El Calafate Restaurants

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This is an Argentine chocolate shop chain with branches in Patagonia. The shop specialises in dark chocolate and there is variety to choose and sample from. I just had a coffee at its cafe when I visited.

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This chocolate/icecream shop and cafe is highly recommended for its quality hot chocolate and icecream. It's worth trying the Calafate icecream, a berry for which the town is named after. There is also a factory/visitors centre on outskirts of the town where chocolates, alfajores and cakes are freshly made.

There is also a branch in Ushuaia: San Martin 267 (the main street) and Tel: (02901) 422824.

Favorite Dish: The calafate icecream is worth trying!

This restaurant, recommended by Lonely Planet, is on the main drag in El Calafate. The ambience was nice and the pasta was fresh and very tasty. However, the portions were very small, especially by Argentinean standards. The restaurant is also overpriced as are almost all the restaurants in El Calafate.

Favorite Dish: I had the ravioli, but there were only four. Tasty but small.

I found this restaurant in Lonely Planet and it was also recommended to me by a couple I met in Ushuaia. Though it is quite a bit more expensive than the price range listed in Lonely Planet (Most meals range from $8 - $15), the food was delicious. Apparently it's located in one of the oldest houses in El Calafate. The menu also features steaks and fish.

Favorite Dish: I had the salmon ravioli, and though I couldn't taste the salmon so much, the pasta and the sauce were so great that it didn't matter.

The cut-out cow and her calf standing outside La Vaca Atada (The Tethered Cow) is something of an El Calafate landmark, and the restaurant itself an El Calafate institution - deservedly so. We were so taken with the food, the service and the atmosphere on our first visit we had no hesitation in returning for a second evening.

The restaurant seats a fair few people, and it was crowded (and not only with tourists), but the service was excellent and we could hear ourselves talk amid the buzz of a restaurant full of people enjoying themselves.

The menu had a good rangle of dishes, including some nice vegetables - not always the case in Argentina!

Favorite Dish: Rabbit! - I love it and will usually order it when I get the chance. A rich meaty stew that went down a treat on a chilly night.

Patagonian lamb, well--cooked and not over-sauced fish, tasty soups were some of the other choices in our party that were very well received.

Excursions to the glaciers are all day affairs. Lunch may be included on a booked tour but many tours don't include lunch and if you're travelling independently, you'll need to make your own arrangements. Hotels will make up lunch boxes of varying quality and at prices commensurate to the level of hotel you're in.

The facilities at Perito Moreno were in no way up to dealing with the number of visitors. It took half an hour just to get a cup of coffee from the over-worked small cafe. You really would be better off taking your own food along on this day. The outdoor picnic area was very crowded, which on a fine day such as we had, was OK because people could spread out into the woods. It would be very miserable on a wet day as there is no way everyone would be able to find shelter other than back in their bus or car. No doubt the situation will improve as more facilities are built. There is pressure on the Parks not to over-develop the site but the ever-increasing numbers really demand more facilities.

Things are a bit better on the All Glaciers tour. The restaurant at Bahia Onelli is big enough to handle a lot of people, and whilst it's not cheap, it's pleasant and it's there! You can also buy snacks and drinks on the boat all through the day and, if you choose to picnic, there are plenty of logs to sit yourself on.

Favorite Dish: The lunch box we ordered from our hotel. the Bahia Redondo, was very ordinary - heavy on white bread and cake, with a floury apple and a can of Coke. We did much better with our next picnic after we had been shopping for cheese, dried Spanish ham and tomatoes at the supermarket on 9 de Julio, bought fresh, crusty bread from the baker and picked up a small Waless cake from one of the gift shops along Libertador. That and a bowl of thick pea soup at the restaurant at Bahia Onelli, made a feast for us - a warming one at that.

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Nibepo Aiken es la estancia donde nos dieron un asado de cordero Patagónico muy bueno
Ponen el cordero a las brasas , con unos palos que lo mantienen estirado y se va haciendo poco a poco
Nos dieron empanada , después chorizo y finalmente llegó el asado de cordero
Nibeko Aire is the estancia where they gave us a very good roast Patagonian lamb
They put the lamb on the grill , with some poles to keep it in shape and it cooks Little by little
They gave us "empanada", "chorizo" and finally the roast lamb

Un día muy bien y otro mal
Todavía no sabemos por qué ya que el primer día tomamos una pasta muy rica , buen vino y un servicio excelente , en cambio dos días más tarde fue un desastre .
Tienes el 50% de probabilidades de cenar bien
One day very good and another bad
We do not know yet why , because the first day we had very good pasta , good wine and an excellent service , but two days latter it was a disaster
You have 50% probabilities of having a good dinner