Top Three Restaurants to Visit
1) Ocio– Ocio was definitely our favorite restaurant in El Poblado. It was upscale and contemporary. The food was absolutely wonderful and 
the staff was very friendly. Our Spanish is lacking so it was somewhat difficult to figure out the menu but we loved all of our food. For an appetizer, we enjoyed the “Ensalada de Toronja,” an amazing grapefruit salad with slowly cooked pork belly that was large enough for us to share. Our entrée was “Bife con Mantequilla de Estragon,” a delicious steak with tarragon butter and roasted veggies. To finish, we enjoyed “Sandwich de Galleta,” a tasty ice cream sandwich with macadamia nuts and latte’s. For all of this and two glasses of wine, our total was around $36. We will definitely visit Ocio again when we go back to Medellin. Be sure to make a reservation!
2) El Herbario– El Herbario was another great restaurant in El Poblado that we were lucky to try. The atmosphere
was contemporary and upscale also. We first ordered the “Biche de Pescado Fresco y Mango,” which was a delicious mango ceviche. The presentation was beautiful and flavors were amazing! For the main course, we order the “Solomito Encostrado” and “Solomito Trufado.” The “Solomito Encostrado” was a wonderful steak topped with pistachios. The “Solomity Trufado” was a delicious steak topped with a tarragon butter and truffled mushrooms. Both were incredible! Our meal at El Herbario included 2 glasses of wine and came out to about $40. We really liked El Herbario but it was a little pricier than Ocio. Reservations are definitely needed here.
3) Modongo’s– We wanted to try a restaurant that had typical Columbian food and Modongo’s was the answer. Although there are technically Modongo’s in Flordia, the food is truly authentic. We ordered the “Ajiaco” soup, which was my favorite. It was a tasty soup with chicken and corn. The soup comes with sides of sour cream, white rice, whole avocado, lime, cilantro and arepa, which is bread. We also tried the “Pollo a la Parilla” which was grilled chicken with french fries. Although this is typical Columbian food, the prices were steep since Modongo’s is in the El Poblado district. We will definitely be back for the Ajiaco.
Honorable Mention:
Libretto Pizzeria– We discovered Libretto Pizzeria while walking back to our Airbnb. Libretto was conveniently located on Calle 10 in the El Poblado district of Medellin. Its atmosphere was laid back with a nice spacious patio to enjoy the beautiful spring nights. The menu was written in both Spanish and English and had many pizza, pasta and sangria options to choose from. We enjoyed the margarita and pepperoni pizza’s along with red sangria. We both liked this place because the staff was so kind and they were open late. We wouldn’t make this our first choice for a meal but it’s a great late night eats option.
Cafeteria Bardog’s- We stumbled across Cafeteria Bardog’s while walking the neighborhood of Laurales after our massages. We asked a man on the street where we could find a good lunch and he walked us to Bardog’s. We tried to ask for a menu in Spanish but realized that they did not have one. They only sold 2 items for lunch, which were a soup and grilled piece of pork with white rice. It was delicious and extremely affordable. For lunch and 2 cups of coffee, we spent only $6.
Restaurant at El Hangar- Our first morning in Medellin, we decided to try our hostel’s restaurant. We both tried a typical breakfast that included 2 fried eggs atop rice and beans and arepa. It was a satisfying meal that we both enjoyed. For breakfast, 2 cups of coffee and a coke, we spent about $5.
