Colombia en Nueva York I

Sorry folks, we know it’s been a while since we last posted.  Things have been busy around Confined Nomad territory.  Our excuse is that two of us ran the IMG New York City Marathon in November (woo hoo!), and one of us has been traveling quite a bit (food photos forthcoming).  But never fear, we are resuming our alphabetical gastronomic adventures – just in time for the long cold winter ahead.

We did finally call it quits with China, and moved on to Colombia this fall.  We went to two different places to sample this rich, heavy, and delicious South American cuisine: Tierras Colombianas II in Astoria, Queens (3301 Broadway at 33rd St) and Bogota Latin Bistro in Park Slope, Brooklyn (141 5th Ave at St. Johns Place).  We could have picked any number of others in Jackson Heights or Corona, or even the little place near our nabe, so if any readers have comments or suggestions of stand out Colombian joints around the city, comment!

We hit up Tierras Colombianas on a warm, sunny afternoon with empty, growling bellies, ready to be stuffed full of Colombia’s culinary delights.  The place was full of large Latino families enjoying large afternoon meals.  The helpful waiter offered some suggestions about what the best platos tipicos were, and we made our selections.

First to arrive was our beverage, refajo en jarra, described on the menu as, “Colombian speciality drink.  Served in a pitcher. 13 oz 1 Colombian soda and 2 beers.”  Not sure what the soda is, but it tastes a bit like herbal bubble gum, not unlike the mauby we had during our Barbados eating tour.  Combined with the ice cold beer, it was refreshing and pleasant.  We munched on a simple salad, ate warm bread, and sipped our refajo as we waited for our main dishes to arrive.

Mountains of food were presented a few minutes later.  The most varied and interesting dish hands down was the bandeja campesina (country plate), which was piled high with all kinds of goodness, including the traditional Colombian arepa, two kinds of meat, eggs, rice and beans, avacado… I’ll just let the photo and the description below speak for themselves.

A little less exciting, but still delicious was the pechuga de pollo asada (grilled season chicken cutlet).  It was moist and plentiful, served with platanos (plantains).

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