The Taste Of Medellin, Street Vendors

Found on street DEAD!

In anticipation of my third trip to Medellin I started taking care of a few things around my home. The most important choir was to take care of the housekeeping that really needed to be done, since I'm the world's greatest procrastinator. I got it all done, that's all that matters. Afterwards I started setting out a few of the things that I plan to take with me on this next trip. After all that work I started getting hungry and came to the conclusion that I needed to go out to eat, since I didn't have any food in the house. As I was trying to decide where to go, I remembered that one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago recently opened a new restaurant very close to my home. It was decided, I was going to "Las Tablas" , which is on my list as one of the top five restaurants in Chicago. Las Tablas in owned and operated by real live Colombianos and the food is as close as you can get to typical Colombian cuisine.

The place was a bit more upscale than their original restaurant. I was greeted by a young man dressed all in black. The place wasn't too busy so I got to choose where I wanted to sit. I chose a seat by the window. After the waiter poured me a tall glass of ice-water, I order two Empanadas. I browsed through the menu as I waited for my Empanadas. Everything on the menu looked soooo delicious!! I decided that I was going to order the Matromonio plate which consists of a wonderful combination of grilled New York strip steak and a chicken breast to go along with sweet plantain, yuca, and a potato with chimichurri sauce.

Oh good. The Empanadas arrived and the waiter took my order. Wow! The Empanadas tasted so good!!

Perfect timing, my meal arrived as I took my last bite. I savored evey bite.

The steak was cooked perfectly, it was extremely delicious. I've never been a big fan of yuca but I found if I added a little bit of chimichurri sauce that it tasted better than I had remembered from my last effort to enjoy the yuca. The sweet plantain, was o' so sweet. How can you go wrong? The potato was small, which was perfect because at this point I didn't think I would be able to finsih my whole meal. I was right. After taking a small sample of the chicken breast I decided I better get a doggy-bag because at this point I was very satisfied with my meal and over-eating tends to spoil every great meal.

I asked the waiter for a doggy-bag and he promptly returned, with the check as well. Something that usually takes extra time in Colombia, any Latin country for that matter. After I paid my bill I slowly got up from my seat. I stopped at the door to read a sign which promoted "Live Music Every Weekend" and I knew that I would be back for another great meal and the next time I was going to have the opportunity to enjoying listening to Colombian music.

If you're ever in Chicago stop by "Las Tablas" for great typical Colombian cuisine.

I can't wait for my next trip to Medellin, Colombia!!

Here are some great Colombian recipes (Spanish)

Feel free to comment on your favorite Colombian restaurant in your hometown.