El Manantial del Silencio

Summary: Excellent food; Abyss service. Long version: Here is my story about El Manantial del Silencio. In June I was in Purmamarca. I checked TripAdvisor to see what restaurants can be worth and I saw that El Manantial del Silencio had excellent reviews. I wrote to them an email asking for a reservation. Instead of providing me with one, the restaurant wrote me a relaxation reaction that simply counts its hours of operation. I thought if they weren't interested in having me as a customer, I'd force her. I was somewhere else. Fast forward. I read an interesting interview with the cook that was presented in an article in Alta Magazin about the best restaurants in North Argentina. Since I knew I would be in Jujuy for work, I decided to try it again. I wrote to book a table. This time they accepted the reservation, but they asked me to call back one day or two before the time to confirm. I thought that was a little weird, but okay. One month or so later, the date of my reservation rolled around and I contacted the hotel to confirm via MS Messenger. I received an answer that says I had to write the restaurant directly via their email. I did. No answer. Then I called the restaurant. Repeat. No answer. I wrote more e-mails and the hotel was informed again. No answer. My wife called and emailed and text messages and then called again. No answer. On the day of booking we drove from Jujuy to Purmamarca. The first thing we did when we came to the city, we went to the restaurant personally. We talked to the woman at the hotel reception and explained to her that I had made a reservation and had been told that I had to confirm it. She informed me that it could not be possible to sit on us because the hotel was full and that hotel guests were given priority. I told her that I made a reservation a month ago that I had actually chosen to spend the weekend in Purmamarca, because I wanted to try the food in El Manantial del Silencio that we drove from Jujuy and rented a hotel room specifically so that we could do that, and that it just happened to my birthday, above all. And she told me they wouldn't honor my reservation? She went back to the restaurant somewhere to talk to someone. When she came back, she said that she had managed to find a table for us and make a new reservation in her book. What indicates that my previous reservation has never been recorded! We arrived at the restaurant at 9. Instead of welcoming us and showing our table, a waiter who walks from bruskly said that we could sit down where we liked each other. It wasn't difficult to find a place. Despite the receptionist's comments about the hotel (and thus the restaurant) many empty tables were available. The brutality of the waiter turned out to be the unifying theme of the evening. Our waiter was curvy throughout dinner, rude and vague. We ordered water and wine. He served the first glasses each and then put the bottles on a table that was one meter or so away from us. I thought this would mean that he would take responsibility for refilling our glasses. But he did this only once, at one of the rare cases he came to our table to review us. I finally had to get up and bring the bottles to our table. At a soda station in McDonalds, I'm glad to serve myself. With what is to be one of the best restaurants in North Argentina, this kind of discouragement is completely unacceptable. After the complete lack of professionalism and the terrible service throughout the entire Ordeal, which was dinner in El Manantial del Silencio, I did not expect anything during the dessert phase. But it would have been nice if they had accepted my birthday. You should have known that it was my birthday, as I mentioned it both in the original reservation and the receptionist who made the new reservation. But of course they ignored me. At this point I was in a real hurry to go. We were obviously unwilling. But nothing is simple in El Manantial del Silencio. It took a decent long time to get the check. So, here's the thing: The food in El Manantial del Silencio is excellent. I was so angry at the service I really wanted to hate. But that was impossible. Everything was top-class: the cook innovates on regional, traditional dishes with fresh, locally produced ingredients. My wife and I shared a carpaccio of llama, sopa de maní and mollejas. I had a slowly roasted lamb. It was something of the best lamb I've ever eaten. My wife ordered a cazuela of goats, cereals and cheese. She reported it was phenomenal. For dessert we shared a crème brussels with coca leaves, which gave it a very pleasant, macha-like taste. During the meal I was impressed by the deep knowledge of the chef, his respect for the local tradition, his careful selection of ingredients, his originality, his technique and, above all, the intense and interesting aromas of his food. The cook is really world class. Or he would be if the management and the waiter supported his efforts. All in all, the night was a disaster. Paying so much money for such a poor service level is simply unacceptable.

Good menu with a lot of choice, although the llama did not stay in both nights we stayed. Beautiful wines

Probably the most upscale option in purmamarca with high quality food and weep, highly recommended

The small restaurant about half a block from the main square is a jewel. Great food was served very efficiently by friendly service staff. This cook will progress until the ambition takes him.

Our travel agent told us that this would be the best place to eat in Purmamarca and she was right. We had dinner here both nights and enjoyed everything we ordered. Highly recommend it as THE place to dine in Purmamarca.