Five Restaurants I Recommend in Montevideo

1. La Pulpería

Punta Carretas

If you want to understand Uruguayan food, start with a parrilla.

La Pulpería in Punta Carretas is exactly the kind of place I like. It's small, rustic and unpretentious, and the focus is where it should be: the fire and the meat.

This isn't a fancy steakhouse trying to impress you with the room. It's a traditional neighborhood parrilla where you can watch meat cooking over the embers. It's also consistently one of Montevideo's most highly regarded parrillas.

Order a bife de chorizo, ojo de bife, entraña or asado de tira. Start with a chorizo. If you're feeling adventurous, add mollejas — sweetbreads — which are fantastic when they're done properly.

And have a bottle of Uruguayan Tannat with it.

Don't rush.

That's the experience.

2. El Palenque at Mercado del Puerto

Ciudad Vieja

You have to experience Mercado del Puerto at least once.

It's touristy. It's famous. It's smoky. It's loud.

And I don't care.

The market dates to the 19th century and today is filled with parrillas cooking enormous quantities of meat over open fires. It's one of those places where the atmosphere is every bit as important as the meal.

Inside, El Palenque is the classic choice. It has operated there since 1958 and remains one of the market's benchmark parrillas.

Sit near the grill if you can.

Order some meat, chorizo and perhaps a morcilla or mollejas. El Palenque also has seafood if you've reached your beef limit.

And try a medio y medio, Montevideo's traditional mixture of sparkling and still white wine.

This isn't where I'd necessarily eat every day.

It's where I'd go because you're in Montevideo and you should experience it.

3. Empanadas La Cibeles

Centro

Uruguay has its own Río de la Plata empanada tradition, and this is something visitors sometimes miss because everybody is concentrating on steak.

Don't.

Try the empanadas.

You'll find both baked (al horno) and fried (fritas) versions, with fillings such as carne, jamón y queso, chicken, cheese and onions, and plenty of variations depending on the shop. Empanadas are absolutely part of the everyday food culture here.

I'd specifically seek out a proper empanada shop rather than ordering one as an afterthought at a steakhouse. Current local recommendations include places specializing in handmade empanadas, while traveler reviews continue to rate Empanadas La Cibeles highly.

Get several different kinds and share them.

And definitely try at least one carne empanada.

This doesn't have to be dinner. Make it lunch, a snack or something you grab while you're walking around the city.

That's actually part of the fun.

4. La Otra

Pocitos / Punta Carretas

If Mercado del Puerto is the parrilla you visit because you're a traveler, La Otra - Parrilla is the kind of place I'd recommend because you want to feel a little more like you're actually living in Montevideo.

It's in the Pocitos/Punta Carretas area and has the casual atmosphere of a genuine neighborhood parrilla — generous portions, meat cooking over the fire and considerably less ceremony.

That's exactly what I want.

The menu revolves around classic Uruguayan grilled meats, and the restaurant has developed a strong following among both locals and visitors looking for something more authentic than the tourist circuit.

Order an entraña, asado or whatever cut looks good that night.

This is also the sort of restaurant where I'd ask the waiter what they recommend rather than walking in determined to order something I read about online.

5. Savarin

Punta Carretas

You can't eat two pounds of beef every night.

Well, technically you probably can.

But you shouldn't.

Savarin shows another side of Montevideo's food scene. It's a small, chef-driven restaurant using French technique with seasonal Uruguayan ingredients.

Fish and seafood feature alongside local produce and meats, and the experience is much more intimate and creative than a traditional parrilla.

I'd put this toward the end of the trip.

After you've had the enormous steak, the Mercado del Puerto experience, the empanadas and enough grilled meat to question your life choices, come here and see what contemporary Montevideo cooking can be.

And There Are a Few Things You Simply Have to Eat

Restaurants are only half the story. There are certain things I think everyone should try at least once while they're in Uruguay.

Parrilla is obvious — but don't just order a steak. Try some of the traditional accompaniments and different cuts.

Empanadas are essential. Try carne, but order several varieties and compare them.

Then there's the chivito, one of Uruguay's great comfort foods. Despite the name — which literally means "little goat" — there's no goat involved. It's generally built around thinly sliced beef and can become an almost ridiculous combination of ham, cheese, egg, bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and other toppings. The chivito al plato skips the bread and turns the whole thing into an enormous plate.

Try milanesa, another Río de la Plata staple reflecting the enormous Italian influence on Uruguayan and Argentine cooking.

Have mollejas from a good parrilla at least once.

Try dulce de leche in whatever form presents itself.

Drink Tannat, Uruguay's signature red grape.

And somewhere along the way, have a medio y medio.

Most importantly, pay attention to how Uruguayans eat.

Meals aren't treated as inconvenient interruptions between activities.

You sit down.

You order wine.

You talk.

You eat.

And nobody seems particularly concerned about getting you out of the restaurant so they can turn the table three more times.

That's part of what I love about Montevideo.

The food is fantastic.

But the way people enjoy it may be even better.