INTERNATIONAL GOURMET DINING — SOMETIMES DISAPPOINTING

A good way to learn about a country is through its cuisine. It is a journey for the taste buds to try fresh produce that might not be available to us at home.

We approached this part of our educational trip with great enthusiasm. Having researched the most highly recommended restaurants in Santiago, we made our reservations. Unfortunately, many of the restaurants we were interested in trying were closed on Sunday, so we chose Mestizo, a 4 star restaurant ranked #39 by Trip Advisor and listed as having received a Certificate of Excellence 2013 fine dining designation.

Located outside the bustle of the more central areas of the city, Mestizo overlooks a large public park on the outside and has a cavernous open interior with a dark wood beamed ceiling. The restaurant project won a public competition.

Mestizo opens for dinner at 8:00 pm and shortly thereafter the diners begin to arrive. Known for Chilean food with an upscale twist, the cheese and meat empanadas were very tasty. The seafood ravioli was also good,but the linguine with seafood was overcooked. The chocolate volcano with ice cram was decadent,, and the variety of bread choices was good.

Overall, the food and service would rate about 3.5 stars. The pisco sour was a disappointment in a country that claims it as a national drink, along with Peru.

Expecting our next dining experience at Astrid y Gaston to be the culinary highlight of our time in Santiago, since it is ranked as the #6 restaurant here and is known for high quality gourmet food in Lima, Peru also, where the owner first began to earn his successful reputation. I can only charitably say that they must have been having a bad night when we dined there. Our reservation had been made by the concierge at the Ritz Carlton two days previously, but when we arrived they could not find it.

After we were eventually seated, a rather arrogant waiter took our order. The fish and seafood portions were good, but the accompaniments of gnocchi and risotto were mushy and bland.

When we were finishing the main course, the sommelier appeared for the first time to offer wine with dinner. He was insulted to be told that it was too late for the wine. Although the dessert soufflés were not the standard version, they were very good.

This restaurant was a major disappointment, and we left feeling dissatisfied with the service and the food. For us, it did not come close to the 4.5 rating we expected.

Our third dining adventure took us to Donde Esta Coco, another popular gourmet restaurant that burned down several years ago and was rebuilt in a colonial style house. Here, the welcome was warm and hospitable.

The food again was a mixture of good and not as good as anticipated, but we would probably return. The atmosphere was pleasant, and it was the only restaurant that made us feel welcome and valued as customers.

So, what did we learn in our search for the best gourmet restaurant in Santiago? We could not find any highly recommended and ranked restaurants that seemed to justify their gourmet reputation. However, we did have some good casual meals from places that are not considered in the restaurant rankings. On our next visit, we would probably forego the recommended gourmet restaurants and try the places that someone personally tells us about.

Do you like to try out gourmet restaurants when you travel to a new place? Which ones do you tell your friends about?