Bogotá restaurant scene review

Auntie was really happy to have someone to go out with, so I had some fun trying different restaurants with her. There's La Fragata, which revolves at the top of the Bogotá Royal Hotel. Its specialty is seafood & everything was pretty good, although a bit too sweet for me. I think that is just the taste here though, as well as too salty. The service was perfectly Old World & luxurious. I also liked my veal Milanese at the Hotel Cosmo the next night.

There is an area called the Zona Rosa, where young people hang out at night. Lots of fancy places there. We tried Pesquera Jaramillo, Cabala, Habana Mamma's, & Salto de Ángel, all of which were very good. I had Argentinean cuts of steak - punta de anca & bife de chorizo - at the first two, which don't seem to be available in the States. Fantastic. Habana Mamma's was Cuban, as one would expect, & pretty good although again a bit sweet. At Salto de Ángel I was introduced to the joys of baby beef, which is not veal but about that tender. They don't skimp with their portions either. Every steak I got was massive.

There is a national craze for crepes here, so we went to this chain Crepes & Waffles. I did not much like my crepe the first time, which was too sweet, & the prosciutto was weird, but the second time was better & they make the most amazingly yummy sundaes & mini-waffles. I discovered this scrumptious substance called arequipe which is milk & caramel made into a sauce, & super deliciosa. Oooh & there is this powdery candy made of arequipe plus Pop Rocks-type stuff which is incredibly good. It's called Quipitos Pops! & I really hope it's already being imported here because I haven't the foggiest idea how to get that done.

Astrid y Gastón is an ultra-fancy Peruvian restaurant in a converted mansion. I really liked it. I decided to be adventurous & try some new things, so I asked the waiter to recommend dishes instead of going for what I know I like. I ended up with a very generous ceviche appetizer & a surprisingly filling little seared tuna entrée. For my cousin's wife's birthday, Auntie & I took her to Tramonti, which is on a hill overlooking Bogotá. It's a great view & the food is quite good too. I had an arequipe napoleon for dessert which was heavenly.

Andrés Carne de Res is a really fun restaurant in some city or district called Chia. I have to say, it was the highlight of my trip. I love steak as we all know, & I had a great big slab of it in the form of chuleton. The place itself was the draw though - it's clearly intended for young people & the whole setup is so happy that it made me laugh out loud in delight just looking around sometimes. Then at night it turns into a disco! I didn't dance the way I do in New York clubs but I had tons of fun. Also, their mojitos come in large bowls which could probably hold the contents of two cocktail glasses.

So, to sum up - Bogotá food is generally too sweet &/or salty, there are some fine restaurants though tastes are quite different from in NYC, & the desserts are fantastic. I can't say I'd advise anyone to make the trip for just the food, except maybe Andrés Carne de Res for sheer good fun.