If you are on a cruise, this is a great tour to take, as Alberto meets you just a 5 minute walk from the port area and most of the walking is in the area. He was great about answering emails promptly and providing information. My husband isn't a very good tourist so walking with him was more like being with a friend than a professional tour guide, spewing out facts.
We took his "Classic Cafés and Bars" tour which he is still working on perfecting. There was some confusion about the price as currently it's $25USD on his website, but we paid $40 and its very understandable as he pays for all the food tasting along the way plus mineral water; so its a good value.
We had a great walking tour of the city with 3 restaurants along the way. Loved La Petitie Cuisine and certainly would return there for a full lunch, should I return to Montevideo. The small tasting menu was perfect and the timing good. Our second restaurant was Bar Hispano; a typical non tourist tapas bar and restaurant. We must have had 25 small tasting dishes placed in front of us, most with heavy Italian influence; pastas, farinata, pizza and lots of fried foods, petite ham sandwiches and sweets. Not my favorite type of food, but certainly a genuine experience. From there I think the tour went a little astray...we took a bus to the University area for typical grilled meats but I think I would have preferred stopping at the Mercado del Puerto for the quintessential lunch with parrillas…grilled beef. We waited a long time for the food to be served and I was anxious to get back to the port area. The tour was a bit longer than expected.
Alberto is a very enterprising young man so I am sure he will work out some of the details of this tour. He would benefit by settling on three specific restaurants at specific times so the food is pre-picked by him and ready for the group's arrival. This would make the most of tourist's limited time in the city. The tour has lots of potential and I'm sure Alberto will have it streamlined soon! Great effort and I highly recommend a trip around town with him.
