In recent years, Medellín has become Colombia’s hotspot for its food and drink scene.
Even for us foodies, deciding where to eat was a difficult task - we were spoilt for choice.
In this guide, we have included every restaurant that we ate at during our stay in Medellín, as well as recommendations from backpackers that we met along the way!
Watch our food guide reel HERE.
CAFES
Hidden down a side street in El Poblado, Al Alma is packed with people working on laptops, reading books, or simply hanging out.
After a morning chilling in our hostel, we decided to go for a walk, where we stumbled upon this cafe by chance.
Filled with colourful decor and a quaint courtyard, Al Alma quickly became our go to for brunches and coffee!
From ice coffees, smoothies, granola, fruit, french toast, pastries, and more - Al Alma has an extensive brunch menu. They even serve up burgers, tacos and pizzas in the evenings, but we had other places in mind.
An example of how much we roughly paid per visit - we ordered Granola, French toast, and two iced coffees which came to a total cost of COP $51,000 (£10.25 GB /$12.95 USD / €12.04 EUR).
Betty’s Bowls is located at the top of Calle 10 in El Poblado, right next to a Selina Hostel.
If you’re looking for a fresh juice, smoothie or breakfast bowl, then look no further.
We visited this little brunch spot after a morning of exploring Comuna 13, and ordered two Açai bowls. Packed with fruit and granola, we can honestly say that Betty’s Bowls serve the biggest and most generous breakfasts.
We’re big foodies, and even we struggled to finish off our smoothie bowls!
For two Açai bowls, we paid a total of COP $38,000 (£7.64 GBP / $9.69 USD / €8.97 EUR) - making this incredibly affordable and the perfect spot for a fruit fix.
Location: Cra. 32d #7a # 7a-77 Local 01, El Poblado.
3. Medias Nueves
Sadly, we stumbled upon this sweet little cafe as we were leaving Medellín, but if we had a little longer, then this cafe would have been our next stop!
Located on the outskirts of El Poblado, this cafe fits in beautifully with the digital nomad experience of being in Medellín, with trendy decor and a tranquil atmosphere to match.
Their brunch menu serves up a combination of typical Colombian breakfast dishes, fused with some inspiration from the west.
If we ever find ourselves back in Medellín in the future, then we will most certainly stop by!
Location: Cra. 47A #5-67, El Poblado.
RESTAURANTS
1. Mondongo’s
Search ‘best places to eat in Medellín’ and we guarantee that Mondogo’s will make an appearance.
It wasn’t our favourite restaurant, but because of its popularity amongst locals and tourists alike, it felt wrong not to include it in our guide!
Mondongo’s serves classic Antioquian and Colombian dishes including bandeja paisa, ajiaco, and sopa de mondongo.
During our first night in Medellín, we ate at their El Poblado branch. We both ordered the cazuela de lentejas - a nourishing dish filled with lentils, chicharron, plantain, shredded potatoes, avocado, and ground beef.
In total, we paid COP $32,000 (£6.46 GBP / $8.16 USD / €7.55 EUR) which was extremely reasonable. Our dinner was delicious and to be honest, it was exactly what we needed after a couple of indulgent nights!
2. Mi Arepa
Okay, there’s a part of us that is sorry and not sorry for this suggestion. Yes, we acknowledge that Mi Arepa is a fast food chain in Colombia, and we try to avoid chains as much as we possibly can.
But, we have to admit, that eating at Mi Arepa was simply delicious.
The menu offered over 10 arepa fillings, and we have to admit that it was difficult to choose!
Together, we ordered empanadas as a starter, followed by the ‘Ranchero’ and ‘Mixto’ arepas - costing us COP $60,500 (£12.16 GBP / $16.31 USD / €15.11 EUR).
The only downside to this particular restaurant is that it’s a little out of the way, meaning that the safest and easiest way to get there is by taking taxi.
If you do decide to visit, then we recommend visiting at lunch, so that you can walk back to the main square in daylight. If you do decide to visit in the evening for dinner, we recommend buying a local SIM card so that you can request an Uber to pick you up from the restaurant. We use Airalo. A brilliant e-sim app, that allows you to connect to a local network for low prices. It’s easy to use and immediate on purchase. Check out Airalo HERE.
At the time, we made the mistake of not having a local SIM, meaning that we were unable request a taxi. The restaurant wouldn’t let us connect to Wi-Fi either, leaving us no choice, but to walk to the nearest metro station. It was dark, but we safely made it to the metro. A mistake we certainly won’t be making again!
3. Sazon Paisa
After trying bandeja paisa for the first time in Salento, we were keen to order the dish again, before leaving the Antioquia region.
For those who don’t know, Bandeja Pasia is a platter of red beans, ground beef, rice, plantain, chorizo sausage, black pudding, avocado, white rice, arepa, and pork scratchings.
We researched restaurants that claimed to serve the best bandeja paisa in town, and it just so happened that the restaurant opposite our hostel, Sazon Paisa, was the place to beat.
This outdoor restaurant offers very affordable Colombian dishes, and as you can imagine, we were delighted to discover that they serve up a mammoth portion of bandeja paisa for two. Did we order it? Of course we did!
The meal was served on huge palm leaves, and to be honest, was enough food to share between a family, let alone the two of us.
We struggled, but we conquered (thanks to Will).
At an affordable cost of COP $63,900 (£12.84 GBP / $16.29 USD / €15.08 ), we’d highly recommend Sazon Paisa.
Whilst doing research for this blog, we have stumbled upon some minor negative reviews for this restaurant - mainly to do with the service. During our visit, the restaurant was empty, and we felt that we didn’t have any issues with the service. Of course, everyone’s experience is different, but from our own, we couldn’t fault the service!
Location: Cra. 47A #5 85, El Poblado.
4. Alambique
This garden themed restaurant was recommended to us on different occasions by other backpackers.
Leaning towards high end Colombian dishes, this restaurant was listed in Time Out! magazine as one of the best restaurants in Colombia.
It turns out, this restaurant is indeed very popular and will require a booking in advance. Sadly, we couldn’t go during our time in Medellín, due to the restaurant being fully booked at the time.
Dishes including the pork crisp ceviche, and the seafood stew, are said to be the most recommend dishes amongst locals.
If you do decide to visit Alambique, then expect to pay slightly higher prices than the rest of our listed recommendations.
Location: Calle10#43a-30, El Poblado,
STREET FOOD
1. Mecardo del Rio
On the outskirts of El Poblado, you’ll find the huge street food market that is Mercado Del Rio. Minus dogs, there’s nothing more that we love than a street food market.
Mercado del Rio has vendors serving food from 15 different countries, making this a spot where inevitably, there is something for everyone!
This place has a great vibe, and reminds us of our favourite street food markets back home in London.
There are also bars serving your favourite alcoholic beverage of choice, and screens to watch sporting events too. We both imagine that it’s the type of place that gets busy during the big sporting events - we’re looking at you football!
At Mercado Del Rio, we shared a portion of Mexican fries smothered with cheese, guacamole and homemade salsa, as well as a Cuban plantain bowl - served with pork, rice, beans, and plantain chips.
Well worth a visit with both dishes coming to a total of COP $67,500 (£13.57).
Location: Cra. 48 #26-1, El Poblado.
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