Restaurante Mondongo's El Poblado — Restaurant in Medellín

Honestly I wasn't that impressed. The menu is very simple so I tried to order a couple of things a la carte because what I wanted was not already in a meal set. Instead of honoring my request I was told that I was going to be charged for a meal set (which cost more) and they would substitute for what I actually wanted. They ended up bringing me a meal set out with double the portions and one of my items a la carte so technically I would have been paying 45,000 pesos for a meal that really should have been about 23,000 pesos if it were a la carte like I requested. When I asked the manager about it she first attempted to not alter my meal because she claimed that I had touched it which I had not. She then requested that I just take the items home which I didn't want to do because my hotel does not have a microwave plus I have specifically asked for a certain size portion when I was ordering because I knew I wasn't going to be able to eat much. The manager and waiter seemed angry that I wanted to change the meal. Honestly it was just too big of a portion for me and I really felt like they were trying to get my bill to a minimum rate because we are in a tourist area instead of just letting me order what I wanted for the a la carte rates. Ultimately with the anger I sense from them I ended up just telling them to let me only do the beans and the beer that I had already had cuz I just felt uncomfortable like are you guys going to spit in my food or what like are you upset that I'm not taking what you're giving me which I always find as an issue. yes travelers are coming to these various countries but I don't think anybody ever thinks about how we are always overcharge every place we go and it's quite frankly annoying so ultimately I didn't eat what I wanted to eat and then they wanted to charge me service and I'm like why would I be paying service if I didn't get what I wanted and y'all were upset about it. so no I don't know if I would ever eat at this place again I'm not going to say it's bad because maybe your experience would be better but just be...

Disappointing - I'm obsessed with food, I spent a lot of time researching before deciding where to eat and we were disappointed. The food is mediocre, fries were cooked a while ago. Steak was by far the best part, the soup decent but nothing all that special, it helps to add the sauces, avocado and cilantro to it. Cooked banana was good, one of the avocados was good the other was a bit flavourless. Is it traditional Colombian dishes cooked reasonably well? Yes, but it's simply not that great. It's cheap for most countries, by Colombian standards it's not good value for money. 20 years ago if you went to this restaurant you would be pleased but food has really improved and it's nothing to write home about. I'm trying to understand the enthusiasm and I think it's mostly nostalgia on the part of people bringing you there and the people eating susceptible to power of suggestion. To their credit the food was brought extremely quickly, though all they cooked to order was a rare steak (I asked for medium because that was as rare as he offered but was delighted it was rare). We ordered the "Mondongo" and the steak pictured below. It does come with quite a few seemingly random sides as pictured including a whole banana, bland rice, and the most tasteless arepa I can imagine. The server was sort of attempting to be polite but was mostly slightly rude on a few occasions and thought it was rather peculiar at the end to say "you're welcome" before we said thank you. There are much better for much less. The night before we tried "Asados Mag" and it was 1/2 the price and...

This restaurant. Just, wow. I won't use too many words to describe this place because sometimes less is more when it comes to reviews.

Layout and service: Super efficient. Take note of how the kitchen and drinks counter are laid out. Waiters and service people glide seamlessly in and out with food and drinks.

The waiters and service people seem as if they're hand picked for their great customer service and mindfulness.

This place makes a conscious effort to staff up and make sure people aren't waiting excessively.

The food: Delicious! We tried the beef tenderloin medallions and... Oh boy ... Tender, juicy, seasoned perfectly to our taste, cooked to perfection.

The Milanese fish fillet was so good. Again. Juicy, tender, breaded and fried to perfection.

The fresh juices are as fresh as they come. The small jar of lemonade is great value.

I also got an order of the chicharrón (pictured). Frankly, between the chicharrón and the fresh avocado, I've been ruined for anything I can find stateside. I am crying on the inside over the fact that perhaps nothing will ever compare in terms of flavor.

Value: Would you believe that between those two plates, two small side dishes, and a small jar of fresh lemonade, we didn't spend more than $45? I dare you to find such value elsewhere. If we weren't already stuffed to the gills, we'd have gone for a few of the dessert options which, by the way, looked divine as we peaked over at other tables.

If you are anywhere nearby, you really need to give this place a go. Top...