1. Soups
Ajiaco
Soups are somewhat of a specialty in Colombia. The Ajiaco, by description, may just sound like a normal chicken and potato soup, but somehow it rises above the sum of its parts. The Sancocho may just sound like a mixed grill in a soup and… well, it is, and that’s pretty great, right? And the caldo de costilla is ribs in a soup. If it’s not sophisticated it doesn’t matter, it’s damn tasty.
2. Meat
A big slab of Colombian meat
Many people talk about Argentina as the capital of steak but Colombian meats aren’t too far away and, in some cases, they’re even better. Even cheap meat (we’re talking a lunch that costs less than US$2) is pretty good, and if you’re willing to pay, places like Andres Carne de Res will cook you up a plate of meat you’ll never forget. Be warned, though, if you like you meat rare you will have to emphasise this strongly.
3. Bandeja Paisa
Bandeja Paisa
The bandeja paisa kind of typifies what you find in Colombian cuisine: more is more. Chicharron, sausage, egg, beans, guacamole, shredded meat, rice, plantain and sometimes even more will adorn your plate before, and probably after you’re full.
4. Tamal
Tamal
Tamal is basically masa, chicken and sometimes vegetables. Colombia’s tamales are wrapped in a plantain leaf and generally softer and brighter than their other Latin American counterparts. Tamales are great for a hangover, or for a quick, cheap, filling snack around lunch time.
5. Papas criollas
Papas Criollas
My favourite type of papa criolla is the one planted at the top of a shish kebab, which you can find all over the streets of Colombia. Again, not a refined option but some of the best street food available. Papa criollas are little potatoes, often saltier than we might have them in Europe, and somehow they just manage to be better. I can’t tell you how, I can just tell you to try them.
WORST
1. Arepas
Arepas
There are some decent arepas, it’s true, like arepa with egg. Overall, however, arepas are so bland, even smothered in salt and butter, that they’re a snack to be tried and avoided. They’ve earned their position as number one simply because they’re cherished so much; they don’t actually taste of enough to be disgusting… Which in some ways is worse.
2. Ice cream with cheese
I’m sure you can imagine why this is on the list thanks to the title. It’s ice cream – which is great – fruit, chocolate sauce and cheese. Why?
3. Platano
Platano on meat
A controversial one, but frankly you have to get bored of eating plantain meal after meal after meal. It falls in an awkward category between sweet and savoury and, thanks to its ubiquity, just gets boring and a bit yucky. Patacon, on the other hand, yum.
4. Bread
Ok bread is hardly a Colombian food, but I’m struggling since the food is generally pretty good. Bread, though, is sweaty, too sugary and often ruins a sandwich. If you want good bread there are places to go, however. Most good restaurants won’t let you down, and there’s a decent selection of French bread in Carulla.
5. Pizza with jam
To be honest, the pizzas here are generally of a high quality. Sometimes, however, they come with jam in the crust, and that’s just not good. That’s just not good.
Love this country but Pizza with jam…
I was very excited to eat at Caraquena. Being a Venezuelan mylesf, I was looking for some good home cooking to bring me back to memories of home. It was truly disappointing. It is a shame to call that Venezuelan food. It is not typical and has been changed so much that it should be called Venezuelan inspired food instead of the real thing. You would never find the types of fillings used here in Venezuela. Also, names have been misused calling drinks, things that they are not . like chicha for example. The food is not bad but sends a wrong message about Venezuelan food. The owner was not friendly and when asked how she was doing she would reply tired. That is also not the Venezuelan attitude of people known for their happy spirits, warmth and hospitality.A shame to Venezuelans everywhere .
Ok I agree with everything on the Best list even though it’s missing A LOT great foods. As for the Worst list, arepas (also made with cheese inside) & platano are no where near being part of this list. Both are delicious and I would never have then on a worst list – shame on you lol. But then again, I am Colombian so of course I’m biased. I grew up eating all of those foods.
I can see how foreigners may take a step back…….no matter what, enjoy!
Haha, exactly, it’s not so much that they’re awful foods or anything, just that you can’t avoid them and they’re not that good!
I agree, arepas are delicious as are patacones and sopa de patacones is to die for. My favourite combination is arepas with marmite, yummy. I think food in Colombia can be anything you want it to be, we have everything all year round, fresh, healthy and cheap. Also be careful about bad-mouthing bread in these comments, you can find anything from delicious rye (french bakery in the Candelaria) to pan de yucas with any alternative in between that you might find in London or New York. Love the food here.. .
the arepas con queso are delicious! and the really thin ones, you can put cheese, ham, tomatoes and herbs on it to make arepizza!!! looove it!
but ice cream with cheese? never heard of that! their chocolate santafereño (hot chocolate milk with cheese melted in it) is NOT ok.
Colombian deserts are toooo sweet and sugary but the rest is goooood!
Yeah I agree. I would take plantain and arepa off the worst list and replace with bland cheese in hot chocolate and some of the usual desserts and cakes in general.
Colombia still rocks though
I believe Colombian arepas are not that bad, let’s be honest. Those white tasteless arepas that they serve you in every regular restaurant in Medellin are just like the worst piece of food paper-tasting. But if you go to Bucaramanga and try those arepas in that Arepiz restaurant are just SO great an amazing, then if you go to the north coast and try those arepas de Chocolo are also really good.
I’d have a hard time choosing food that I thought was the worst. I’ve always loved plantains, so they’d never be on my worst list. I loved the many different kinds of soup I had there, too. The guacamole I had was terrific, not all smashed up like what you get in the USA, very fresh, chunky and addictive!
I think on my favorites list I’d have to add are the Colombian version of empanadas. All of them were great!
Best: Ajiaco, fresh fish straight out of the Amazon, arepas con queso, a roadside pizza with ciruela y bacon, jugo maracuya, and their fruit salads, yes with ice cream and cheese. All local fresh fruits and veg, avocado, mango, and their Aguila beers.
Worst: chicharron, fatty meat, and I’m surprised no-one has mentioned fried ants up in the North, eg Santander.
Love the country, married to it, and it is now my real home rather than the pathetic UK which destroyed itself.
seafood on the north coast should be among the best,arepas con chicharon y queso tambien at a corner restaurant in Tulua,dont forget empanadas on calle 10 in medellin,also the chuleta from valle de cauca con limon encima excellente. Worst must be the beef,tough and overcooked unless you find a good Argentine style steak place.
Love this website as I am frequenting Medellin more and more… The girl I am “dating” in Medellin talks about Arepa the same way I talk about orgasms. I was highly disappointed with how an arepa tasted. My first thought was “disgusting” but as you stated, they don’t taste like anything so how can you consider it gross? I am not a huge breakfast guy in the US but in Colombia, the Chicharron makes it one of my favorite times of day. For breakfast they have this rice dish that resembles like a breakfast paella…Out of this world.
If you enjoy lukewarm, bland, poirvreced food served by a condescending & rude proprietress, then Caraquena is for you! I tried this cart on an afternoon when I was seemingly the only customer. Even though we had a conversation about what vegetarian options were available, she still served me up an arepa stuffed with shredded beef. I went back to the cart : Are you sure my food is vegetarian?? . Oh sure. It’s the veggie lamb’ . Went back to my plate & actually tried it on good faith. Well, it wasn’t veggie lamb. When I took the plate back to the cart to provide a visual & ask once again Are you SURE this is the veggie lamb?? , she admitted No, that is beef. Who did I give your food to? Even though this was the first time I’ve eaten beef in 20 years, I was gracious & waited for her to re-prepare my food. While I waited, she became defensive & condescending, telling me I had confused her (and caused her incompetence?). All in all, a very unpleasant experience. I asked for my money back & will never return. Luckily there are many good carts on Killingsworth with tasty food & pleasant, service-driven folks. I suggest you try them instead.
I have been to Colombia, and my husband is Colombian. We live in a city with MANY Colombian restaurants here in the US. I have to preface anything I say with my family is Cuban, and therefore, nothing Colombian, I’m sorry can compare with the best of Cuban food! Ok, so, I agree, arepas are not that great. The thinner they are the worse they are. The thicker ones with lots of butter, add cheese, you’re getting better. The ones that have cheese in the dough, still better. One of the best Colombia things are the almojabanas. Delicious soft flavorful “biscuits” for lack of a better description. My kids and I love them. The empanadas are not bad either. I was invited to a special lunch in my honor when I visited Colombia for the first time where they had slaved over a very special traditional meal. When it was served much to my dismay, it was simply white rice, ground meat (with not much flavor I might add), and soup broth, to which you are supposed to add the aforementioned two items. It wasn’t bad, but they talked it up so much like it was going to be something out of this world. When my Colombian in-laws visit me and I prepare them some of my Cuban food, they go nuts! I love Colombia (going back for a two week visit this July), and I love the culture and the people. But the food…it’s ok. I do agree about the soups…delish and very fresh tasting.
FORGOT TO MENTION THE GREAT HOT DOGS and PINCHOS! You gotta try them! Yes, I said hot dogs.
Hey I loved this! Im from Barranquilla, Colombia…I love arepas haha it’s because my mom just cooked that in my childhood…I like to hear that u like the food of here..Hey my mom want to ask u if u have eated the “pan ocañero”?
You clearly didn’t try the right arepas.
Living in Armenia, Quindio, Colombia, about 3 months now. The food is tasteless, no spice, lots of flavorless rice, yuca, potatoes and bakery bread. The bread is always dry, even the sweet pastry and “cupcakes” are dry and tasteless. The arepas are like eating cardboard. And Masamora is what everyone loves here. They can’t understand how I couldn’t absolutely just “love” it, it is everyone’s favorite food and no one can’t believe I don’t love it. When I first tasted it I said it tasted just like flour mixed in some water with a few corn kernels floating around in it, not even any salt or spice at all. And sure enough I saw a Masamora “kit” in the store and that’s what it was, instructions were to just heat up the water and add the flour and corn kernels, no mention of adding salt or any spice. Yuk, barely able to get it down, which I had to do in order to not embarrass my host who was so excited about serving me her “very special” food! Sorry, Colombian food is bland, bland, bland. Yes, lots of meat, the pork is okay but the beef is soooo tough! I lived in Mexico prior to coming to Colombia and sure miss some spice in my food. Plus jalapeno chiles or tortillas are impossible to come by here. Ajiaco soup and Sancocho are tasty, but then again pretty bland. There is no variety of food whatsoever, the daily course here is bread, rice at EVERY meal – just plain white rice, and plantains!
As a ex chef, I was amazed at what Colombians put into their street food. The first and only time I had one it had a burger, rice, fries, potato chips, an egg, a piece of lettuce and some odd tasting sauce that looked like thousand island dressing but tasted like marmite and sweetened milk! But, on the whole, I like Colombian food but do find it a little bland.
The food in Colombia makes one cry. The clearest indication of this is that it is usually Americans and Brits who laud it. Neither of those countries can claim to understand food. After years in Asia, it is such a phenomenal letdown to endure what passes for food in Bogota. I suspect that a lot of people here have been around this crap for so long that they have forgotten what food is supposed to taste like. It’s not just the type of bland food, it’s the fact that so few people seem to care about their cooking. People rave about certain restaurants (and of course some places are great) but on the whole the average meal is appallingly bad, especially if you’re used to European/Asian standards.
If you’re excluding fruits because they are all delicious, you should exclude the potatoes since they can be considered a vegetable, and all vegetables are also delicious. It’s only fair. Maybe put empanadas instead? ‘Empanadas de pipian’ are definitely a highlight of Colombian cuisine in my opinion.
Also, there are definitely disgusting arepas, like the cardboard-textured ones they give you when you buy roasted chicken almost anywhere, but you can’t generalize all arepas as bad. Arepa de choclo? You don’t need to be a Colombian to know that thing is delicious. And the simple corn arepa with cheese, butter, and salt that this lady used to grill up around the corner where i used to live in Bogota? One of the things that i miss the most. You just can’t get that in the US.
Hot-dogs are definitely a high-light of Colombia’s street food, I’ve never had a hot-dog that even compares to the ones i’ve had in Bogota, I personally love them and miss them to death, but would consider it some of Colombia’s ‘worst’ simply because they’re culinary atrocities, they just throw anything you can imagine on them, no boundaries. Perfect after a night out drinking, which Colombians definitely like to do.