El Criollito Restaurant, Traditional Araucanía Style Cooking in Temuco

The Star of her menu is the “Pulmai”. This is a dish of  potatoes, pork, beef, sausage, various sea foods, and fish put to simmer together in the same pot. She insists that   her method of preparing this dish not to be confused with the way it is prepared around Chiloé.

Every meal comes with 2 kinds of Chile salsas, a pured “aji verde” (green chile), and “merquen salsa” (a traditional Mapuche spice), along with “sopaipillas” (fried bread) and pan amasado (a country style hand made bread).

Likely the most impressive thing is that with all this, her prices are still more or less traditional Market Prices. The low end lunch time sandwich starts at about $700 pesos and her high end menu stops at about $10,000 pesos. Many restaurants with such a reputation and history would have tripled their prices or more. Figure, a long lunch with drinks, and the best of her menu, to set you back about $7,000-10,000 pesos per person on average, drinks included. About $5,000 pesos per person will be a nice lunch. A quick discount lunch, with a drink, will run you about $2,500-$4,000 pesos. The Criollito has still kept that city market price and atmosphere, even when the market around it is quickly turning into more of tourist trap than a Latin American Market. The “real” Temuco market has been moved further away from the center of the City towards the bus stations  (Please See Our Article On the Temuco Market) .

So, when asking where the market is in Temuco, as a foreigner, you will most likely be directed to the old city Municipal Market. Ignore, the ladies hustling tourist to have lunch and walk to the center of the market. El Criollito will be the most elegant in the center, with no one trying to hustle you in the door for lunch. El Criollito has the three Chilean B's: Bueno, Bonito, y Barato.