After enduring the 19-hour flight time plus another 5 hours waiting in the Mexico airport, we finally arrived in the capital city of Colombia, Bogota. If we were to fly to the US, we wouldn’t need to wait that long for a connecting flight to Bogota.
However, I couldn’t go that route because I would have had to apply for a Transit VISA which cost $160.00, the same price as a tourist visa!
At the time that I wrote this entry, we had been living here for a month, and I can say that I love Colombian food. The main reason was probably because the food wasn’t spicy, and there were also plenty of tasty meat dishes and snacks here such as Empanadas.
I especially loved Carne Empanada, such a simple snack food but very tasty. The outer layout looked like ‘Karipap’ back in Malaysia.
Mini Mal
We had the opportunity to try out the famous Colombian fusion restaurant ‘Mini Mal’ which is located just around the corner from the hotel we are currently staying in.
P.s: We are moving out tomorrow! After living in a hotel for a month, I can’t wait to move out!
When we first arrived at the restaurant, the door next to the restaurant was closed, and we thought it was closed for the day. Thankfully, some sports events were happening just opposite the restaurant, and a guy who stood to watch the preparation helped point out the way. It was actually at the end of the walkway on the left side of the building/house.
Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by several friendly staff. One of them offered to keep my wet umbrella, and another male waiter ushered us to an empty table. It wasn’t busy at that time (2:30 pm). I didn’t get our waiter’s name, but he spoke English, and he recommended a few dishes to us.
Some of the menu and pricing in Mini Mal
Starter 14,900 - Tumaco [Ripe plantain balls filled with crab meat simmered in coconut milk and home mild red curry]. 12,900 - Vegetarian Tumaco [Filled with quinoa simmered in coconut milk, homemade red curry]. 14,900 - Squid Cracklings [Giant white squid pan-fried with cornflour, Chonto (Colombian variety of tomatoes) chutney, sour cream]. 17,000 - Palmira Rolls [Avocado, pork cracklings, fresh salty cheese, and coriander leaves rolled in ripe sweet plantain]. 17,700 - Mother Earth [Sauteed mushroom mix with nasturtium pesto, fresh cheese crumbles, served with heirloom potato chips]. 18,100 - Arrullos [Mixed seafood, coconut milk, home green curry and copoasu (Amazonian cacao), served on a sour chancaca (sour coconut candy)]. 11,700 - Pica Pica [Salty cheese, pickled chillies and cherry tomato skewers]. 11,900 - Pumpkin Salpicon [Diced variety of pumpkins - ahuyama, guatila and calabaza - lemon, wild mint, and wai-ya chilli, with pickled chugua cold broth]. 23,200 - Red Tigers [Red tempura tiger shrimp, golden berry mayo, organic fresh greens].
Main Course 39,900 - Catch of the Day [Served with coconut rice and organic green salad]. White Fish: with Tucupi, a traditional poisonous cassava and chilli sauce, lemon ants. Encocado: Coconut, traditional pacific herbs, spring onion, tomato. Albacore Tuna: with hibiscus and fermented corn chicha sauce. 31,700 - Arawak-Carib [Bass fillets pan-fried with manoco - thickly grounded flour made of a variety of poisonous cassava, guava, feijoa and dill sauce, served with yam and green salad]. 28,100 - Lets Go to the Beach [Blowfish with Lulo (tropical sour fruit) sauce. Grilled fish with a Lulo and caramelized onion sauce, served with coconut rice and green salad].
35,500 - Green Curry Tenderloin [Pan seared beef tenderloin, homemade green curry, coconut milk, basil, served with white lemon rice and fresh green salad]. 38,900 - Delirium [Gulupa is one of our many passion fruits, Tiger shrimp pan-fried with manoco, passion fruit and green chilli sauce, coconut rice, green salad]. 27,800 - Enchichao Chicken ["Chicha" is a fermented corn beverage, traditional from the Andes. Sauteed chicken thighs, chicha glaze, fresh coriander, and Paipa D.O, cheese pesto, mashed heirloom potatoes]. 29,500 - Deep in the Jungle [Braised beef neck with Amazonian tucupi (black chilli) sauce. Served with fried mandioc and fresh greens]. 34,500 - Pork Ribs in Black Beer [Pork ribs and Chapinero Porter stew, served with heirloom potatoes and green salad].
Salads 20,000 - Quinoa Salad [Quinoa, palm tree fruit (in season) homemade pickles, avocado, potatoes]. 20,300 - Campesina Salad [Roasted vegetables, soft fresh cheese, mushrooms and tucupi sauce]. 20,300 - Native Potato Salad [Colored potatoes, cherry tomatoes, mint leaves, zucchini, pickles tubers, sprouts, chorizo, homemade plantain vinegar] 16,900 - Native Potato Salad Without Chorizo
Soups 13,800 - Citric Soup [Inspired in the Cocuy mountain lands. Light lemongrass and chicken broth, spinach, rice and canopio (seed similar to cardamom) balls, fresh cheese, chilli. Shrimp is optional]. 13,800 - Volcanic Soup [Pacific flavours. Pumpkin, coconut milk, lemongrass, fresh black pepper. Shrimp is optional]. 13,800 - Soup of the Day [Season vegetables].
Drinks 4,000 - Limonada 6,000 - Botella De Agua 5,900 - Cerveza Aguila 6,900 - Club Colombia 6,900 - Club Colombia Roja 8,100 - Bogota Beer Company [Cajica, Premium, Chapinero Porter, Monserrate Roja]. 8,100 - Cerveza Apostol [Bock, Dubbel, Marzen, Apostol sin alcohol]. 9,000 - Aguardientes [De Canela / De La Montana / Contra Malos Vientos / Con Uchuvas / Frutos Rojos] Cocteles prices ranging from 16,000 ~ 36,000. [Caipirinha / Mojito / Dry Martini / Martini Tanqueray / Luliche sour etc.] Licores Trago / Botella prices ranging from 13,000 ~ 290,000. [Whisky Jameson / Ron Havana / Tequila Jimador Blanco / Vodka Absolut etc]. Some coffees and chocolate ranging from 2,900 ~ 6,700 Teas ranging from 4,000 ~ 4,500.
Desserts 10,900 - Triple Cream [ Three layers: Dark chocolate, araza and arequipe (milk taffy) cream. 12,900 - Almojabana Cake [Corn bread cake, bocadillo DO sauce(red guava paste) and Colombian vanilla ice cream]. 9,900 - Artisan Gelato [Two scoops of our exotic flavours of the day]. 10,900 - Merengon [Meringue, cream, copoasu sauce, fresh golden berries]. 10,900 - Dessert of the Day.
Address:
Mini Mal Tv. 4 Bis #57-52, Bogotá
P.s: The food, service, and presentation were fantastic, we will definitely be coming back again, and I’ll make sure to update the food pictures for whatever dishes that we had here in this blog.
BBC – Bogota Beer Company
Before we arrived here in Bogota, Mike told me that there was a BBC near the hotel, and I was puzzled as to why he seemed so happy about it. I didn’t bother to research as I thought it was the news company, BBC. But now I understand why.
Some of the menu and pricing in BBC: 7 types different beers tasting @ 9,800 Traditional Lager Types: BBC Lager - Helles - 5% v/v - IBU 23 BBC Sin Alcohol - 0.4% v/v - IBU 18
Traditional Ale Types Monserrate Roja - Pale Ale - 5% v/v - IBU 37 Bacata Blanca - Witbier - 4.3% v/v - IBU 18 Cajica Miel - Honey Ale - 5% v/v - IBU 23 Candelaria Clasica - Kolsch - 5% v/v - IBU 24 Chapinero Porter - Porter - 5% v/v - IBU 35 Traditional Ale & Lager prices: Vaso 330ml @ 10,400 Copa 440ml @ 11,900 Pinta 570ml @ 14,900 Jarra 1.6Lts @ 40,900 Jirafa 3Lts @ 72,900 Recarga Jarro BBC @ 22,400
Cocktails IPA Margarita @ 31,900 Beer & Whisky @ 31,900 Albahaca BBC @ 27,900 BBC Espresso @ 27,900 Whisky Sour @ 29,900 Mojito Havana / Margarita @ 27,900 Cosmopolitan / Lychee Martini / Dry Martini / Lychee COllins / Caipiroska Fresa @ 29,900 Vino Caliente @ 24,900 Pizza Palermo @ 25,900 Vegetarian @ 30,900 Cervecera BBC @ 34,400 San Isidro @ 28,900 Cuatro Estaciones @ 31,900 Pepperoni @ 30,900 Tres Quesos @ 27,900 Margarita @ 27,900 La Glorieta @ 31,900 Jamon Serrano Y Rugula @ 36,400 Salad Santa Isabel @ 14,900 Rosario @ 14,900
- This bar has relocated to the opposite of the road, next to Surtifruver. A place used to be Madriguera Brewing Co.
La Bodega
There’s another place where you can drink cheaper BBC beer. It’s about 500 meters away from this roadside BBC, and it’s called La Bodega BBC.
The price:
Pinta 570ml @ 9,900
Jarra 1.6Lts @ 27,900
Bottle 330ml @ 7,200
Para llevar Barrel 58lts @ 469,000 & 30lts @ 243,000
BBC Calle 63
There’s a new BBC in Calle 63 opposite Carulla. Many choices of draft beers, and the food was great too. This place was bigger than the BBC near Hippies Park. A great place for gathering and watching sports matches. There were three TV screens on the ground floor, and there was also another floor upstairs, but I didn’t go up to see what they got there.
When we were there, it wasn’t a busy time, the place wasn’t full (not even half full), they have quite a number of staff, but the service was a bit of let down, very slow. I could only assume that they were new and not competent yet.
I also noticed that throughout our stay there for about two and a half hours, the liquors on display behind the bar were in contact with sunlight, and I read that prolonged exposure to sunlight has a detrimental effect on liquor. But I’m sure they could sell all those in no time right 😄
Note: Pricing was in Colombian Pesos.
Updated on 27th Feb 2020