Oh! La La - Cartagena, Colombia

Variety
Quality

I'd been wanting to visit Oh! La La ever since it featured in an NYTimes article. I couldn't quite make it back in December due to lack of time. This time, I was determined to go there with Aparna in tow. It proved to be quite an adventure getting there. Oh! La La very recently moved to its trendy new location in the Old city - so much so that they did not even have a name plate. It took a few calls in my broken spanish before I eventually found it.

Since we were effectively the first guests for the evening, we were attended to very well. The owner, Carolina spoke English and gave us a tour of the menu which contained a fair smattering of vegetarian dishes. She was very open to preparing something not on the menu if we didn't find anything to our liking. That, wasn't necessary.

We started off with some delectable soups. Both the Carrot/Orange soup and Coconut Lentil soup were exquisite.

The mushroom parmesan penne pasta was cooked to my liking. It symbolized everything that I like about Italian food in Colombia - fresh ingredients, pasta cooked al dente and a restraint in terms of excess - read cheese, salt and butter.

The dessert was a disappointment. It was probably my fault. I should've picked the chocolate mousse.

Pandebono - Cartagena, Colombia

Variety
Quality

I was told Pandebono is an institution in Cartagena. Ernesto took me here for breakfast back in Dec 2008 during our 1-day trip to Cartagena. It apparently used to be an enormously popular run-down hole-in-the-wall outlet. It was recently upgraded to its swanky-looking current self.

The term "pandebono" is pretty common and refers to a type of cheese bread pictured here .. along with buñuelos. It's quite delicious when fresh if the idea of stretchy cheesy fibers in soft baked bread sounds appealing. I found the buñuelos - a variant of pandebono - to be a bit too salty for my taste but they were still worth trying. There are several other stuffed breads - mostly cheese and meats. It was a bit hard to find a veggie stuffed bread. If you are lucky, you can get pandeyuca - stuffed with starchy yucca. Due to the volume of guests at any hour, the staff is too busy to help a non-native spanish speaker vegetarian like myself.

Pandebono is also serves big yummy milk-shakes and fruit juices. The Jugo de Nispero in Leche made Pandebono a daily breakfast stop for me before heading out for the day. Other drinks include Mandarina, Jugo de Zapote en leche and Jugo de Borojo.

La Vitrola - Cartagena, Colombia

Veg Options
Taste

La Vitrola is rated as the top restaurant in Cartagena - and is internationally renowned. I was waiting to eat here after reading a slavishly positive review of the restaurant on NYTimes. As mentioned in the article, we had to make a reservation prior to getting there and we managed to get an early reservation at 7pm - the more popular late evening slots were already taken.

While the restaurant was impressive, there really wasn't anything for a vegetarian here. In spite of Ernesto's best efforts to explain to the waiter my "condition", all that the chefs could manage was one very average risotta/paella dish. We came away about $50 poorer per head which (including the wine bottle) is ridiculously expensive. As a vegetarian, I'd stay away from this place. There are much better options like Oh! La la and Torre Luna within the walled confines of the ciudad vieja.

Crepes & Waffles - Cartagena/Bogota, Colombia

Veg Options
Taste

Crepes & Waffles is quite easily among the best and most popular 'fast food' chain restaurants in Colombia - more so if you consider the variety of vegetarian options you get there. However, to call it fast food would be unfair - this is classy food. Legend has is that it was created by a couple of master's students in Cali as their senior design project. It apparently had very humble beginnings but is now a major franchise.

Ironically, the first time I came across Crepes and Waffles was in Santiago, Chile - serving decent pitas and crepes with meat-free fillings. Ernesto informed me that the Chilenos stole the idea of Crepes & Waffles from the Colombian one. Frankly, the one in Chile looks like a Franchise - it's a carbon copy of the one in Colombia. However, in terms of the food itself, the one in Colombia really kicks butt. There is no comparison. Still, if you happen to be in Chile, the C&W over there is a pretty good option to consider.

Back to C&W Colombia. It is not hard to find restaurants with one or two stand-out vegetarian dishes. However, Crepes & Waffles is outstanding in terms of the wide choice one gets as a vegetarian. More importantly, it is consistently delicious - every single dish. What makes Crepes & Waffles click is no secret - a) Seriously creative menu that changes and evolves with time, b) Surprisingly and consistently tasty food with fresh local ingredients, c) Healthy preparation and portion sizes across the board, d) Quick and efficient Service and e) Very affordable!

One can begin with any of the several fruit juices and milkshakes on their menu - I typically have a mango or guanabana milkshake. Recently, I tasted their chai and it was quite good. This can be followed by any of four savory soups - tomato, portobello (pictured), lentil or spinach soup. It's hard to recommend one over the other but the lentil soup has Indian-style seasoning and I tend to be partial to that.

You are now faced with the daunting challenge of choosing from more than FIFTEEN different vegetarian crepes. I'd highly recommend the Rimini (A tomato/goat cheese based light crepe), the Poblano (mexican style with avocados - pictured above) and El Gandhi (tofu cooked with Indian style seasonings). There are several others that are equally good if you have the luxury of making multiple trips to C&W. In spite of more than 15-20 visits to this restaurant, I've never had an opportunity to try their Pitas. Obviously, this is a paradise for vegetarians.

If you manage to save space for dessert, there is once again a staggering variety of dessert crepes and waffles. The nutella crepe/waffle is a perennial favorite. One should also try as many of the delightful crepes/waffles with fresh fruit toppings.

Torre Luna - Cartagena, Colombia

Variety
Quality

Aparna and I stumbled upon Torre Luna while wandering the incredibly picturesque neighborhood of San Diego in Cartagena. "Especialidades Vegetariana" clearly spoke to our palates. More than anything else, Torre Luna had an ambiance which practically melted Aparna. Like most restaurants and shops in the old city, Torre Luna was presumably a home built ages ago. In addition to the tastefully decorated main seating area, they had a separate open roof garden seating as well. From here, one can see the kitchen and the herb garden - I saw them picking chives and basil that were later featured in the dishes we ordered.

Needless to say, they had a menu rich in vegetarian options. We started off with fresh fruit juices - Maracuya (passion fruit) and Mandarina. Maracuya is inherently very citrous and sweet and I was concerned about that - hoping they could take the edge of what is otherwise a favorite tropical fruit of mine. The waiter promised that they'd make sure the juice would be smooth and he delivered on that. It was an incredibly tasty drink.

For starters, we got a simple vegetable soup and a warm eggplant-tahini dipping sauce. The latter stood out.

The vegetable paella was delectable as promised by our waiter. In true spanish style, it wasn't heavily spiced unlike an Indian pulao so the flavors of the various vegetables stood out. We (rather I) ended with a rum and raisin ice-cream. The tropical heat turned the ice-cream into a gooey melted mess - much to my liking. It featured incredibly plump and juicy raisins. It was an unforgettable meal for the both of us.