Food in Colombia

In Colombia people eat loudly, sweetly, and often. Mornings start with tintico and arepa, lunch means a huge plate, and evenings can end with juice from a fruit you never saw on a European shelf.

First - local cuisine with dish photos. Then where to go in Bogotá, Medellín, and Cartagena, coffee, delivery, and “home country” groceries. Fruit has its own section: Fruit.

Local cuisine

Colombian food is not about fine dining on the plate - it is about fullness and regional character. In Antioquia they feed you so well you will not want dinner; in Bogotá - soup that warms you even in the rain; on the Caribbean - fish and coconut. Below - dishes without which the country stays a postcard.

Arepa - the bread of the country

A round corn flatbread: with cheese, butter, egg, hogao (tomato-onion sauce). Eaten at breakfast, with soup, or on the go from a kiosk. In Medellín arepas are denser and whiter; on the coast they are often thinner and sweeter. If you try one thing “to taste the country” - start here.

Bandeja paisa - Antioquia lunch

A big plate that fits almost everything at once: red beans, rice, ground beef or steak, chicharrón, chorizo, arepa, fried plantain, avocado, and a fried egg. This is not a “light lunch” - it is a statement. Order for two if you are not very hungry. A Medellín classic and surroundings; you will find it in Bogotá too, but the “real” taste is in paisa country.

Ajiaco - Bogotá soup

Thick chicken soup with several potato varieties and guasca herb - it gives that “Bogotá” smell. Served with capers, cream, rice, arepa, and a piece of avocado: mix everything in the bowl to taste. In the cool capital at ~2,600 m ajiaco is not a tourist trick - it is everyday warmth.

Mondongo and other soups

Mondongo - hearty tripe soup with vegetables; avocado, plantain, and sauce often come alongside. You will also find sancocho (rich meat or fish soup, different by region) and cazuela de frijoles. If you want “like locals”, not ceviche from a guide - go to places like Ajiacos y Mondongos in Medellín: arepas, ajiaco, mondongo without pretension.

Street food: empanadas, patacones, juices

Fried empanadas from yellow corn flour with meat or potato - ají on the counter. Patacones - smashed green plantain, crispy side or snack. Juices are a habit of their own: maracuyá, lulo, mora, guanabana, sometimes gulupa. A glass on the corner is cheap; ask for en agua / en leche (“with water” / “with milk”).

Drinking water in the first month is better bottled or filtered; city water is usually fine for washing fruit. On the Caribbean add fish, coconut, and ceviche to the table - different climate, different plate.

Popular spots: Bogotá

The capital eats more seriously and diversely: easier to find both chef-driven cuisine and specialty coffee and a “safe” mall lunch.

El Chato (Chapinero) - one of the most talked-about places in the capital: seasonal cuisine, book ahead. Addresses: Nueva Calle 65 # 4-76 and Antigua Calle 65 # 3b-76.

OMM - Asian / Nikkei, often top of Tripadvisor in Bogotá. If you want something other than “another steak” - go here.

Cuzco by Parque de la 93 (Cra. 13 # 93A-31) - a convenient spot in a walkable area. Pesquera Jaramillo (Cl. 93a #11A-31, Chapinero) - seafood and oysters when you crave the ocean far from the sea.

Brunch and “European” mood: @parmessano - atmospheric, worth at least one visit. Avocado and light plates: @smash.avocaderia.

Sushi: @nikurestaurante - rolls and unusual pairings, tasting menu works well for a first visit. @sushimarket001 - mall chain, “delivery-level” quality, cheap and predictable. Waffles with queues: @rollup.sushiburrito - better on a weekday. Burgers around town: @chefburger.

Coffee in the capital: Amor Perfecto (there is a branch at Librería Lerner) and Tropicália Coffee - specialty, often in global rankings.

Popular spots: Medellín

Medellín eats more relaxed than Bogotá: more brunches, laptop-friendly cafés, and dinners with valley views. El Poblado and Laureles are the main “gastro districts” for relocators.

Pergamino Café - specialty coffee and brunch, several locations (including El Poblado). A place to work without feeling out of place.

Carmen - modern Colombian cuisine, one of the city’s anchor restaurants. Hatoviejo - paisa classic: bandeja and views if you want to understand Antioquia through a plate.

Crepes & Waffles - a chain in almost every mall: tasty, predictable, fair price - a convenient “safe” lunch. For sweets on Laureles: @milkshakemedellin_la70 - milkshakes are the main reason to stop in; looks simple but kids (and adults) love it.

Dinner with a view: @ritwalmesamistica (Ritual Mesa Mística) - on the hill, cool in the evening, no blankets provided, bring something warm. @rebelionsaboressalvajes (Rebelión) - valley panorama too. Cocktails: @gabo.mde (Gabo) - pretty spot, book ahead.

Cat café: @lagatoriacatcafe - cats, good food, booking required. You can pet only if the cat comes to you - that seems to be the main rule.

Popular spots: Cartagena

On the Caribbean food smells of sea and heat. Inside the Old City walls it is tight and beautiful - book ahead, especially in the evening.

La Cevichería - ceviche in Centro Histórico; small room, queues happen. Carmen Cartagena - fine dining, book ahead. Sunset on the walls: Café del Mar - more about the view and cocktails than a “culinary revelation”. In Getsemaní: Época Café Bar - coffee and brunch without tourist rush.

City route with “where to eat” blocks: City guide.

Coffee: tintico and specialty

Colombia sells beans to the world - and drinks its own black tinto in small cups after lunch. It is not a specialty ritual but daily life: at the gas station, in the office, at your aunt’s kitchen.

Alongside that, specialty grew: Pergamino in Medellín, Amor Perfecto and Tropicália in Bogotá - places where beans are chosen, brewed on V60, and the region is explained. If you go to the Coffee Axis, coffee becomes landscape: hills, fincas, drying smell. For an everyday cup in the city a good neighborhood café is enough - you do not have to hunt “the best coffee in the country”.

Delivery: Rappi and DiDi Food

The most popular service is Rappi: restaurants, groceries, pharmacy, almost everything. App Store and website; pay by card or cash. Turbo delivery sometimes arrives in ~10 minutes - especially in dense neighborhoods.

Be careful with Premium subscription: often it only cuts delivery cost, the rest is marketing. DiDi Food - alternative from restaurants and cafés; useful to compare delivery price on the same evening.

Russian food and familiar groceries

After a couple of months many miss not restaurants but sour cream and dumplings. In Bogotá Russian food to order: Vladislav +57 314 232 5081, @comida_rusa_. Dumplings: Guzel +57 314 464 5248, @kolobok_Bogota.

Sour cream and tvorog “as in the photo” show up at PriceSmart and Euro. Tvorog in cream is grainy - you will not make syrniki from it; for syrniki buy ricotta at PriceSmart or Carulla.