We arrived into town on a sunny Sunday and after checking into our B&B we decided to walk into town and grab lunch. Puerto Varas has some lovely views of the lake and volcanoes, and as with other Chilean towns, signs of the October unrest were present during our visit, as higher end stores, hotels, and banks were boarded up to protect the windows.
Cassis Cafe – We were seated on the rooftop terrace which had great views, plus we enjoyed watching firefighters train on tanker fillings. Eric ordered an omelet (which was huge) and a limonada while I opted for for an avocado and ham tostada (that turned out to be a DIY situation) with a glass of Carmenere. I keep forgetting that ‘jamon’ in South America is just deli ham slices, not the delicious goodness of ‘jamon’ in Spain. No matter – it was still filling and good.
For dinner that evening, we went to Pim’s Pub, which was very busy as a lot of restaurants were closed on Sunday evening. We were ignored for about 10 mins in the main restaurant, then I noticed a recently vacated table in the quieter cafe section so we moved. The staff there were much better, and we soon had our orders in (Chardonnay and cake for Eric / Carmenere and fries for me). We each enjoyed an extra glass with all the old music videos playing on the screens to end out the night.
Breakfast was included at our B&B and we still had snacks left over from earlier in the trip, so dinner was our only paid meal on Monday and Tuesday.
On Monday, we choose Puelche Restaurant (on a recommendation from our host) as it was raining and it was less than a five minute walk. We each started with a glass of sparkling wine, then ordered our food. Eric got the princess (la Reina) cheeseburger and an IPA on draft while I had the Yennifer burger and a glass of Carmenere. Both burgers were massive with flavorful toppings. The fries were nice too, in a reasonable portion size.
For dinner on Tuesday, we choose Mesa Tropera for their excellent online reviews and interesting beer list. This place was busy at 7:40pm when we arrived, so we signed in and got our buzzer. We managed to grab a stool at the bar, so we each ordered a beer while we waited for a table – I had the porter and Eric had the strong ale. After ~20 minutes our table was ready, and we were seated with a view of the water. Eric ordered the gnocchi with ragu (which was like a ropa vieja with dumplings) and I ordered the Bravo tartare (with the spicy sauce on the side, thank goodness!). After our first round of beers, I switched to wine and ordered my last Carmenere of the trip while Eric tried the Belgian Golden ale, which was malty and strong, quite good. The restaurant stayed bustling the whole time we were there, and for good reason, it was a great experience.
