Patagonian cuisine starts with lamb, roasted whole beside an open fire on the Argentine steppe and the sheep ranches of Chile’s far south. The cold southern sea adds king crab and toothfish, the lakes add trout, and the settlers added Welsh tea, European fondue and Italian chocolate. Here is what to eat in Patagonia, and which side of the border each dish belongs to.
Think of it as three larders. The dry steppe east of the Andes raises lamb on native grasses and shrubs. The Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the channels of Tierra del Fuego supply crab, mussels and fish. The mountain lakes give trout, and Chile’s southern waters add salmon.
On top sit the settlers’ recipes. Welsh families who landed in 1865 left Gaiman its tea tradition, and Bariloche adopted fondue, goulash with spätzle and ciervo a la cazadora, hunter-style venison. The kitchen also changes at the border. The same lamb is cordero al asador in Argentina and cordero al palo in Chile.
Patagonian lamb is the meal to plan around. In Argentina the traditional method is al asador: the lamb is brined in water, garlic and coarse salt, opened onto an iron cross and leaned toward the fire, where the asador, the grill master, turns it slowly until the outside crisps and the meat stays tender. Chileans call the spit roast lamb cordero al palo, and the estancias around Torres del Paine serve it the traditional way.
The lambs graze coirón bunchgrass and other native plants, and since 2014 Cordero Patagónico has been a registered Geographical Indication in Argentina. In Chile, look for cordero magallánico from the Magallanes region. Lamb also fills the local empanadas: on the Argentine side the filling is lamb or seafood, while Chile’s classic empanada de pino uses meat, onion, egg and olive.
The more unusual order is guanaco (Lama guanicoe), the wild cousin of the llama. Wild guanacos are harvested in Santa Cruz province under a provincial management plan, and in 2025 the provincial government reported that most restaurants in El Calafate had added the meat. It is high in protein and low in fat, mild rather than gamey. El Calafate is the place to try a guanaco filet.
The farther south you go, the more the sea takes over. Centolla, the southern king crab (Lithodes santolla), is the pride of Ushuaia. It is caught mainly in the Beagle Channel and is best served simply. At Puerto Almanza, a fishing village 75 km from Ushuaia, it is still harvested on an artisanal scale. Centolla fishing is closed from March 1 to June 30, and Visit Argentina names November through January as the best months to eat it.
In Chile’s Magallanes region the signature is chupe de centolla, a creamy king crab dish. The stalls of the Mercado Municipal de Punta Arenas keep the region’s typical cooking alive, and Magallanes also cooks congrio austral (southern conger) and salmon. Across the border in Tierra del Fuego, look for merluza negra, the Patagonian toothfish, sold in the United States as Chilean sea bass.
Curanto is worth a detour north to Chiloé, the archipelago at the northern edge of Chilean Patagonia. Shellfish, pork, sausage, chicken, potatoes and the potato breads milcao and chapalele are layered over hot stones in a pit, covered with nalca leaves and steamed. Start with our Chiloé Island tours. In Argentina, Bariloche’s tourism office sends curanto lovers to Colonia Suiza, 20 km from town.
The calafate is a small dark berry, sweet and slightly tart, from a native shrub found in both Argentine and Chilean Patagonia. Eat it fresh or as jam, ice cream and liqueur from El Calafate’s markets and regional-product shops. In Punta Arenas, the local toast is a calafate sour. The saying, as Visit Argentina tells it: whoever tastes calafate always comes back to Patagonia.
Visit Argentina calls Bariloche the national capital of chocolate, a craft brought by Italian immigrants from Turin in 1947, and many shops make it where you can watch. At Easter, the National Chocolate Festival adds tastings and egg-making classes.
On July 28, 1865, 153 Welsh settlers came ashore from the Mimosa at Golfo Nuevo, today Puerto Madryn. Their heritage lives on in Gaiman’s tea houses, which set out bread with homemade jams, scones, cakes and black tea in pots under wool cozies. Try torta galesa, a dark cake of dried fruit, raisins, dark sugar and alcohol that keeps without refrigeration. Trevelin, gateway to Los Alerces National Park on the Andean side of Chubut, about 650 km from Gaiman, keeps the same tradition.
Menus change with the map. We leave restaurant names out on purpose, because the dishes outlast the addresses.
| Area | Country | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Bariloche and the Lake District | Argentina | Chocolate, craft beer, trout, lamb, smoked meats, fondue, curanto in Colonia Suiza |
| Chubut: Puerto Madryn, Gaiman, Trevelin | Argentina | Welsh tea and torta galesa, lamb or seafood empanadas |
| El Calafate | Argentina | Cordero al asador, guanaco, calafate jam, ice cream and liqueur |
| Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego | Argentina | Centolla, merluza negra, lamb on the cross, trout, mussels |
| Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine | Chile | Cordero al palo, centolla, chupe de centolla, congrio austral, salmon, calafate sour |
| Aysén and the Carretera Austral | Chile | Hearty country cooking of seafood, fish and meat |
| Chiloé | Chile | Curanto, milcao, chapalele, shellfish |
Patagonia makes its own wine. Argentina’s Patagonia region spans Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut and La Pampa, with Pinot Noir, Malbec and Merlot to look for, especially from San Patricio del Chañar and the Alto Valle of Río Negro, where vines were first planted more than a century ago. Lamb is traditionally served with regional wine, so order local. In Bariloche the drink is beer, from dozens of small, mostly family-run breweries using local hops.
For mate and Malbec, see our Argentina food guide. For pisco and Chile’s wine valleys, see our Chile food and drink guide.
The CDC recommends the hepatitis A vaccine for unvaccinated travelers to Argentina and Chile and points hikers and campers to its water-treatment guidance. The risk particular to Patagonia is red tide, algae blooms that make mussels, clams and other shellfish toxic. On the Argentine side it is most frequent in Chubut, Río Negro and Tierra del Fuego in spring and summer, while Chile closes shellfish harvesting in parts of Aysén when toxin levels rise. Toxic shellfish look, smell and taste normal, and cooking does not destroy the toxin, so never gather your own and buy or order it only from licensed shops and restaurants. More in our Patagonia health guide.
Certainly, the glaciers and granite towers come first. Juergen Keller, our co-founder, has advice for the time in between: “Stay an extra day in El Calafate after the Perito Moreno and forget about time while people watching or shopping.” Add a long lamb lunch to that day.
Our Patagonia of Chile and Argentina itinerary crosses the border, so you can compare cordero al asador and cordero al palo on one trip. The Classic Argentina Patagonia Tour links Puerto Madryn with El Calafate and Ushuaia: Welsh country, calafate and king crab in one journey. For chocolate, beer and trout, see our Bariloche and Lake District tours.
Every itinerary on our site is a suggestion. Our Destination Consultants custom design each trip, so ask for the long lunches, an afternoon in Gaiman or a night at an estancia in your custom Patagonia trip, or begin with our Patagonia overview. On the Chilean side, a stay at The Singular Patagonia Hotel in Puerto Bories includes meals at its own restaurant, like the one below.
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