Food

Medellin Food

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D’Luigi

D’Luigi was a pizza place in Guatape, so not exactly Medellin, but close enough and worth a recommendation. Pretty sure the restaurant was their living room, beautifully lit just with candles and tables created out of an eclectic mix of table cloths, cushion, and chairs. It’s owned by a lovely couple – the woman is the waitress, the man makes the pizza. There are about seven pizzas to choose from and we went with the standard Margarita. Holy. Moly. Just like pizza should be. Insane homemade tomato paste, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil. The base though, oh the base! so light and chewy with those little charcoal bits on the crust. Actually probably one of the best pizzas I have had in my life.

Olivia Pizza

We went to Olivia Pizza when we stayed in Laureles. The menu itself is actually really beautifully done and it lets you pretty much make whatever meals you want from a list of ingredients for pizzas, pastas, and salads. We shared a pizza with proscuitto, rocket, mozzarella and tomato paste and an insane salad with a crapload of fresh vegies including avocado, cherry tomatoes, and nuts. So delicious and fresh. Scott also got a Michelada which he said was bloody good. The restaurant is also really pretty, with living walls and festoon lights as its decor.

Herbario

Herbario was our dinner for our first night in Medellin. We got a mushroom and goat cheese entree and a vegatarian risotto with lots of parmesan, to share. So good again. And pretty well-priced for what looked like a super expensive restaurant. Also when you order a spirit and a mixer, they just bring the mixer to the table and you pour it, so you can choose the strength of the drink.

El Cielo

El Cielo was where we went to for my belated birthday dinner and was the second fanciest experience we have had, after Tegui. It is a restaurant all about experimental dining that involves all the senses and our night consisted not of courses but of 13 ‘moments’. There is no other way to describe these than just by telling you what they were. The first moment came in the form of two small white cirlcles on a plate. The waiter poured hot water infused with mint over them and they expanded into hand towels. Yep. The second moment was four numbered morsels on a plate and we had to guess what each were. They were a combination of avocado, caramelized cherry tomatos, caramel potato and chocolate. For the third moment, we each had a big silver bowl placed infront of us and were told to hold our hands out over it. The waiter then gave us a ball of coconut milk surrounded by a white chocolate shell and we were told to break it and rub it all over our hands. We then had warm water poured all over to clean and moisturise. Welcome to El Cielo!
The next few ‘moments’ included a delicious soup paired with burnt butter and homemade bread, white fish that literally melted in your mouth, an insane chicken dish with the most amazing carrots done three ways, and a succulent piece of beef that came to the table cooking on a charcoal log. There was also a prawn dish that came cooking in its own mini salt oven, wrapped in a plantain leaf, and an amazing pork rib with some foam of some description (classic).
It was then time to move into the sweet, and we did this with a salty/sweet transition which included salty strawberries that actually worked. Moment 10 was a yummy panacotta. For the eleventh moment we had Colombian coffee, but not just any coffee, coffee the El Cielo way. The waiter placed two small coffee bushes and a bowl of liquid nitrogen that smelled of coffee on our table. As we watched and smelt the coffee gas pour over the table, he placed the filter in the middle and we watched him make our coffee. Crazy. After that was finished he said, ‘When I come to the table with your next course, you need to put it in your mouth immediately but only touch the plastic wrapping, not the actual thing. Keep moving it around in your mouth or it will burn you.’ Ummmm ok. He came back to the table with a box steaming from coldness, lifted the lid and we each pulled out a little lolly wrapped in crunchy plastic, popped it in our mouth and swirled it around for about 5 seconds before it completely disappeared. It was sherbet-y and freezing and when it disappeared, it literally felt like I hadn’t eaten anything before it – probably the craziest moment for me. For our very last course we were given two rose petals with a lotion in between them. We were told to rub them between our hands, and were left with clear palates and rose-smelling hands.The perfect finale to a weird, beautiful, and tasty night.

It was an awesome experience, and what was even better was that each moment included an ingredient or cooking style native to Colombia. Very cool.

Buenos Aires Food Part Dos

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Gran Dabbang

Ohhhh yeh this place is where it’s at. Another amazing recommendation we definitely wouldn’t have found on our own. The place is run by two people who met and fell in love in New Zealand, the woman who is British is front of house and the man who I believe is Argentinian runs the kitchen. Dabbang is the name of a Bolliwood movie the man saw in India, which became his nom de plume. When they wanted to open a restaurant they ‘thought Dabbang would be a funny name and put Gran on the front.’ Can’t argue with that, really.

We were told we might have to wait for a table, and we did. But if we went back we would make like the locals and buy some beers from across the roads and drink the on the footpath as we waited. Also, it didn’t matter – it was worth it.

Standing outside, I looked through the window and saw a familiar face. Turns out it was that of a younger sister of a friend of mine from Devonport – one of many ‘small world’moments I anticipate having on this trip. It seemed she was equally as blown away to see us, and her English made deciphering the delicious and complex menu easy peasy. The food is a sort of Indian/Asian fusion – a result of the couple’s extensive travels. The dishes are generally made to share and every single thing we tried was ábsolutely delicious – including the bottle of red or Vino Tinto I should say 😉 We had four dishes plus an insane dessert (Scott loves his sweeties) and a bottle of wine for $70 NZD, so pretty good.

Compared to what can be quite a starchy local diet – the flavours here were so so good. Think pine nuts, crispy quail, fruity/spicy pakora, and pickled beetroot. And that curry stands up against any Thali curry in India. The food, for us, was second only to Tegui. In fact, tonight is our last night and we might be going back…

 

Bao Kitchen Taiwan Bistro

Yum. and Yay. So great to find something like this as methinks it might be a wee while before we have this sort of thing again. And yes, you guessed it, it was another recommendation. They have only been open 3 months but they definitely know what they’re doing.

We came here after we got off the ferry from Uruguay and were greeted by very friendly and accommodating faces. The lovely owner also spoke fluent English which was a relief because my brain was tired.

The restaurant itself isn’t overly appealing from the outside, and not in the most ‘touristy’ location, but it’s worth it. We ordered the buns below (better than Blue Breeze), A dumpling soup (epic), and friend chicken wings (freaking awesome) (Scott also loves his chicken). Plus two iced green teas.

Amazing food – like seriously, very good. Nice service, and well-priced.

Hurray.

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That’s kind of it for food. We got a bit lazy and went back to our favorite spots towards the end. La Dorita (one minute walk away), Burger Joint (cos why not) and like I said, we plan to go back to Gran Dabbang tonight.

A few other people we met here weren’t impressed with the food, and that was because they didn’t have any recommendations. We would have been gutted to miss out on all this deliciousness so I want to take this time to make a shout out to my man Silvio and his girlfriend Sofi, and ma gurrrl Jane – our tastebuds salute you. And to the rest of you peeps out there, if you go to Argentina, go everywhere we wrote about here, and get us to send you the doc with the rest of the places. yummm.

Buenos Aires Food

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Tegui

For Scott’s birthday dinner I wanted to take him somewhere fancy. A friend of mine, Silvio who comes from Buenos Aires suggested Tegui. He said it is expensive but ‘worth every Peso.’ He was right. From the outside it is a wall of graffiti with a black door and a buzzer. Press the buzzer, state your name and the door opens to reveal an unbelievable interior complete with huge wine cellar, palm trees and pure luxury. The service from the moment we entered was world-class, especially the Sommelier who was so passionate and knowledgeable. Scott said the wine paired with the fig smelled like a New Zealand rainforest. I nearly cried again…but i didn’t.

You can only do an 8 course degustation, with or without wine pairings. We did with, it seemed a waste not to make the most of the expertise in the building. It was supposed to be 8 courses with 6 glasses of wine, but ended up more 8 wines/champagne, and 10 courses. The description for each course was one word – the main ingredient. You can see the menu below. To describe each course would take forever, as the flavour combinations and technique were actually kind of out of this world. Picking a favourite is near-impossible but for me it might be the fig. Which was fig done 3 ways, with fermented almond milk. Sweet, salty, umami, simple. That or the sweetbreads..or the tomatoes which came with what I can only describe as a cheese powder that literally evaporated in your mouth. I just asked Scott what his favourite was and he said ‘sweetbreads, all three red wines, the veal, and both desserts.’ so yeh, pretty much everything.

I think it was the best meal I have ever had (apart from mum’s ribs), and it was a freaking awesome night.

If you come here – splash out and go.

El Palacio de la Pizza

Anyone who knows me knows I love pizza. A lot. We loved this place because it felt really local. Not much to say really, the pizza was yum, and though the bases were thick it felt really light 🙂

Burger Joint

Burger Joint came recommended from a few people, and after trying it, it was clear why. We wanted to go the first night we got here but it was packed and as we don’t speak Spanish it was rather intimidating. So we went back for lunch the next day. The burgers are soooooo yum. We got The Jamaican. And dos cerveza – rude not to really. Also there was a drawing of Walter White on the wall, which was great. I think we will be going back..

La Dorita

Just a block away from where we are staying is this little cutie. The service was friendly and understanding of our lack of Espanol. Actually I must say everyone is really lovely when I say hablo un poco Espanol! Everyone we have come across just smiles and helps us 🙂 Anyway, the food here was a grill style. We ordered ribs with a side of spinach in a cheesy sauce. Twas buenissimo, and really well priced. yay.

BIRKIN

Best Coffee we have had so far. I got a limonada drink thingy with mint that was bloody good. Really good sandwiches although a bit expenny. I had a really yum salmon baguette thing, Scott had a bit of a blow out. Still – thumbs up.

Cafe Tortoni

Oldest Cafe in the country – 1858. In the city center which isn’t great but pretty cool inside, all the waiters wear full on suits, there are marble tables and dark wood walls. Very touristy though. Scott had Tiramisu, I had te con limon (sore throat, you know how it is).