El Correo Provenza — Restaurant in Medellín

The restaurant is beautiful, clean and the plants add a hidden tropics feel. Service was attentive and professional. I was a little concerned that it was 2pm on a Saturday and we were the only patrons.

We ordered three appetizers, three main courses and three deserts. The appetizers were chicherone, empenadas and jalapeño chorizo. The chicherone looked like American bacon and not like I had seen anywhere else in Colombia. The empenadas were fried very delicate golden brown with potato and meat, but they completely lacked flavor without using the salsa provided. The chorizo was the best item of the whole meal.

When the main dishes arrive, my wife and daughter had the chicken and steak kebabs. Presentation and quantity was amazing. Definately two people could have eaten from one order, but again, the meat was very bland. They lacked even salt as a seasoning, again relying on the pickled onions to help the flavor.

For my meal, I ordered Mar y Res. I ordered the steak medium, but it arrived absolutely raw with a cold, blue red center. The octopus I believed were grilled because the ends were burnt to a crisp. The rest was flavorless. The four huge prawns were grilled perfectly, not dry, but required a sauce again.

Lastly, the deserts. A flan, a cheesecake and a delicious custard cake with raspberries and oreos. I had the cheese cake with an incredible coffee.

As an American who lives here part of each year, I would say, come here for coffee and desert. The value was there, huge deserts that could be shared from on order and the coffee is divine, but pass on...

Literally the WORST service I've experienced in Medellin, period. And in general for a long time. Service we received in a chicken shop while grabbing a quite bite between tours was 100x better. The attitude of the waiter, a short bold guy was literally like "why are you even talking to me?", with an annoyed face. And I know the face as my gf makes it whenever I've done something wrong, just don't yet know what... My male readers in relationships know what I mean. That's the face he made, no kidding. Eventually I asked him if he was upset at me or something and he replied with a short "no". That's what she says too and I know for sure she's mad. He literally seemed upset that we had questions about food or wine and at some point he responded with "pfff". We waited for the water and a bottle of wine we ordered while watching other people who came after us with already empty glasses.. Luckily his lady coworker come to rescue seeing something was not right. When we were on the way out he walked past us completely ignoring us lol. Great attitude dude, well deserved one star 👏👏 my food was quite tasty, my partners... Very chewy. Every bite I tried had to chew up and what was left of it ended up in a napkin... No idea what's the "unreal" food people are bragging out. Must be their first...

This place was 5 stars on everything! Food was unreal. Service was impeccable. Decor is moody and romantic. English menu available.

Food - They’re known for their black steak, which is so juicy and flavorful. I generally don’t like steak, but the baby version (least fat) had the perfect ratio of seasoning to meat. Note that they cook meat a bit on the rarer side so would recommend dialing your temp preference up a notch. Other dishes pictured: coconut shrimp, mixed mushrooms, and the duo chorizo. All were delicious except the chorizo was kind of dry.

Drinks - You have to get the bulldog gin with pink peppercorns and lychee - I’m a G&T connoisseur and this was one of the best G&Ts I’ve ever had. The fruit beer is also so good. I don’t even like beer, but I loved it.

Service - Waiters were very attentive and fast. Thank you for a...