No Chili in Chile

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The Chilianos do not like chili. Their main seasonings appear to be salt and sugar (and Mayonnaise?). We have to look hard to find foods with peppers, garlic, ginger, or other pungent spices.

We found a great Italian place called Tiramisu. If I hadn't read the glowing reviews on Tripadvisor, I would have missed it thinking it's another sweet cake place. There are lots of bakeries and pastry shops, along with ice cream places. It turns out Tiramisu serves authentic Italian pizzas (thin crust, light but tasty sauces) and great toppings. The wine prices are also reasonable at about $15 for decent Malbec or Carmenere. Funky mix of music -- Bjork followed by thunderous Latin American drumming, followed by local rock beats. We like it and tried it twice. Wrote a glowing review and submitted to Tripadvisor.

Our first restaurant try before Tiramisu was called "Prego," located next to Don's office building. Soggy, pasty pizza with no hint of any sauce. Expensive. Ate one slice, had it boxed, and (sorry) dumped it into a neighborhood trash can on the way home.

Corazon Contento in Valparaiso was a unique experience. Located just down the hills from the awful Valparaiso Vineyard Inn Hotel, it was the only place that was open at 7:30 pm (others open at 8 pm). Just a few small tables with unsteady legs on dirt floor, surrounded by wooden and metal antique wheels and pails. The front door was guarded by an old dog scratching and yawning for the most part, except to chase away any stray dogs. A young couple cooked slowly and enthusiastically serving a pre-fixe course of a trio of salsa and fat fried local bread, followed by grilled fish of some sort -- fresh but unrecognizable, followed by creamy dessert. With a bottle of unmemorable wine, the dinner cost over $100 for two. Certainly and surprisingly not cheap, even for Chile, but the atmosphere was so homey and comfortble we enjoyed the entire evening. We also felt good helping the young couple trying something new.

Very few McDonalds, Burger Kings; Lots of Subways and Pizza Huts, which compete with the local "Tele Pizzas" with a squadron of mopeds ready for fast deliveries.

We went to a neighborhood Argentinian steak house last week with Don's colleagues. The variety of grilling meats on a heavy grill over the local wood coals looked delicious. At Don's colleague's suggestion, though, we skipped the popular tray of mixed meats of tough beef, sausages, pork, chicken, and opted for a Rib Eye steak. Grass fed so the meat was not too tender but had a strong beefy taste. It reminded me of the Big Island of Hawaii. A plate of salad consisting of thick cut tomatoes, avocado, and fresh hearts of palm went well with the meat. Very very crowded with mostly men devouring tons of charred meat.

There is a fairly decent Korean restaurant called Sukine. It's located in the middle of the wholesale garment and Chinese import shops, most of which are owned by Koreans (so I was told). I ate at the restaurant three times; each dish tasted like Korean food, albeit with some unfamiliar ingredients, such as the local clams and fish. Each non-meat dish costs around $10. Bibimbap, Fish stew, Soybean soup were all good.

Still haven't been to a Peruvian, Indian, or Japanese restaurant. We've been told that if we can find a true Peruvian restaurant, that would be our best bet. There are lots and lots of Japanese restaurants and sushi snack joints all over the city.

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Photos

Tiramisu
Our favorite restaurant in Santiago.

Corazon Contento
A unique restaurant in Valparaiso.