Nestled at the southern most section of South America, Punta Arenas offers a cozy food scene that completely won me over. The city features an abundance of family run restaurants and mouth watering meals. Every dish I had there was fresh, flavorful and made with love. The region’s culinary identity blends local ingredients with influences from Spanish, European, and Latin American. In addition, the local cuisine is deeply rooted in fresh seafood which makes sense since it’s a major hub for commercial fishing. And great news for me since I could easily eat seafood for every meal.
The second morning I was there, I opted out of the breakfast served at the hotel and instead made my way to Cafe Gud Mood – a cute espresso bar located conveniently down the street. I ordered myself a cappuccino and a yogurt with granola togo. Delights in hand, I took myself on a little walk. I wondered down past the peer to a little beach right of the bustling main road. I found a nice sturdy rock where I took in the views while the caffeine began to slowly enter my system.
A few seagulls came near as if to say “Whatcha got there. Wanna share?”. But any slight movement and they’d scurry away. As we were playing this little game of chicken, I noticed a bit of a glimmer coming from the shore line so I got up to investigate and found a piece of sea glass. I collected some pieces, but before long I had to hop back over to the hotel so my workday could begin.
During lunch I tried one of my favorite meals. It was a dish, that translated to “Poor Man’s Fish”. The name game me a good chuckle and having zero clue what I was ordering, I waited in anticipation. Turns out it’s the fish of your choice topped with two fried eggs over a bed of french fries. The fish was flaky and the fries made for a comforting meal. Talk about delicious but most importantly, filling!
At dinner I had a super fresh ceviche and muscles from La Marmita, which felt like they were larger than my pointer finger! I don’t think I’ve ever seen them that big! To wash all that tasty food down, I ordered the traditional drink, a pisco sour – which is made pisco (a grape based brandy), lime juice, simple syrup, and egg whites. Throughout my trip, I even had some creative twists on the classic drink. But hands down my favorite was a classic one that I had at Hotel Cabo de Hornos.
Then of course, after dinner a few of us found ourselves craving something sweet. So we stopped into La Chocolatta, a local chocolate shop that smelled heavenly. The place was packed so we picked out a few chocolates and went back out into the cold windy streets. The standout, show stopping star was the pomegranate white chocolate. I don’t normally care for white chocolate but I learned that white chocolate in South America is different than white chocolate in the states. From Chile it is made from different fruits and herbs while in the US it tends to be sweeter and richer with a higher diary content. So, it just turns out that I like South American white chocolate a little more.
Another fun stop was a little stand located in the local mall called Buffalo Waffles. They served both sweet and savory waffles. I went for the savory option, stuffing with chorizo, guacamole, tomatoes, and topped generously with shoestring fries all wrapped in a freshly warm made waffle. Creating a waffle taco, if you will. It made me realize we should all be eating more things in waffle form.
Of course, I couldn’t leave without indulging myself in several empanadas – they become extra special when you snack on them with a waterfront view during breaks. They also come in handy for portable snacks for hikes! Like when I went to Reserva Nacoinal Magallanes. I even learned that a traditional Chilean empanda is made with a little something I like to call an “enhancer” which can be a whole black olive, a quarter of a boiled egg and/or a few raisins.
Punta Arenas truly fed me well with a food adventure I’ll never forget.
