Boragó – Santiago, Chile (No. 23 on 50 Best Restaurant List)

A few weeks ago, I was in Santiago, Chile and had a meal at Borago. I have broken down each dish and the overall experience.

Dish 1: Picoroco and tucupi made of Chiloe potatoes

The picoroco is a barnacle with quite a good flavor. The presentation was nice, however in trying to get all of the meat out of the barnacle, I was forced to break the shell with my fingers and scrape the meat out with my teeth as no utensils were provided.

Dish 2: Spring Juice of Fava Beans

A shockingly delicious juice made from beans. The only criticism is the amount of foliage as a garnish. I ended up having to hold the foliage back as I drank the juice through the straw

Dish 3: Sea lettuce and Chilean truffle. Loco abalone, luche seaweed, and matico. Almond cold cream on a spring salad

A decent dish, however due to fact that a small spoon was provided, I struggled to get all of the elements of the dish into a single bite.

Dish 4: Native Forest wild vegetables and Kila

No knife was provided which meant it was near impossible to cut the larger flowers and it was impossible to get everything on the plate in a single bite. 

This dish included morel mushrooms (one of my favorite ingredients), but it didn’t really add anything to the dish.

Service note: After setting the dish in front of me, but before pouring the broth into the bowl and describing the dish, the waiter left to help another table.

Dish 5: Nalca Stem

The raw part of the stem was very tough and I had a piece caught between my teeth which was irritating. The cooked pieces inside the stem were hard to excise from the stem and my fingers ended up getting dirty from maneuvering the pieces onto the spoon.

Dish 6: Oyster and beach malva green sauce

The flavors of this dish were excellent, the only criticism was the balance. The dish is meant to be eaten like a taco, however the size of the leaf that serves as the taco shell was not consistent. I received a larger leaf which did throw the balance of the flavors off slightly.

Dish 7: Mussels and “Cacho de cabra” chili

The broth was impeccable. The flavors were balanced. The cold peach added to the warm broth was a nice contrast of flavor and temperature. The broth was so good I tilted the mussel shell back so I could drink all of it.

Dish 8: Easter Island Seas

Excellent dish. The sauce was delicious on its own, the fish (Chilean sea bass) was cooked perfectly.

Note: Wine pairing was a red wine (with fish!)

Dish 9: Milcao cooked “al rescoldo” and pajarito butter

Bread dish cooked in a traditional style. I did enjoy it and the wine pairing for this course (combined with the following) was my favorite wine of the evening

Dish 10: 2 weeks aged Duck and chilean Spring

The duck breast is what is on the plate. The dark meat is placed in the duck press and squeezed tableside and added to the beetroot sauce already on the plate. The duck was well cooked and the beetroot sauce was delicious. This dish also included morel mushrooms which were better utilized in this dish than the previously mentioned one, but still felt underutilized for such a strong and unique flavor.

Dish 11: Coastal offerings, Copihue and Patagonian lamb “A la Inverse”

Lamb was cooked excellently, the crust was perfect. The Copihue (white flower, national flower of Chile) had a wonderful flavor. The elements of this dish were excellent, but it was not the most cohesive. 

Dish 12: “Pantrucas” & Sea Strawberry with Chilota Sheap’s milk ice cream and rhubarb

A good palette cleanser. The rhubarb compote was excellent.

Dish 13: The Black sheep of the Family

Chocolate wrapped ice cream with marshmallow on top. Would’ve paired well with a port, however the wine pairing for this course was a sparkling rose.

Dish 14: Cold Glacier

Just a fancy after dinner mint.

Final thoughts: The food was cooked quite well (all of the protein was cooked perfectly) and most dishes had great flavors, however there were several times when I felt that ingredients were either underutilized or the flavors of the dish did not come together as a cohesive single dish. The lack of a full range of utensils that would have allowed me to combine all of the elements of the dish into a single bite was a recurring experience.

The ambiance of the restaurant was great and the service was very good. The presentation of all of the dishes was excellent.

The wine pairing was not worth the additional cost.

I don’t regret dining here, but I would not recommend it. I had better meals at significantly cheaper restaurants, albeit none of them were fine dining.

*This was my first time writing a review for a fine dining restaurant and while I wrote this for people to learn from, I would appreciate feedback if there is anything you think I should include in subsequent reviews. Thank you!