Dining in Valparaiso

Luis and I were pleasantly surprised with the food in Valparaiso - some of the best dining spots. Being a city known for its beautiful history and view, many restaurants have certainly taken pride in obtaining the best spots in terms of location - dining with a view always sets the mood. Well at least, if the food's not up to expectation, staring into the endless beautiful scenery is some sort of redemption. So below are the restaurants in order of where we dined. We tried as many restaurants that were either recommended or  listed by the Trip Advisor or both. We are so passionate about food ! ( Come to think about it, we spend so much of our time talking about food! ) No doubt we will attempt to eat our way through our journey in life together -  that's one thing I'm sure about. As long as we both have teeth I guess :)

1.  Porto Fino ( Fine Port) - Ranked #15
Celebrated our Valentine's lunch here. I quite enjoyed this spot that the restaurant chose for us.

This dish's called  Macha a la Parmesana !
( Oh, how they tease me - You know Marsha como Macha a la Parmesana ) used to me my intro everytime. I'm sure I've mentioned this before.  Kinda understand it now with not having "sha" in Spanish. Side tracked there, but this dish is one word
-  magnificent ( if you like clams and cheese I guess) 

Good seafood !

Our view

   

After lunch we went to the deck

Perfect spot for Alfresco dining-  Perhaps for an evening drink or dinner

2. Cafe Turri - Ranked #10
    A French Restaurant with a whole lot of history -ate there twice.  The first time, we lost our spot because it was a busy weekend and we couldn't get a park in time ( we were 15 min late!)  Anyhow, we were lucky enough to still get a nice table, but they ran out of black pepper sauce for my lamb chops ( I know right? like how so? )  and I was so disappointed ( I know some people have no food etc but honestly people it's like almost everytime, like too often so please allow me to vent -  just last Sunday, we went for Japanese and I ordered Soba and obviously I didn't get what I ordered. They brought me some fried odd looking noddle dish instead (a miss is as good as a mile) aye? Anyways, the second time around, we dined with Paz and Fernando -everything was fabulous- loved my Salmon dish with my favourite vegetable - the spinach. Luis ordered the tuna sashimi and that was incredible.  I must say - the desserts are excellent. Finally,  just a reminder - just  make sure you get a cab in, especially if it's a weekend for the reserved best spot. Of course there's no such thing as valet parking for you princesses out there:)

My lamb chops with the honey mint ( that's just being too polite, how about with that yellow mush! )
Obviously, I wasn't too crazy about it  and my sleeves weren't perfect too! Boohoo ! ah, nevermind.

Luis had the Fillet Meridien and of course El Senor, looked very nice as usual  ( I know you're my husband  and I shouldn't be bitter,  but but... how do you look SO darn CUTE ...all the time? :) Like our whole civil wedding? you took only 15 minutes to get ready and you looked so good and what was it? Only 3 hours of sleep the night before !
 sheesh  ( Ha ha ) wuv you.

Milk Custard with caramel sauce

Dinner before heading out to one of Luis's Kent launches

Salmon with prawn sauce & Cream Spinach

Luis had the Turri Temptations & Fernando the Bitter Chocolate Truffle Fudge

Creme Brulee for moi

3. La Conception - Ranked #9

Equatorian Prawn Curry for me - This dish aside ( for I had no complain whatsoever ) I keep going Asian whenever I can, But I must remind myself that I'm in Latin America.  Like the other day, I ordered a Terriyaki Burger.  Luis said  to me, "like who orders Terriyaki Chicken at a burger place in Chile"? :) yes, true that -  I'll stick to the beef and steaky normal stuff the next time. Luis's burger was indeed so good!

4. El Desayunador ( The Breakfast Place)
After we checked into the HA Acontraluz, we of course got offered a great breakfast even though it was past breakfast time ( Daily until 12pm- which is so much better than 11am at most places and just crazy at 10am for others )  Anyways, being us, we wanted to venture out.  Don Jose, the owner suggested the most awesome place. 

Don't you love how everything is set up? I love the cabinets at the back. Everything is so obsessively neat

We went for a moderately indulgent meal. SO.. not us -  The eggs were done is a typical way here in Latin America. I've grown to love the not so fluffy scramble eggs in comparison to the way I was used to have them in Malaysia

I loved the trendy mixed with cosy/antique furniture 

5. Samsara - Ranked #4

The Owner/Chef is Chilean but goes yearly to Thailand to learn and update himself on their cuisine- Thus, needless to say -  the food is excellent.  Very cosy with around 15 tables,  reservations are essential.

Loved the smaller sized wine bottle

This dish is the Chef's speciality. Takes 3 days to make. Filled squid filled with king crab and solomillo ( pork)

Of course, I couldn't resist the Red Curry - seriously people, one of the best I've had and I've been to Thailand !

6. Via Via Cafe - Ranked #6

Enjoying the Crafted Belgium Beer

Choritos a la Belga

Now that's a "girly" beer

7. Oda Pacifico - Ranked #12

We were so lucky at this Restaurant. We arrived to get a table away from one of the best spots overlooking the port.  For some unknown reason though,  the couple seated there just got up and changed tables after 15 minutes. Two theories

 (1) They were staying at our hotel too, out of good will?

 (2) He was going to propose so he wanted a table at the end for privacy - the more likely perhaps, cause we saw him on his knees later on that night ( but then again the girl was so quiet, honestly like no reaction) God only knows. Luis did mention to me that God must have heard my prayers - I suppose I do pray sometimes for selfish and indulgent things and voila! -  God's pretty cool :)

King Crab

My fish dish

Us at the restaurant - very romantic surroundings, dime lights, candles - nice

Grilled Octopus - The scrumptious dish that famed this restaurant

Valparaiso with its beauty is perfect for night time strolls too after dinner.

This bird's eye view was taken high up the hills of Valpo.  We decided to take a cab to this restaurant and the cabby was so nice to have taken us first to this spot for a photo.

Then we walked around Cerro Alegre

Strategically located benches - great views

Us, very happy after one of our meals - we had a good stroll every night before heading back to the hotel.


 Ah yes, we would have dined at the Maladrino ( Ranked #1) for lunch before we left,  but it was a gloomy day and  it looked like it could rain,  so we took a rain-check and headed back to Santiago :)


 In a nut shell -  great city, not commercialised to any level and some pretty awesome food.
What yummy times !