Beaches and Palaces
October 13, 2007
Plaza Mexico
Viña was a very nice, relaxing trip. The town itself can be expensive or cheap depending on taste. There are tons of hostels and residenciales where you can stay cheaply. Near the beach all the food is very expensive, but if you go a bit inland you can find reasonable prices. Of course there are plenty of grocery stores for the chefs out there. If you're passing through Santiago I would recommend taking the 2 hours bus ride or so to Viña for a night to enjoy the ambience of the biggest resort town in Chile.
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We went into this "Mexican" restaurant because there was a big sign outside advertising 50% off all menu prices. Unfortunately, the menu prices were about 100% more than they should be, so it evened out to an average priced meal in Viña. The food was ok, but definitely not up to the standards of Mexican food in the US. The restaurant had good decorations, but it was really big and felt uncomfortable eating there since there weren't many other people there. At night it's probably a fun place, but the drinks were incredibly overpriced and there were no discounts on those.
When Kelly and I got to Viña and discovered there were Chinese restaurants we had to go. I was very happy with Pau San. The food was more or less authentic, and the atmosphere was very much like all the Chinese restaurants I've been to in the Chicago suburbs. Also in keeping with tradition, the food was cheap compared to the rest of the food in Viña. If you're passing through Chile and start to crave spicy food, or any food other than completos and churrasco, definitely stop by Pau San
We stopped by this café because it looked very inviting. Unfortunately, we didn't know that it would take 2 hours for us to eat a plate of bruschette and a piece of pie. The food was good, but the service was terrible. We ended up having 3 different waiters serve us at different points. If you have a lot of time and want to people watch, definitely stop by here. If you would rather spend more time at the beach, pass up Arena and go to the telepizza.
For US $35 a night it was a bargain as far as hotels go; however, we definitely got what we paid for. The location was very loud being by two very busy streets, and the building itself seemed to lack insulation. Luckily, the free breakfast was adequate, and the hotel staff were very nice. If I go back to Viña I think I'll stay in a hostel though, only because I would prefer to cook my food as all restaurants in Viña are very expensive.
