La Mulata

So in Cartagena, Colombia, there were 4 of us.  This is 4 pared down from the 12 in the van ride to Old Town, down from the 25 total on Team Vacay, separated from the roughly 1,500 passengers loaded on the Island Princess as she voyaged through the Caribbean.  Four scouts, with maybe 2 hours to investigate a new and exciting city, do something remotely resembling cultural inhalation, and locate and devour a "real", good, Colombian meal.  Cruise ship culture makes one lazy when she finally makes landfall.  So when we hit Colombia, we were really ready for something new and interesting.  

Don't overthink it.

One of our scouting party utilized the precious pages of a NYT 36 Hours, printed for an arm + leg onboard.  In Old Town, we collected a níspero to taste- hard to resist with the reported flavor of "chocolate, carmelized sugar & blackberry"- but we thought it had more of a savory guava taste & texture.  Next, we popped into a Panaderia for some buttery pastries, and then we were on the hunt for a restaurant.  We knew it was futile to seek out something atouristy in this section of town, but I used my best Spanish with a local & she directed us to La Mulata.  She said it was popular with both tourists & locals- but more importantly, she said the food was good.

The place- marked out front by an ethnically ambiguous mannequin- was bigger than we expected.  Behind the tiny storefront was a deep maze of rooms and exteriors, all sweltering hot.  We parked at an outdoor table in an empty section, but by the time we left it was full & there were maybe 10 people hovering for seats.  The waitress plunked bowls of soup in front of us, each graced with a motley assortment of tidbits.  Floating in the savory broth, we found: squash, chicken, bones, leaves.       

If you like Mote, TGIV.

Ordering was fun.  My Spanish is good, but with food it's more about vocabulary and dish names.  And on this menu, I had only a moderate clue about what we were in for.  We sought out our Day-Square (Martes) and everyone took a stab at ordering.  Here's one of those situations, though, where I wanted to spend time with each section, translating and imagining, but our time in Cartagena was short, so we got on with it.  Another page led us astray with all-the-time specials, and there were fancy drinks that kept passing by, but we stuck with the local brew since we needed the cooldown.  

Big font, weak alignment-
 you Crazy Colombians!

We ended up with a Pechuga Asada (grilled chicken topped with melted cheese and a wee sausage), the Estofado C/Gnero (beef stewed in tomato sauce with rice), Arroz Cartagenero (smoky rice mixed with bbq'd chicken), and I got the Camarones Jamaica (fresh shrimp in a light tomato sauce).  All came with tall spikes of fried plantains, and all were devoured with relish.

I had expected the type of Colombian food one might find in Queens, NY- heavy & rich, with ambiguous cuts of meat- but this food was fresh and almost light in flavor.  Not what one would call Health Food per say, but not deadly food coma status either.  

One challenge of the meal, apart from time limits and language barrier, was that we had changed only $40, so we had about $60 Colombian left to spend.  It didn't really occur to us to worry about that though, so it was a nice surprise when the meal came in just under $50 (about $30 US).  Not the best deal in South America, I'm sure, but were glad for our brief freedom from the cruise buffet.  Now to return and actually see Colombia.