El Mercadito de Chiloé — Restaurant in Castro

Aesthetically speaking, this place is super neat and according to a lot of reviews and my Google search, it is also considered "cheap." As a long time traveler of 10mos and having lived in Chile for the last 4mos, I definitely wouldn't consider it cheap. The cheapest thing on the menu was a veggie soup for 4.500 clp (~$7USD). Over double the price I'm used to paying.

However, I had been walking around with my backpack the last hour in the heat. So I was hungry, thirsty, I needed to charge my phone and I had walked out of the way to get to this place, so I decided to treat myself to the 8.000clp vegetarian plate. Came with a cauliflower soup (eh), salad (yum) and a lukewarm carrot pureé with 3 falafels. As I made it to my last falafel, I crunched down on something hard and unfamiliar.

I was a little freaked out bc what I had removed from my mouth looked really similar to glass. The waiter reassured me that it was just a piece of plastic from un pote in the kitchen that apparently had broken and gotten rolled into my ball of chickpeas, fried, and served to a guest. He offered me another, but honestly was afraid of finding more surprises so I declined.

After returning from the kitchen, the server offered me a tea or a coffee on the house to apologize for the hard piece of broken plastic I had just about swallowed.

I've worked in a restaurant for over 8 yrs and that is by far the worse attempt I've seen someone make at recovering from a situation like this.

Maybe if I wasn't pinching pesos, I wouldn't have been so bothered by the situation, but nontheless, it happened.

P.S. Also not a great place to practice your Spanish. I asked two questions to two diff ppl (nothing to do with translation, literally only asking about accompaniments) and instead of responding they both decided I needed the English menu 😑 Other than feeling a little insulted about my Spanish (which I have a university degree in and have been using for years), the staff was really attentive and friendly. But would I return? Nah.

I've had...

If you love seafood, then you can’t miss this place when you are in Castro. There’s also a lovely terrace that faces the water, offering a cosy and casual atmosphere.

The food was fresh and delicious, with generous portion sizes. The bread and aioli served at the beginning was tasty and addictive! Being a seafood lover, there were so many appetising options on the menu that it was hard to make a decision.

In the end, my Boyfriend and I decided to share a starter (tuna ceviche), which was delish; the tiny pieces of strawberries added a nice fresh contrast to the flavours. As for my main, I went for the seafood broth with clams, mussels, which was yumz, though the waiter recommended the crab gratin, which did sound appealing. My boyfriend had the mussels, which was delicious, though the accompanying fries weren’t that much, especially if you are used to having “moules and frites”, with lots of frites.

Nonetheless, the food taste was excellent, and I would go back again the next time I’m...

The food was unbelievable and fresh. I had a fresh squeezed lemonade with the options of fresh ginger or mint added. Then, as an appetizer I had a dish made of mashed potatoes, ceviche shrimp, fried calamari and avocado. I was in heaven! The delicious tastes all exploded in my mouth. For my entre I had the crab casserole. A whole dish of shredded crab meat with a touch of a sharper cheese covered in panko and baked. Decadence at its best! Dessert was out of the question because there was so much crab to eat. I highly recommend this restaurant. The service was quick and all of the staff was friendly and helpful. The view overlooking the harbor topped off a...