One day I finished work early at the school I was working at in Concón, an urbanisation just to the north of Viña, so rather than take me back to the hotel, I asked the teacher to drop me off on Avenida Concón Reñaca by the sand dunes.
You can see from this video why sandboarding on these huge dunes is such a popular sport here.
From the dunes I walked twenty minutes down the road to this seafood restaurant by Caleta Higuerillas, next to the boat marina.
Aqui Jaime (Intermediate C+), 21303 Avenida Borgoño, www.aquijaime.cl
The best tables, overlooking the rocks and the sea, are on the ground floor. As it’s a popular place and I arrived without a reservation, I had to make do with sitting upstairs in the less exciting main dining room.
As ever I was looking for food experiences that I hadn’t had. Although I have eaten abalone in China and Japan before but this was my first time to try a Chilean preparation of Locos (boiled and served with mayonnaise and a salsa verde). Although not true abalone, locos have a very similar flavour and texture. Can’t say I was particularly blown away (C) but at least it was a new experience.
After this I just wanted a bit of simply grilled conger eel which here is served with fried onion, egg and chips. Haute cuisine it ain’t, but it was basically okay (C+).
As usual, the Sauvignon Blanc was the hightlight of the meal (B). Can’t remember the cost but it was pretty reasonable. I got an Uber to take me home which took the scenic route along the coast back to Viña .
There is another option nearby; Alto Mar by La Gatita at 100 Avenida Morales. Although a little further inland, the restaurant also has good sea views and serves generous portions of seafood. They often get swamped by visitors from Santiago at the weekend so you might need to reserve. Alto Mar would have been my first choice for food (the fresh prawns are amazing apparently) but the teacher swayed my decision. So one for next time.
You’ll find everywhere mentioned in the north of my map.
Off to my beloved Valpo next!