1.) Local Bread with Horse Meat & Goat Cheese Mix, Mushroom Butter and Almond Liquor
Right away you get introduced again to what 99 is. The pre-Covid version of the restaurant was tweezery and all, but they've stripped that back with still amazing food but a very much "from the earth" approach. Already we have horse, we have goat cheese, mushroom, etc., all of it combining together with an amazingly soft & crispy bread made in a local way. Just a great way to start the meal.
2.) Trio of (1) Empanada of Mussel and shrimp, (2) Pork with Quail Egg and Celery Leaves, and (3) Chilean Blood Sausage
There's long been a maxim in top chef to not serve duos or trios. But when this is a Michelin-Star quality place, that maxim goes out the window. Because here too you have three just great bites. The mussel and shrimp was so fresh and moist inside the empanada. The pork with quail egg was just divine. Somehow, the blood sausage was my favorite of the three. Just a spectacular start.
3.) Rabbit Terrine with Dried Rabbit, Raising & Rice Jelly and Preserved Grapes
This was a slight letdown, but I think it's mostly I'm just not a huge fan of rabbit. The terrine preparation was better than the dried pieces up top. If anything, the preserved grapes and raisins and other trappings lended a really nice bit of sweetness which helped.
4.) Glazed River Trout with Tiger Beans and Avocado Milk Sauce
Maybe the best cooked trout - and this is where I still find true great cooking so lovely. I could cook a trout. I have done so. It doesnt come out as beautifully crisp, soft, tart and luxurious as this. I'm not an avocade person so that side was a bit lost on me. The other one was great - I don't really know what Tiger Beans are, but when you dust them up with a little charred chorizo mash, you get something great.
5.) Duo of (1) Crab Claw with Ash Foam and Green Sauce, and (2) Crab, Breadcrumbs and Cheese Bake
The crab claw was awesome - super meaty and went well with the green sauce, a little aji verde will add great depth to any dish. For the crab bake - I'll take on their word that this is a chilean specialty of the Aconcagua coast, but tasted quite American if you will. It was good, but definitely the least unique dish of the night.
6.) Hen and Walnut Soup
This dish tasted quite a bit better than it looked, because once you stick a spoon onto the foam at the top the broth underneath was a bit cloudy and weird looking. Again, it tasted super sharp, complex and was quite lovely in that sense, but it just didn't look all that great.
7.) Horse Meat with Chimuchurri and Corn Puree
I know we don't really eat horse in the US, but man should we - especially after the chef mentioined how much healthier it is than beef (will take their word for it on that one). The horse pieces on the skewer were truly amazing. They were great by themself, so meaty, so incredibly rich. Add some of the chimichurri and it becomes something just amazing The corn puree (forgot to take a picture) was a miss because involved a good amount of cut raw tomato which I'm not a fan of. Didn't matter, the horse meat itself was just a showstopper, in the best way.
8.) Goat Cheese, Melon and Marken Granita
This was awesome. 99 Restaurante, as we'll see in the subsequent course, is big on savory desserts, and this was a perfect mix of savory and sweet. The goat cheese and melon broth combined to something really tart and sour, in a great way. The marken granita was sweet - just a great mix in that dish. Really nice dessert.
9.) Goat Cheese and Local Berry Marmalade
Their goat cheese is just amazing. In theory this is the only repeat dish from last year, though I think the specific berry used for the marmalade might be different. A small, but really nice, dependable way to end the meal.
10.) Petit Fours
Though I guess this was the end - and in classic 99 style, the petit fours also are more savory than sweet. Dessert just isn't a big thing here - though the in theory dessert courses are all quite lovely anyway. 99 Restaurant honestly I think was better this year than last.
Rank on Trip: 4/6 (will be my new #23)
Borago
1.) Tomato, Watermelon and Amazonic Berry Sauce
So, I wrote in the 99 Restaurante write-up that I hate tomato. Well, I can confidently say I don't hate amazing pink Chilean tomato. This was a key ingredient in many dishes. If it went badly it could've short-circuited the whole meal. Instead, here drinking ostensibly tomato and watermelon and it was great. The weirdest part was them pouring watermelon and some herb liquid nitrogen over the herbs (above the straw) which created this fragrance just emanating as you ate. So interesting.
2.) Trio of (1) Tomato, Garlic, Onion and Beet Flower, (2) Tomato Tartare and (3) Almond Cream Puree with Berries
Three dishes, two of which were again heavily tomato, and the pink tomato remained a star. Granted, here it was charred/burnt tomato, which even normal tomato I can handle. The "flower" was incredible - almost like a pie of tomato, garlic, onion, beet. The "stem" was also dehydrated beet root and was great. The tomato tartare was a bit of a struggle to handle but still great. The almond cream was a perfect end, including the honey and berries in the middle.
3.) Duo of (1) Pumpkin, Camambert and Fig Bee with Mushroom Sauce and (2) Edible Herbs
The little bee was great - if anything I wish the pumpkin "head" was a bigger / more prominent component in the bee, but on the whole if you eat it as one bite (which I didn't), it probably makes that less meaningful. The sauce was great. But the real star, truly, was the edible herbs. You're only supposed to eat the yellow tips and holy hell were those so crunchy, tasty, salty, sweet - just something incredible. I find it weird to be so high in praise for some grass/herb, but yeah it was amazing.
4.) Duo of (1) Smoked Mussel, Chicharron and Luyu with (2) Smoked Picoroco
The chicharron and luyu sauce was really nice and heavy, mixing well with incredibly fresh mussels. That all said, the Picoroco (a Chilean shellfish) lightly grilled in its shell. This was so good, so fresh, just a great mix of smoke from the fire and saltiness. This is the type of thing you come to Borago for.
5.) Amazonic Seafood Medley
Unreal. I think there was like 12 different seafoods within this shell, all served with the loveliest tart broth. The seafood strayed from scallops to limpets to more picoroco, to so much more. Just an incredible dish. We were told, and rightly so, to eat it piece by piece, dipping each slightly in the sauce, and then suck down the remaining sauce at the end. If you followed through on that guidance you get something special.
6.) Burnt Lobster with Shot
If any dish was like an 8/10, it was this one. it was plenty tasty, with just an impeccably cooked lobster piece, but it was a bit simple. I guess the luxury is in the freshness, but I like my Borago freshness with a more unique bent (such as the picoroco and the various seafood in the shell in the last dish).
7.) Tomato and Bean Stew with Flowers and Charcoal Infusion
The tomato made its reapparance, here mixing a roasted pink tomato into the bean broth and having every single one of those flowers. And the flowers were the star. They were all perfect - adding such an amazing texture and contrasting taste to the heaviness (in a good way) of the broth. These flowers really were just amazing.
8.) Easter Island Sea Bass and Bonita with Algae Waves
Simple in a way, but here is what I would've liked to see in the lobster dish - something like that crazy blue sauce made from an algae that when roasted and pureed turns this vibrant, amazing blue color with a truly sweet, citric taste. It matches so well with the perfectly cooked pieces of fish to just sop up all the algae. Unreal.
9.) Milka Bread with Kaffir Butter
This potato based dish was the other holdover from last year. I would complain, but it is really nice. A great smokey, deep flavor. The butter they make out of pajarito butter (yeah, no idea either) just melts over the hot bread instantly, which works pretty well also.
10.) 14-hr Cooked Lamb with Roasted, Stuffed Ravioli Sweet Potato with Kollof Juice
So last year, the main dish was just the lamb (admittedly, a slightly bigger piece). Here, the lamb is teh star, but so is that darned pink tomato again. The various preparations of pink tomato were all quite lovely, except for maybe the one at the bottom which was probably the only time pink tomato tasted more like regular tomato to me. Anyway, that lamb - that incredible lamb. All the sides were well prepared, and the kollof juice sauce (more on that ridiculous seaweed in a moment) matched it so well. That lamb haunts my dreams.
11.) Sea Strawberry and Algae Dessert
Technically this was a repeat dish, but the quality of it is worth repeating. First of all, the weird sea strawberries are just bizarrely special - and the seaweed served in various forms (with that blue algae again) are also just special. One of the more unique desserts I've had in every way. I hope Chef Rodolfo Guzman never takes this off the menu.
12.) Parfait of Luyu Mushroom and Kollof Sticks
Another just amazing dessert - kollof is a giant seaweed with right crisp, brittle, savory roots, which makes up the parfait and the stick for this amazing little popsicle. The stone underneath is ice cold keeping it solid for a while. Just a perfect dessert.
13.) Goat Cheese Meringue with Lemon Curd
This was a repeat, and to be honest not sure why it is served as the last dessert (pre petit fours), rather than the first dessert / palate cleanser. It's good, it's tasty, but it is just a weird placement.
14.) Petit Fours
The petit fours are really nice, especially the mushroom one. I never really have a ton to say about petit fours, and I think that's the point. They're often good, as thy were here, and I guess it's probably more notable if you do remember them because they aren't up to snuff. Not an issue here.
Ranking on Trip: #1/6 (Stays my #6)
