4 Best Restaurants in Chiloé, Chile

With a fresh, creative approach to traditional Chilote cuisine, this restaurant is a nice change of pace in the island's restaurant scene—and, most importantly, it serves up really good food. El Mercadito is in a restored house overlooking the waterfront in the historic Pedro Montt barrio. Exciting dishes include "Mi Borrachito," a spicy conger eel stew with choritos and fried native potatoes, and "Bombas de Jaiva," a breaded, fried appetizer stuffed with chupe de jaiba, a typical crab stew in Chiloé. Be sure to start your meal off with an icy pisco sour.

Inside this rambling beachfront building that arches over the street, this restaurant serves seafood, beef, and other dishes. Try the oysters or merluza margarita, hake fish in a shellfish sauce. Above the restaurant is a hostería (small hotel) with 30 rooms. The rooms are nothing special, but they're clean and serve as a fine option in a pinch.

This intimate establishment specializes in curanto (a Chilean feast cooked in the ground), available at both dinner and lunch (most restaurants have it only for lunch). A variety of other dishes fill out the menu, from paila marina (seafood stew) to pizza, beef, chicken, and sandwiches. The walls of the restaurant are lined with curious photos, statues, and other Chiloé memorabilia. The wood-burning stove in the center of the dining room is much appreciated on the often cold and rainy nights.

Scrumptious oysters and a panoply of other gifts from the sea are served on the top floor of this big wooden house at the foot of Achao's dock (accessible via a side stairway). Open late and serving generous portions, many in town maintain the food here is the best around. That said, service can be slow at times.