265164 Wed Jan 05 21:01:15 -0800 2005 6 26 International 0 1399706 Has anyone been to the restaurant Gernika in Santiago, Chile? It specializes in Chilean fish and seafood prepared in Spanish style. We're going to Chile on January 20 for a couple of weeks and we have a reservation at Gernika for our first night. It's supposed to be good, but I'm curious to know if anyone's tried it. Other suggestions welcome for Santiago, Vina del Mar, and the Santa Cruz area in the Central Valley. Thanks. Wed Jan 05 21:01:15 -0800 2005 0 Nancy N. 1 1399739 Unfamiliar with this restaurant but for good, fresh seafood I would recommend El Coco Loco in santiago. As for Viña del Mar the ship-like building which sort of forms a pier has a good restaurant albeit i do not remember the name. Also lots of good seafood places as you drive northwards along the coast. Machas a la Parmesana are must. Enjoy Chile. Thu Jan 06 12:45:32 -0800 2005 1399706 0 Pepijn 2 1399775 i lived in santiago a bit, specifically around the corner from Coco Loco and found it totally totally overpriced, considering that you can get the best seafood in the world at the Mercado Central for a fraction of the price. plus, its an amazing atmosphere. my favorite place to eat when in the city! Fri Jan 07 10:42:17 -0800 2005 1399739 0 BHK 3 1399799 And if you walk from the Mercado Central to the OTHER side of the river, to La Vega (a much bigger market, multiple buildings) you will find even more seafood. Amazing fried fish, etc for about 2 dollars per person....go for lunch! I ate in a Peruvian restaurant in bellavista that was very good....i forget the name though. There are two of them there, I would remember the name of the one I ate it if you told me. But trying Peruvian is a good idea. If you go to Viña Concha y Toro or to Cajón del Maipo, eat lunch at La Vaquita Echá and order the steak wrapped with bacon. Or lomo a lo pobre. SO GOOD. I had the pastel de choclo there once and it wasn't that good, stick to the meat. This restaurant is easy to find if you are in Pirque or Viña Concha y Toro, ask anyone, but def. go there! (this is about 30-45 mins outside of santiago proper) If you want more chile advice, feel free to email me: davidATjpcrDOTcom In the meantime i'll try to think of more recs of both santiago and valparaiso dave m.p. Sat Jan 08 01:26:06 -0800 2005 1399775 0 Dave M.P. 1 1399954 Go directly to Mercado Central for seafood! "Donde Augusto" is the best!...Sarita Colonia in Bellavista serve excelent peruvian food and very interesting place, for meat...Yagan...in Avenida Italia... I live in Chile now, after 10 years in Boston.... good luck! Link: http://www.restaurantes.emol.com/ Wed Jan 12 10:14:35 -0800 2005 1399706 0 Leonora 1 1399980 I was in Chile in August 2003, so my information may be a tad dated. While I was researching restaurants for my trip, Guernika came up but I decided not to eat there because the cuisine was Spanish. The restaurants in and around Mercado Central that have been recommended in this thread serve pretty good seafood, but the preparations are very simple and the accompaniments are not very interesting. I'd recommend going to those for lunch sometime instead. For more elaborate fish preparations in a nice setting, try Infante 51 in Providencia (Av José M Infante 51, Providencia, 236-6771), which specializes in seafood. Some of our best meals were in relatively new restaurants serving modern Chilean food. Particularly notable were Osadia (Av Tobalaba 477, Providencia, 231-4738) and Agua (Av Nueva Costanera 3467, Vitacura, 263-0008), two restaurants with fabulous decor and creative food using fresh local ingredients. They are headed by young chefs (Carlo von Mühlenbrock and Cristopher Carpentier) that are reaching near celebrity status in the area. If I had to choose between the two, I'd give the nod to Osadia. One restaurant which is highly regarded in Santiago is Astrid y Gaston. The original restaurant is in Lima, Peru, and a few years ago they opened a second branch in Santiago. It finished first in the 2003 EMOL restaurant awards (http://www.restaurantes.emol.com/articulos/detalle_articulo.asp?id_articulo=653), and second in the 2004 awards(http://www.restaurantes.emol.com/articulos/detalle_articulo.asp?id_articulo=1239). We had dinner there and were rather disappointed, I felt that Osadia (which finished third this year) and Agua were definitely better. Another restaurant that did well in those awards is Europeo (first in 2004 and second in 2003), but since the cuisine there is Swiss/Central European we decided to skip it. Finally, another restaurant that I would recommend is La Sal, Steak & Fish (Vitacura 2911, 233-6312), which regularly gets the nod as the best value in Santiago. Very good food in a somewhat anodine decor, and a great value. I remember ordering for the main course a fish dish for two which came with two good size pieces of four different fishes for something like $10. In Santa Cruz, the restaurant at the Hotel Plaza Santa Cruz is very good and not too expensive (though not cheap by local standards). We had a very enjoyable meal there. By the way, if you decide to visit Vina Santa Rita on the way to Santa Cruz from Santiago, avoid the lunch there, it's only so-so and definitely overpriced. If they insist on you having to include lunch, then skip the tour and just drop by to take a look at the building and the grounds. Wed Jan 12 19:44:08 -0800 2005 1399706 0 Malik 1 1400737 My family has lived in Chile for the past 20 years. By far best seafood is Aqui Esta Coco (La Concepcion 236, Providencia, Santiago Tel: +56 2 205 5985 Fax: +56 2 251 5751.) Coco himself is charming. Try Machas Parmesana and the ceviche. Fabuloso! Fri Feb 04 22:25:55 -0800 2005 1399706 0 ChileLisa