Ajiacos Y Mondongos

I tried one of the most (and famous) traditional Colombian restaurants, Ajiacos Y Mondongos, a very quaint and exceedingly cute place on Calle 8 off Avenida Poblado (Calle 8 #42-46, El Poblado, Medellin to be exact). It has some history (opened in 1991) and has seen its fair share of recognizable names. Matter of fact, the restaurant has a collage of photos of who’s who visitors.

You know when you reach Calle 8 from Avenida Poblado because there are two pharmacies on either side of Calle 8. The Ajiacos Y Mondongos is on the north side of Calle 8 just 50 feet west. When you enter, you’ll immediately be struck at the quiantness of the place. There are low counters and very low bar stools when you enter and a main room with more lighting beyond the entryway counters. There are also more private rooms beyond the lighted square room. The walls of the place have various writings in Spanish on them and some photos/pictures, enhancing the “home” feeling of the restaurant. The staff only speak Spanish. They do not speak Spanglish either.

The menu is minimal (the backside has the restaurant’s history). The trifold menu opens up to the first dish: ajiacos soup with chicken, guascas and corn. The center menu has Cazuela de Frijoles, a paisa dish which is more of a stew than sopa (soup) because it’s so thick. It has red or pinto beans, carrots, shredded pork, dried pork or maybe thick, dried bacon, potatoes and avocados. This is what I had and it was deeeeelish!! The last item is Mondongo, which has pork, chorizo, carrot potatoes and yucca.

Location: mentioned above

Cost: 18,000 COP for the Cazuela de Frijoles and 2,900 COP for a coke. Tax is added and a service charge too (for me, 2,000 was the tip). Expect, to pay more than 18,000 COP for the other dishes.