana peppers and some made on site mayo. It comes served on Marraqueta which is a Chilean baguette similar to French bread. The fish was really well seasoned and fried to a crisp and the bread was also pretty good. Overall it was a damn fine sandwich but I wouldn’t go as far as calling it the best fish sandwich ever.

Fish Sandwich at Liguria
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El Pipeno

I made sure to visit an old locals type of spot where I could sample some old school Chilean food. I found El Pipeno online in a Chilean published article that I translated. It said this place has been serving up Chilean comfort food since the 70’s and is popular for their ribs which I noticed were popular at a few spots catering to locals. Even though it was only about a 15 min drive El Pipeno is in an area that tourists never make it too which was clear upon my entry as everyone stared at me and the first thing my waiter asked is where I was from. We had trouble communicating past that so I don't think he understood why I was there (I was told the neighborhood was dangerous but it felt fine). Nonetheless he and the owner and his wife were all super nice and my ribs were pretty good. They came with some boiled potatoes that took on the flavor of the jus which was warm and hearty.

Ribs at El Pipeno
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Fiol Dulceria

Since it was extremely hot on our visit so we had to make sure there were a couple stops for ice cream in the plans. Fiol Dulceria is found in the young and exciting Barrio Italia area and it’s another spot I found through the New Wordler Substack. The confectionery shop is ran by a self taught female chef who’s recognized by the ‘Worlds 50 Best’ list among others. She makes a different flavor of soft serve each week as well as some cute little candies. I tried a refreshing blend of pineapple with ginger and brown sugar which was a much needed snack before heading back to the pool before dinner. For whatever reason the heat and I just weren’t meshing well in Santiago. It took a bit of getting used to.

Soft Serve at Fiol Dulceria
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Confitería Torres

The Barros Luco is a Chilean style steak and cheese sandwich and it's exactly that - a thinly cut slice of tender filet topped with a heaping amount of melted Havarti cheese on toasted Marraqueta. Confitería Torres, Chile’s oldest restaurant, is often credited with creating the sandwich that’s named after former president Ramón Barros Luco, who served Chile from 1910 to 1915. Don’t go here expecting to be transformed back in time due to it being the oldest restaurant in the country (Donde 1879). It’s an updated space with a huge dining room plus a bar with a full fledged bakery behind it. I really liked their Barros Luco sandwich. The meat was extra tender and the bread was crisp. It reminded of Portugal’s Prego sandwich but with thick and rich Havarti cheese oozing out of it.

Barros Luco Sandwich at Confitería Torres
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Karai by Mitsuharu

Karai by Mitsuharu is another Lima Nikkei import. Its famed chef, Mitsuharu 'Micha' Tsumura, is known for his Peruvian-Japanese cooking. His Lima restaurant Maido was once named the best restaurant in Latin America by the 'Worlds 50 Best'. His Santiago spot sits in the glitzy W hotel and is a popular spot with rich tourists there for the night before departing for Patagonia. Again Santiago isn’t expensive per se but the prices here are about what you would expect for a similar spot in the States, if not a bit cheaper. We had some terrific tiradito which is a popular Peruvian Japanese dish with thinly sliced raw fish sitting in a semi spicy sauce (recipes vary from there). We also got a bowl of sashimi but the star of the show was a soft shell crab bao - one of the best things we ate in Santiago.

Dinner at Karai by Mitsuharu
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Soler Las Condes

By my final night in town I had a good idea of what the sandwiches in Santiago were all about but I still wanted to check this place out. Soler Las Condes celebrates pork in all of its glorious splendor. In 1965 the deli slash pig farming company Cecinas Soler opened a pork production factory and two years later they opened a restaurant where they put they showcased their product on bread. Their pork comes served planchado style (thin-sliced ham cooked over a skillet), arrollado (slow cooked pork loins cooked in its au jus), and gorda (pork sausage boiled then cooked on a skillet). I decided to try the Planchado Italiano which comes on Pan Amasado. I asked for light mayo and this is what I got. Either the waiter forgot or this was their idea of light mayo which would not surprise me.

Planchado Italiano
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La Piojera

I very much recommend checking out La Piojera near the Central Market for a real locals type of experience. A visit to Santiago’s OG dive bar is one of the things I’ll remember most about our trip to Chile. I must’ve visited at peak time (around 6p on a Thursday) bc the place was packed with locals having a good time. Not just that but the surrounding square was bumping with life. Clearly this was a locals scene but it’s also a popular stop among adventurous tourists who come to try their famous drink - a terremoto which translates to earthquake. Unfortunately I can’t recommend this drink made with pineapple ice cream, sweet white wine, and fernet. I barely finished half of it before feeling effects of all the sugar. Still though, go here and have a few beers and chase them with a plate of chorrillana - a classic drunken Chilean dish mixing fries with fried eggs, steak, and cheese. It sucks I didn’t get to try this iconic dish but I didn’t want to get too full before an upcoming ten course tasting.

Terremoto at La Piojera
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Yum Cha

Yum Cha is one of Santiago’s most popular spots at the moment having recently made its debut on the Worlds Best Restaurants Latin America list (No. 87). Note: There's no affiliation with the Paris restaurant of the same name. Head chef Nicolás Tapia worked in some of Latin Americas best kitchens including Quintonil in Mexico City before opening Yum Cha. He offers an in-depth exploration of tea through a 10 course pescatarian tasting menu pairing Asian ingredients with teas from around the world. We opted out of the tea pairing in favor of wine so I can’t tell you much about the cha but we got plenty of yum throughout our tasting while the service was sensational and the setting was intimate with just five tables and twenty seats total. All of their praise was well deserved based on our experience. A great way to end our stay in Santiago as the next morning we were off to Argentina.