Weekend Recap: the food mecca of Cali

Back home in Minnesota my family has become pretty well acquainted with the various restaurants on St. Paul's Grand Avenue. This 2-3 mile stretch of road through the state's capital city is full of restaurants in all shapes and sizes, with a little something for everyone.

This weekend we continued to explore what I will refer to as the Cali, Colombia version of Grand Avenue, known as La Novena (Ninth Street). About a ten minutes drive north of my apartment is a neighborhood called Granada. Granada is basically the restaurant and bar mecca of Cali. Every time I go there I see a new place I want to try!

This Friday we ventured to San Fermin, a wine and tapas bar, just off the Novena. They had a full menu of Spanish tapas (appetizers), some of which I have not had since studying abroad in Spain three years ago! We started with delicious Sangria and followed with an array of tapas which we all taste tested. Ham croquetas, vegetarian Spanish tortilla, cooked eggplant, portobello mushrooms with cheese....mmmmm SO GOOD! And the restaurant was so cute with its decorations, wine bar and plush couches for seats! I really really should have taken some pictures to document for this blog post.

Other restaurants/bars we have tried in the area:

• Platillos Voladores (Flying Saucers) - Thai food restaurant with purple and green themed decorations (my two favorite colors) and delicious green curry
• Bourbon Street - New Orleans style pub with pub food, LOUD live music and New Orleans themed decorations
• British Pub - Across the street from Bourbon St. - about the same atmosphere and menu, just replace the Mardi Gras New Orleans theme with Beatles photos and British flags
• Enoki - Asian food...not great, but decent place for some thai chicken with peanut sauce
• Fusion Wok - I think I might be addicted to their sake thai Sushi roll. I might start having daydreams about it.
• Juan Valdez - Coffee chain - I am making it my personal goal to visit all of the ones in Cali and at least one in every city in Colombia.

Overall, in Colombia it is difficult to find good or authentic food that is not from Colombia, so I really appreciate the diversity one can find in this area of the city. Also, as many of you can tell, this selection of international restaurants and food has forced me to expand my eating habits beyond just pasta. :) So, beautiful people/readers, when you come to visit me in Cali, Colombia perhaps I will take you there :) Cheers!