Baco

The luminous, glass-encased wine cellar at the heart of the restaurant is impossible to miss. The wine focus continues on the menu, where typically 20 wines by the glass are on offer, allowing curious guests to pair different wines with the varied plates of the menu. We were delighted to see many wines that are featured in our Guru’Guay guidebooks to both Uruguay wine country and Montevideo.

Favourites on a recent visit were: huevos meurette, a Burgundian dish of two poached eggs in a deeply flavorful, bacon-filled red wine sauce, served with a warm sourdough baguette (they make their bread onsite); and ensalada chèvre, a salad of warm goat cheese, greens and tomatoes.

Owners, Sophie Le Baux and Matías Fasolo, did their due diligence before launching the restaurant including stints at a number of Montevideo fine dining classics before opening Baco.

What you should know

Go for the wine In addition to the fun wines by the glass list, the bottle list has around 150 options, almost all of which are South American. The emphasis is on boutique wines that can’t be found in the supermarket.

Open all day You can get a meal at Baco any time of day or night, from noon till 1am.

Servers are readily available There’s little lag time waiting to order or for items to be delivered, which isn’t so common even in the best Montevideo restaurants. Not many staff spoke English but we understand an English-language menu will be coming shortly.