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 Frutera - Barranquilla, Colombia

Veg Options
Taste

La Frutera near the Catedral de la Inmaculata Concepción is in short, just a regular fruit stall near a famous cathedral in Barranquilla. It was my first stop after having landed in Barranquilla. Ernesto drove me down there for breakfast. Pretty much everything down there is vegetarian (mostly fruits and fruit juices), cheap and yummy as can be. It is the kinds of place that can be hard to find in a travel guide but is worshiped by the locals all the same.

Here was where I discovered that Nispero is the same as one of my favorite fruits - what we call 'Sapota' in India. It was a moment of ineffable joy. The sapota milkshake is the King of all milkshakes - period. The Nisperos in Colombia are much bigger than the Sapotas of India but taste identical.

In addition to various milkshakes (Mango, Zapote, Guava, etc.), they also sell little snacks like cheese and spinach empanadas and matrimonios - a little sandwich or rather a 'marriage' between two different things like cheese and yucca, cheese and guava jelly, etc. It can be found all over Colombia and is quite delicious. If one is lucky, s/he may find a street vendor close to the fruit shop that sells amazing coconut based desserts. They are seriously sweet - so limit the amount you eat. Pictured above is Dulce de Coco con Arequipe.