Santiago: Parque Forestal, Mercado Central, Marisqueria Yiyi, and the Lastarria Boutique Hotel

Our flight left Lima at 835am in the morning, and arrived in Santiago Chile at 135pm. would you believe that there's a 2 hour time change between Peru and Chile? Peru is actually in the same time zone as Easter Island, go figure. Since we had so little time in Santiago and really didn't want to deal with transportation glitches, we had our hotel, a wonderful place, named the Lastarria Boutique Hotel arrange for shuttle service. The location of the hotel is wonderful, close to everything, but still a peaceful oasis, with a wonderful, friendly, and accommodating staff. We got to the hotel at around 3; dropped everything off, and headed out. The gentleman at the front desk was very helpful and when we asked about the location of the Mercado Central, he gave us directions. One interesting thing; no less than four people during our stay emphasized how "safe" the area was. Folks seemed generally interested in making sure we knew the area was safe. We followed the sprawling Parque Forestal down to the Mercado. We loved the wonderful green space….it was a beautiful day, families were out and about….

With children of the two and four legged variety having a great time.

There were several museums, monuments, and memorials along the way including the Museum of Contemporary Art and this one, the Iquique Heroes Monument.

Which is right in front of the Mercado Central.

Things seemed so relaxed here; as folks would stop by and chat with the mounted police officers and take time to pet their horses.

In terms of seafood for sale; things were winding down in the market…..the restaurants however, were going strong. Restaurants occupy the entire center of the market.

Hawkers try and tempt you into the restaurants; it seemed so very touristy, like we've seen in cities all over the globe.

We opted to walk the perimeter, until we saw a place full of local families having a great time. Time….well, we had a limited amount of that, so we wanted something simple and local and Marisqueria Yiyi seemed to have it in spades.

The young man working here was an absolute joy…so friendly, kind, gracious, and quite mellow. Looking at the menu we ordered a dish….looking at the next table we also ordered "what he's having!"

Soon enough, some very nice bread made its way to our table, along with the classic Chilean condiment, Pebre, full of tomato, cilantro, and garlic flavors that folks from San Diego would simply call it, well, "salsa". It was nice, but quite mild, which reminded me of an acquaintance who spent time in Chile, and told me; "in spite of the name, there's not very many spicy dishes in Chile."

Sitting right outside the main dining area, we could see the women hard at work in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, the place had started to fill up.

Meanwhile our Ceviche arrived.

The last thing I want to do is to get into any contentious, nationalistic argument. But having had more than my share of Peruvian Cebiche, I found this to be quite surprising. The fish, which looked almost minced reminding me of Japanese bone scrapings were fully "cooked" in citrus. And yet, the marinating liquid seemed quite low in acid. Also, it was lemon here, not lime, adding a totally different flavor profile to things. We actually squeezed at least half a lemon trying to bring the flavor up to our tastes.

The seafood broth that accompanied this was outstanding; clear, yet full of savory, but not overly "fishy" flavors.

The "I'll have what he's having" dish was the classic Chilean Paila Marina.

Man, the shellfish and crab in this were amazingly fresh, bright, and cooked to perfection. The fish in the "stew" were a bit beyond our preferred doneness. The broth needed the help of some salt and again, to adjust for our taste, a good amount of citrus as it was very light.

I don't remember the price of our meal; but I do recall being amazed at how inexpensive it was. I was also impressed with the friendly and gracious service….I mean, everyone else in the place looked local and yet we were treated like regular customers! When we paid, I left a tip…..the young man, looking quite distressed, made sure to go over the check with me, worried that I didn't understand the currency. We really loved the people here.

Marisqueria Yiyi
Mercado Central
Santiago, Chile

We took a nice leisurely walk back to the hotel…..after all, it was a "dog day Sunday" right?

Parque Forestal was alive with activities; and yet things seemed so relaxed.

If you wanted the children's entertainment; there it was……

If you wanted a nice nap in the grass; well, you could get that too.

Our hotel has an afternoon tea/coffee. I'm thinking there weren't too many folks staying here, slow season and all. So we decided to have nice respite and some coffee. Like I said before, it was like our little, private oasis.

As we had our coffee, we had a chance to chat with the young man who served us. We mentioned how relaxed, laid back, and friendly we found Santiago. He laughed and told us, "it's because today is Sunday….there's no commute, no one is in a rush….there is no competition for space. You should be here on Monday!" I dunno….it might all be relative.

We returned to our room; relaxed and ready for a short nap before "dinner"…..which would be a tour through the various wines of Chile.

Stay Tuned!