Aquí Está Coco

It has been about 14 years since I first dined at Aquí Está Coco. A lot has changed in a decade and a half. The location I originally visited was destroyed by fire. After a short sabbatical Chef Pacheco opened again in a large newly constructed restaurant in Providencia. Perhaps a little too large.

The pandemic saw the closing of that location and when restaurants began reopening post-pandemic, Aquí Está Coco was, like the legendary Phoenix, once again brought back from the ashes.

With a smaller location on Nueva Costanera in Vitacura, nestled in among the city's most acclaimed restaurants, Coco Pacheco was once again at the helm of a seafood-centric restaurant attempting to live up to a near-celebrity reputation.

Our prior review during the epoch of the Providencia location on La Concepción was a favorable one. Yet the resulting rating was not quite good enough to place Aquí Está Coco among the city's top five restaurants.

That's now changed. With my recent visit with a group of friends to the Vitacura restaurant in April of 2022, we've updated our rating and I feel confident now in stating that Aquí Está Coco now again rates among Santiago's top ten restaurants across all genres ... arguably in the top five.

I sampled two appetizers, a ceviche, baby eels in a garlic and butter sauce, and four main-course dishes, a grouper, hake, conger eel and salmon dish. Each dish was perfectly executed.

The sign of great chef is one that only manipulates the ingredients as much as necessary to elevate the dish. And so it was with each of these dishes. This is as good of a seafood feast as I have ever encountered.

The décor is tasteful. The service was near perfect. The waiters were not only attentive, but friendly and helpful. We followed the waiter's recommendations for all four main courses and we were not disappointed with the choices. The appetizers came very quickly. The arrival of the main course dishes was perhaps a bit longer than expected, but that is barely worth mentioning.

The prices are exactly what you should expect for this location, this level of execution with quality ingredients, and spot-on service.

The service wasn't the only element that exceeded my prior visits to Aquí Está Coco. The plating and presentation was more consistent and sophisticated.

Although the venue is much smaller than the prior location, the décor is similar. The food was served on high quality, sparkling white porcelain. The napkins were paper ... but they were that high quality paper that has the look and feel of cloth. No white tablecloths. Just simple, yet whimsically colorful placemats. The table setting perfectly bridged the gap between upscale and casual, lending a comfortable and laid-back feel without surrendering that bit of sophistication that keeps the restaurant squarely with‌ the upscale casual format.

With a rare 92% (4.6 star) rating, Aquí Está Coco may well be my favorite restaurant in Santiago de Chile.