Food of three countries: what to try at the border

Direct answer: The border serves three cuisines within fifteen minutes' drive. From Paraguay come tereré, recognised by UNESCO, vori vori and sopa paraguaya, which is not soup but a savoury corn bread. From Argentina, the parrilla and the alfajor. From Brazil, rodízio and the pay-by-weight buffet.

Paraguay: what you only understand by tasting

• Tereré. Yerba mate with iced water, drunk from a guampa, recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. It is not cold chimarrão: the preparation, the medicinal herbs added and the social ritual are its own.
• Sopa paraguaya. The name misleads: it is solid, a savoury bread of cornmeal, cheese, onion and milk, served in slices. It is a side dish, not a starter in a bowl.
• Vori vori. A thick broth with cornmeal and cheese dumplings, the winter dish of the Paraguayan kitchen.
• Chipa. The cheese bread of cassava starch and Paraguayan cheese, sold in the morning and late afternoon.

Where to eat it is in Paraguayan food: what to try and where to eat in Ciudad del Este.

Argentina: embers and sweetness

The parrilla organises the meal around meat grilled slowly over embers, with cut and doneness discussed as carefully as the wine. Alongside it, the empanada and the sweet line, with alfajores and dulce de leche in everything.

Puerto Iguazú concentrates its places downtown, a few blocks from the bus terminal: where to eat in Puerto Iguazú.

Brazil: the two formats that surprise the neighbours

• Pay-by-weight buffet. You serve yourself and pay by the weight of your plate. It is the model that barely exists in Argentina or Paraguay, and the one that most surprises foreign visitors. How it works: all-you-can-eat and pay-by-weight.
• Meat rodízio. The opposite: a fixed price and a continuous parade of cuts at the table.

Foz has a fourth layer too, not from the three countries but from the city itself: Arab cuisine, inherited from Lebanese and Syrian immigration, strong downtown. See Arab food in Foz.

Building the experience in one day

Breakfast with chipa, a pay-by-weight lunch in Foz and a parrilla dinner in Puerto Iguazú is a workable plan, and the only critical variable is when you cross the bridge: the measured peak is 17:00 to 19:00, at +30 to +39 minutes on weekdays. See what time to cross for dinner.

The general map by food type is in where to eat in Foz do Iguaçu.

Source: UNESCO (tereré as intangible cultural heritage), Senatur Paraguay for the traditional dishes, and our own reporting on all three sides of the border.