Patagonia Rebelde — Restaurant in El Chaltén

It was absolutely terrible.

6 of us, not a full restaurant but busy enough so we weren’t expecting immediate service.

Waited 15+ minutes to get our menus. Not the end of the world but set a precedent for how the rest of the meal would pan out.

2 waters, one of which seemed completely inept.

We eventually got their attention after trying for around 25 minutes to get our food and drinks ordered. First choice beer, not available, no problem. Second choice, not available. Third choice - got it eventually but tasted like cat’s p*ss.

Few options on the menu not available, weren’t told this when the menus were handed out but once we’d decided what we wanted. Not totally uncommon either but not great.

Food eventually arrives - 4x people opt for Guanaco burgers, I order Guanaco steak (asked for it to be rare) which also came with vegetables. 1 other person ordered a vegetable lasagne.

Burgers didn’t taste great - as a group we were starving so 2/4 ate theirs, others didn’t.

My vegetables were cold, I quickly informed waitress, it was returned and had been slightly heated in a microwave. The guanaco steak was like a boot. Might have needed a chainsaw to get through it. Wasn’t cooked rare as had been requested.

Lasagne, tasted bad, and had no sauce.

Tried for a long time to get their attention to highlight the issues. Eventually complained and they said they would come back. Between them both they clearly didn’t want to deal with us.

Not usually in the mood to complain about service, but the restaurant was quiet at this point and we were being ignored. Probably would have felt a lot better about the food quality if the servers had been apologetic or even averted their attention to us, not us having to ask them to come over each time.

Their solution:

1x brownie dessert between the 6 of us and 20% off the bill.

Not adequate.

I went up to sort out the bill - was then offered 20% off, along with free lasagne. The bill also had the tip included, which was a mistake apparently.

Paid it and left

Now typing this up after getting a takeaway pizza.

Thee worst dining experience...

Nice atmosphere, ok service, poor quality food.

Food arrived in order of: bread with dip, side dishes, starter, main course.

Bread with pumpkin/aubergine dips (provided without request) was assumed to be complimentary but was later charged as cover.

Chips arrived first covered in oil.

Waitress was friendly and stated chips would be removed from bill as these were requested as the side dish with the main but kitchen made mistake. (but was still later charged).

Cheese starter arrived with only 2 pieces of bread soon after salad but was barely melted (should have kept some bread behind from the cover as the start).

Grill for 2 people arrived on a hot plate (once chips were cold) with half chicken, 4x cheap cuts of lamb, 2x short rib, 2x blood sausage.

Best part of the meal was the...

This is the experience you’re looking for but might not find unless someone tells you. Do not miss this restaurant! It was empty all 3 times we ate here and we were mystified. Every bite of every dish was more delicious than any other meal we had in Argentina. Yes they charge a 10% credit card fee, but during a town-wide two-daylong wifi blackout, they were one of the few places that could accept cards at all. And they don’t add a 10% tip to your bill before charging. So, we were good with it and enjoyed every minute we spent here. I might add that the music was the best we heard during our stay, including a surprise live performance. And the service was impeccable (love...