Last month, DH and I had the pleasure of eating and catching up with The Man himself at a great little Colombian restaurant.
It was our first time eating Colombian food and we couldn’t have had a better dining guide to introduce us to the cuisine.
Empanadas
Unlike the thicker pastry dough of Portuguese and Filipino empanadas DH and I are more familiar with, these have a thinner corn flour shell. They are deep fried and filled with ground meat. We really enjoyed these. They arrived piping hot and we were instructed to wrap it in a napkin before eating it. They reminded me of a deep fried taco. In fact, DH couldn’t stop talking about them on the drive home. He’s never cared much for empanadas but he couldn’t believe how good these were.
Chorizo con Arepa
Kirk ordered this one so we could taste the difference between this chorizo and the one served on the entree DH later ordered. I preferred the taste of this one.
Papa Rellena
A giant fried potato ball stuffed with chicken and saffron. The filling varies from day to day.
Tostada
Deep fried squashed green plaintain. It didn’t have much flavor and was quite thick so it was hard to break apart. It was quite crunchy, almost too much since it was so thick. I didn’t think much of it when we were eating it at the restaurant, but I have to confess, I ended up eating the rest later. Something about its plainness was really addicting.
Bandeja Paisa (bed of white rice, beans, topped with fried egg, grilled sirloin steak, fried pork rinds, fried Columbian pork sausage, fried yellow plaintain, cornmeal cake, avocado wedge)
Kirk described this entree as a national dish in Colombia, full of starches and protein. Based on the menu’s description, I thought it looked very heavy. DH read it and translated it as something he must definitely order.
Sure enough this was full of starches and meat. There was a small bit of avocado to add some green to the plate. DH loved it and even snapped a picture to share on Facebook right away.
Lengua en Salsa (beef tongue sauteed Colombian-style with vegetable oil, salt, yellow onions, tomatoes, garlic, and Colombian spices)
This was my favorite of the entrees we ordered. The beef tongue was so tender and the spices were well balanced. Kirk suggested I choose the yuca frita over the French fries. This was my first taste of yuca frita and I was in love. It was like opening a whole new world. Thicker and denser than potatoes, with almost a slight chew and fried a golden yellow. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so enchanted with something. I could eat them forever.
Carne Desmechada (shredded beef sauteed with green onion, tomato, garlic, oil, Colombian spices and served with white rice and French fries)
I believe this is the name of the dish Kirk ordered. It tasted alright, but didn’t shine as much as the other dishes we tried.
We really enjoyed almost everything we tried and while this place is a little bit farther of a drive for us, we definitely want to come back soon. Here’s a few pictures I snapped of the inside decorations.
Here’s the menu:
You can read Kirk’s post on a previous visit here and his feature in San Diego Reader here.
Antojitos Colombianos
2851 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92102
P. 619-237-0396
https://www.antojitoscolombianos.com/
Glad I found this post we were planning on going to Antojitos this week! I’ve had arepas before but no Colombian food besides that. I like the yellow corn arepas better than the white corn arepas which is what it looks like they have there but the carne desmanchada and the yuca fries look amazing 🙂
The yuca fries there are still the best I’ve had. I always get them when I see them on the menu somewhere and they always disappoint.
I’m Colombian and I love your blogged and even more that you appreciate our food…but please remember that is ColOmbia with an O not U 🙂
Sorry about that. I’ve corrected the post
My husband is Colombian. There aren’t too many Colombian places in Southern CA. We have a couple we go to in LA, but will have to check that place out the next time we are in SD. If you go again, try some of the juices – my favorites are lulo with water and guanabana with milk. I don’t see ajiaco in the menu pics, but if you see it in the specials, definitely gotta try it!
Thanks for the tips!
The man??? Yikes….. It was really nice seeing the both of you again! We need to do this again soon!
What? You didn’t know that is what people refer to you as? Haha. Thanks again for introducing us to such a nice spot.
A meal with Kirk is always fun and time well spent with good company.
What a total carb fest, that plate! I had something similar at Tierra Colombianas in Queens (Astoria, NY), called the Bandeja Campesina (country plate). That also had one small green thing, the avocado slice. Everything else, meat and carbs.
I’ll have to check this out one of these days. It’s near El Salvadoreno too, if you haven’t been there, you guys would like it.
Yeah, that plate DH ordered looked so heavy! I don’t know how he ate it. I agree, meals with Kirk are great. I have not yet tried El Salvadoreno. So many places I need to eat it!
Oo this place has been on my bookmarks forever. One of my good friends spent a year in Colombia after college and raves about this restaurant. I’ll have to visit soon!
Yes, I highly recommend you visit!
Everything looks great! Wish we had more Colombian restaurants around here!
There aren’t too many in SD but this one is a good one!