Let me start out by admitting this was not a trip focused on food. If the youngest had his way, we would have had chicken nuggets and chips (fries) at every meal! However, he was not the boss – so we ventured to try traditional Chilean cuisine when possible…
Empanadas! These were a favorite in the family – queso solo (cheese only), jamon queso (ham and cheese), cameron queso (shrimp and cheese), and then countless combinations of meats, veggies, spices, and cheeses that the more adventurous of us would sample. Empanadas are a classic that can be twisted various ways depending on the restaurant, cafe, or stand – mostly fried or baked – our vote is for empanadas al horno (baked). In fact, the kids have requested we have Empanada Tuesdays (to replace Taco Tuesdays) sometimes.
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Seafood! We were on the coast, after all! We taste tested ceviche at a seafood market – can’t get fresher than that! The local popular fish selections are white and mild, so even the kids enjoyed tasting the local seafood. We even had scallops still in the shell – this was a first and totally delicious!
Wine and Pisco! We were certainly in wine country! Vina Del Mar means “vineyard of the sea” and we drove through so many vineyards on our drive from Santiago. On my first trip the local supermarket, I was delighted to find the wine aisle – the selection and prices were amazing! I opted to try a Late Harvest wine by Concha y Toro (because I had their wines before) and it was so good – I just stuck with it and tried late harvest from other local wineries – slightly sweet and perfect! Jason returned to pisco – piscola, pisco sours, etc. When in Chile, drink what the locals drink!
Ice Cream! Obviously a kid fave, there were ice cream stands all over – a stellar one on the beach in front of our apartment! We were on vacation, so ice cream, smoothies, sodas, and other treats were a daily thing.
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Fairy Cafe! Jason and I both like to walk around during our travels and just meander and observe, so we took turns taking daily trips to the supermarket, banks, and other shops. On one of my morning walks, I spotted a cute little cafe tucked on the side of a hotel near our apartment - El Bosque de las Hadas . I looked up the hours and was delighted to discover the fascinating layers of this cafe. On one of our free evenings, we dressed up for fun and walked to the fairy cafe for dessert – this cafe was even dreamier than we expected (see the photo collage). The kids devoured the oreo cheesecake, and we all enjoyed frilly drinks in a fantastical setting. What a treasure!
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Kids Cafes! Whenever I am looking for places to eat with kids, I search for “lunch/dinner with kids” in google maps – sometimes the results are amazing! After a morning at an interactive museum, we were hungry and I discovered a kids cafe within walking distance (which was good because finding Ubers for 6 was not always easy and we hadn’t yet accepted that we would need to split up in Ubers to get places faster). Cafeteria Facundo Stay & Play Café https://facundostayplaycafe.negocio.site/ was the perfect lunch destination for us that day! I don’t even remember what we ordered and somehow I didn’t take photos at this cafe, but the kids played, lunched, and played some more! Turns out, this lovely cafe wasn’t the only one around – we explored another in a nearby town later in the week.
PS - we had a fair amount of pizza on this trip as well
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