At the famous Andrés Carne de Res

While we were in Bogotá, we had the opportunity to go to the famous Andrés Carne de Res. This restaurant started more than 30 years ago as a small place on the roadside between Bogota and the nearby town of Chía, and today is an institution in Colombia.

Andrés Jaramillo, as its creator is called, now has another restaurant in the center of Bogotá, a new one in Medellin, and several fast food restaurants. But the original one is still located in Chía. On the side of the road, with traffic jams all day long, like the day we went there after our trip to the Salt Cathedral and Zipaquirá.

When you enter the place, you are surprised by the decor.

I read that the restaurant has about 200 tables.

It is crammed with all kinds of objects. If you are a minimalist, you may be in for a shock.

People go to Andrés Carne de Res to party, eat, dance, and have drinks.

The waitresses come to your table singing and dancing and encourage you to do it too. But the evidence, in this case, will not be published, hehe.

We drank beers, but my son wanted to try the aguardiente since we had not tried it during our stay in Colombia.

And we started by ordering a portion of chicharrones (pork rinds) and another patacones (fried green plantains).

The restaurant's menu is as extensive as the place's. And I had read mixed reviews on the internet about the food. My cousin, who lived in Bogotá for a few years, and was the one who recommended us to go if we could, told me that as long as we chose to eat meat, everything would be good, and it was.

My son and I chose a local classic, the Lomo al trapo.

Lomo al trapo is a piece of tenderloin that is sealed with coarse salt and wrapped in a piece of linen cloth, and then it's grilled covered with the cloth. The waiter comes to the table to explain the preparation to you with the piece of meat still covered.

And he uncovers the meat on the spot in front of you. And cuts it into filets to be served.

They serve it on a wooden tray with a piece of a hot iron on top in case you want to cook the meat a little more.

We ordered ours with potatoes with rosemary.

The husband didn't want to order the Lomo al trapo. He thought it might be too salty. Instead, he ordered a Lomo a la pimienta (tenderloin with black pepper).

And everything was delicious.

We had been told that Andres was not cheap. And it is not. The Lomos were about 70 thousand Colombian pesos each, which is about 15 dollars. It was the most expensive meal we had during our stay in Bogotá, but something similar costs in other places much more. Here, in Caracas, it would easily cost twice as much.

It was well worth indulging ourselves once. As the afternoon progressed, the music got more party-like. People go there to party until the early hours of the morning. But we had to go back to Bogotá.

The place has eye-catching details everywhere, like this wooden car at the exit.

When we left the restaurant, the road in front was a bit clearer than when we arrived, which we were grateful for as we had to return to Bogotá.

This is my participation this week in #MarketFriday initiated by @dswigle.

Thank you for reading.

_{All images and writing are my own unless otherwise stated.}

© CoquiCoin

November 11, 2022

_{If you're reading this and you are not on Hive yet, I invite you to join through my referral link. And I could delegate some Resources credit to help you get started.}