Brasarepa Restaurant in Envigado
I’m a BIG fan of Anthony Bourdain and his current Travel Channel show No Reservations, so visiting restaurants where he’s been is always high on my travel to-do list.
Last year, I tracked down Brasarepa in Envigado and had a wonderful lunch there.
This year, I invited a visiting travel blogger friend, Christine from Almost Fearless, new Medellin Living contributor Ana, and Troy.
We converged on the unassuming neighborhood restaurant as students from the nearby school were on their lunch break.
It was exactly the atmosphere I had appreciated the year before, and hoped for this time around.
We grabbed a picnic table and surveyed the menu. Typical Colombian foods at typical Colombian prices. Perfect.
Christine and Troy both ordered the same thing as Anthony Bourdain when he shot a scene at the restaurant — the regional artery-clogging specialty, Bandeja Paisa.
I’d had the same meal several times before, though I’d never seen portions so large.
It comes with soup, meat or chicken, fried plantains, fried egg, chorizo, chicharron (thick pork fat), beans, avocado, rice, and a small salad.
Seeing the look on their faces when the dishes arrived was classic!
I decided to try something new, Patacon con Pollo, which I enjoyed, though couldn’t finish. The serving size was gigantic.
If I were to order it again, I would probably hold the chorizo. It’s popular here, however I can only handle the saltiness in small doses.
I don’t recall the name of what Ana ordered, however it was heavy on the chicharron, and looked just as greasy as the rest of our dishes.
After we consumed as much of the food as was humanly possible, we sat around for hours sharing stories and getting to know one another better.
The staff was friendly and let us basically spend the whole afternoon hanging out there.
As my right arm was facing the street, I caught a nasty sunburn because I didn’t suggest we move farther inside as the sun began to set.
The next day, it looked as though my arm was a boiled lobster claw!
I highly recommend a visit to Brasarepa for rich, traditional Colombian dishes at great prices.
