Seafood restaurants in South America
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A
Café Cultural Ritual
This is a cute little option with a mostly vegetarian menu and yummy desserts. It’s run by an NGO that provides training and employment experience to underprivileged youngsters, so service is happy and haphazard.
reviewed
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B
La Canta Rana
An unpretentious 25-year-old place, Canta Rana packs in the locals for its more than 17 different types of ceviche. There is no obvious sign: look for the green walls and the expectant-looking cats sitting outside.
reviewed
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C
Los Azogueros
This smart restaurant opposite the Imperial cinema is where local lawyers lunch on their clients' bill. It's fairly formal, with excellent service and well-sourced ingredients. The fish dishes are particularly tasty.
reviewed
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D
Pérgola de la Plaza
The Chilean seafood and meat dishes are well prepared at Pérgola de la Plaza, but it's the impressive range of cocktails that makes this place stand out. The patio is ideal for people-watching on a lazy sunny day.
reviewed
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Bira
Splendid views of Baía de Marambaia await diners who make the trek to Bira, about 45 minutes outside the city. On a breezy wooden deck, diners can partake in the flavorful, rich seafood emerging from the kitchen. Moquecas, sea bass, shrimp, crabmeat pastries – all are prepared with doting tenderness. It's located about 35km west of Rio in the marvelous seaside setting of Barra da Guaratiba.
reviewed
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E
Mar y Meseta
Colorful and cozy, this elegant seafood restaurant dishes up clever creations for a handful of tables. While the service is great, the food can be hit or miss: you can’t go wrong, however, with the spaghetti in squid-ink sauce.
reviewed
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F
Los Porteños
Something about this place is very fishy – in fact, everything is. Nets, buoys and anchors are draped across the flaking walls almost as lovingly as the battered and fried hake or sea bass is laid across your cheap glass plate.
reviewed
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G
La Casona
Calling itself a 'restaurant-museum', La Casona retains an old-fashioned 1920s air with a collection of antique irons on the walls. Impeccably mannered waiters serve regional Peruvian fare, especially lovingly prepared fish dishes.
reviewed
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H
Corvina Don ‘Jimmy’
Open since 1953, this is the Mercado Central’s most famous stall, serving huge portions of corvina (sea bass) – ask for it with rice if you don’t want it over a big bowl of ceviche. Everyone from governors to diplomats has eaten here.
reviewed
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I
Cemoara
This is a renowned seafood restaurant, with no shorts or sandals allowed. It boasts some of the best seafood dishes in the city, but still has reasonable prices for what you get. Try the fish in mussel sauce; you won't be disappointed.
reviewed
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J
Juniors
Juniors Milanesas (breaded fish), empanadas and home-cooked meals are served in this casual trophy-packed social club. Kids play table tennis in the back while pops serves cold ones on a bar top painted with Curly, Larry and Mo.
reviewed
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La Oca
With good views of the river and Ilha do Amor, this recommended restaurant (formerly Farol da Vila) serves an excellent fish and seafood, including mosques, a sort of seafood stew that serves two easily. Next to Belas Praias Pousada.
reviewed
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K
Kuranton
This institution has an extensive menu of seafood, but it’s all about the curanto, Chiloé’s gastronomic bombshell. This hearty stew of mussels, clams, chicken, pork and three types of potatoes is a meal fit for hibernation. Don’t miss it.
reviewed
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Filho da Truta
Run by an enterprising couple of Lebanese–French descent, this restaurant has won national acclaim for its 37 different trout recipes. The attached pousada (guesthouse) has doubles starting at R$85 (or R$115 with three meals a day).
reviewed
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Agua Viva
This place serves trout and mineiro (Minas Gerais cuisine) food in a delightful riverside location. Outdoor seating and hammocks allow you to relax to the sound of rushing water during and after the meal. The owner speaks some English.
reviewed
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L
Punta Sal
A great seafood restaurant (it’s been around for 20 years), Punta Sal serves at least nine different kinds of ceviche. Try the assassin ceviche – a paradisiacal mix of octopus, squid, crawfish, crab, flounder and mangrove cockles. Reader recommended.
reviewed
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Viejo Lobo
With a beachside view, extensive wine list and menu complete with dishes including lightly crumbed calamari, an excellent selection of fish and delicacies like Spanish-style octopus, this is a great place for seafood. It's on the beach at the end of Av Bunge.
reviewed
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M
Maracuyá
To treat yourself to a superb seafood meal complete with bow-tie service and sea view, head to this villa-style restaurant, downtown next to Playa El Laucho. Enjoy the salty air mingled with scents of flowering vines and relax to a soundtrack of waves booming below.
reviewed
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La Sartén Dorada
There are a lot of cheap restaurants around the budget hotels, particularly on Calles 11 and 12 near the waterfront, where you can get an unsophisticated set meal for at most around US$2. La Sartén Dorada is one of the cheaper restaurants that does good seafood.
reviewed
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N
Bangüê
This restaurant lovingly detailed in Peter Robb’s A Death in Brazil is a good spot for a meat or seafood meal, with a great setting on Pátio de São Pedro and its unique sugar-plantation decor. Call to reserve an outdoor table front-and-center for Terça Negra.
reviewed
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O
Cantinho do Peixe
Pintado (a type of catfish), fresh from Rio Miranda, ends up on plates 15 different ways at this simple but tasty spot just off the main drag. Try the pintado á urucum, a lasagna-like dish of pintado smothered in a tomato, condensed milk and mozzarella sauce.
reviewed
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Caleta Gastronomica
Not as polished as the more touristy places around the plaza, the decor here is homey with a well-worn maritime theme. Make no mistake, this is your best option for heaping seafood, and shellfish stews and soups. Ask for the house special and plan on a nap after lunch.
reviewed
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P
Mirante II
Fish figures prominently on the menu of this outdoor eatery, but the real reason to come is the great view of the Rio Madeira. You can also order simple sandwiches. There's a popular feijoada (bean-and-meat stew) on Saturdays. Very low key, with outdoor tables.
reviewed
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Q
El Sacho
This is just a little hole-in-the-wall lunch counter, but it serves up heaping, inexpensive plates of excellent seafood matched only by its loads of local character. If you want to branch out from curanto, the cazuela chilota (seafood stew) deserves a try.
reviewed
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R
Cevichería Fory Fay
Small and to-the-point, it serves only the best ceviche (seafood marinated in lime juice) and nothing else. Pull up a chair at a rickety table and crack open a beer – limit one per person, though! By the way, the name is a phonetic spelling of how Peruvians say ‘45’ in English.
reviewed