Mendoza Recommendations

[syzygy8]

Will be in Mendoza in about a month, for three nights. The whole goal is eating and drinking. Never been there before. Staying at a place recommended in the NY Times just outside the city in Chacras de Coria. They don't serve anything outside of breakfast.

I wasn't planning on renting a car, and was thinking of just paying for taxi from the hotel to Chacras and/or Mendoza for dinners. Lunches, I'm thinking, will come at the vineyards.

Any egullet-worthy recommendations for Mendoza or Chacras? I'm not expecting fine dining a la some places in BA, but tell me where you've enjoyed a meal and can recommend a visit.

Also, did any particular winery visits in Mendoza strike you as particularly fun and interesting for some independent travelers who speak very little Spanish?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Mariposa]

We have just returned from Mendoza having visited multiple times. I believe you will be captivated by the place, the wonderful scenery, the gentility of its people and the fabulous wines! We usually stay at the Park Hyatt Hotel, a truly wonderful hotel with a first class restaurant ($$$)....when we're feeling 'uptown' we dine there, but I can reccomend a couple of other places as well. One, La Florencia (don't bother with Facundo across the street), is a steak place but offers Italian dishes as well (don't ask for fish because it has to travel too far to get to Mendoza). Ask for Roberto as your waiter. If you order steak, ask for it 'al punto' if you like it medium rare or 'jugoso' if you like it rare. Don't be afraid to send it back if it is not cooked to your liking, they will replace it with no problem. Also, don't order too much food, a steak and salad is more that enough as the steaks are huge! Try the 'panqueque de manzana' for desert . If you like crepes and apples, you'll love it! This one is just down the street from the Park Hyatt. Another, La Marchigiana, is a Family owned Italian restaurant that makes the best minestrone I have ever had. They have the ubiquitous steak menu but their Italian menu is ourstanding. They have two restaurants....I'll try to find the address of the one we went to and send it later. As to the wineries: the only ones that I know of that offer food are the Familia Zuccardi winery and the Lopez winery, both in Maipu and the Nieto Senetiner and Bodega Ruca Malen wineries in Lujan de Cuyo. You must reserve 24 hours in advance to partake....or...try just showing up at the appropriate time and tell them you have come all the way from the United States to visit their winery....it will probably work.

[WestOrangeFrank]

Mariposa please tell us more about any of your winery experiences!!!

Mendoza is next on our Argentina visit list!

syzygy8 - you could probably rent a nice remise (limo-style professional driver) for a decent rate. They jack up the price some for tourists, but still a fair amount compared to other (USA based) metro-city rates.

syzygy8 can you please post any of your experiences in this area?

[RB2]

Just wanted to see if there were any more recent experiences in Mendoza. What wineries are a must to visit? Any other unmentioned great restaurants that are local haunts, not tourist destinations?

[Gaucho]

The best two high end places to dine in Mendoza are La Bourgogne (at the Vistalba Carlos Pulenta Winery), and Francis Mallmann 1884 (at Escorihuela Gascon).

In terms of wineries to visit, I would suggest you look into:

Achaval Ferrer

Familia Zuccardi

Benegas

La Rural - Rutini Wines

Bodegas Lopez

Trapiche

Salentein

Ruca Malen

Please note that many wineries will require advanced reservations if you want to have lunch there.... also, some will require minimum number of guests as they dont have a full-time restaurant operation and may need to cater the event.

[RB2]

Thank you for the recommendations. Had a great meal at Francis Mallman 1884...excellent suckling pig among many other delicious dishes.

Went to a few of the mentioned wineries and some others, but if you get the chance I recommend Carmelo Patti strongly. Fantastic wine by a passionate man who makes what he likes to drink.

Also we had lunch a great lunch at Ruca Malen.

[emilymarie]

Does anyone know anything about 743 Bistro?