Food and eating out in Cochabamba.

I have been here for about a month now, and eating out about once a day.  For any travelers wanting a place by place breakdown, too bad.  There are way too many food stalls and samll hole in the wall places near the market to have eaten at even 10% of them in a month, let alone full cafes and restraunts.

First up, a general comment on the typical street foods.  The first type, set up their own tent/awning on the side of the street.  They will have chairs and rickety tables for you to use, and plastic plates but steel cutlery.  The plate usually starts off with both rice and potatoes.  Sometimes either fries or chunked and deep fried potato.  Yuca and fried plantain can also sneak their way onto the plate.  Very little if any salt is added.  The meat is going to be either deep fried or grilled, cut thin and quickly cooked.  Although the beef and pork are cut thin, the will totally cover the startch on the plate.  A token amount of veg will accompany all that meat and startch, in the form of either cooked veg or a hint of salad.  All places have mayo, mustard and ketchup, and quite a few will have their own sauce which varies from not spicy at all, through to medium-hot.  A 10oz glass of juice or lemonade is usually included.  Prices currently range from 14 to 20 Bolivianos.  The meals are very filling which is no surprise given how heavy on startch they are, and although well cooked, there is not much attention paid to any depth of flavour.

The true street food is hawked from out of a small cart or from a pot or two set on top of a milk crate.  The hamburgers come with a token amount of fries, and a thin slice of the local cheese, I have not yet tried the meat on a stick from a street vendor, but the ones I have had at cafes have been great.  Most street cart food is under 10 Bolivianos, and soups are between 2 and 4 B.

The Té shops seem to out number the coffee shops, but not by a lot.  The ice cream vendors out number both coffee and té combined.  By north American standards only the ice cream shops have decent hours, the rest of the cafes are only open in the evenings, the average place opening at 6.

Places I do not recommend.  Only two make that list.  The first is Burger King.  Not because they are bad, but because why?  Why travel this far for a merely okay burger?  Second is TGI Fridays.  Over priced compared to the same quality local places.

Average cafes seem to charge between 20 and 40 B for a decent meal, with beverages being extra.  20 B for chicken 25-30 B for brrf and pork and 40 for trout, which is local.

The higher end cafes which are across the river from here are a better quality place better lighting, chairs tables etc, the food seems to be better prepared, but the cost is also about 10 B higher as well.

High end local places.  Two so far, La Cantonata, an italian place with an old world feel, great atmosphere, good service and made right there pasta and sauces.  I think they have difficulty getting great cheeses, but on the other hand my waist line would then be even bigger.  Paprika, the other place I went to,  would fit in in any major city in the world, the mood is set by dark warm woods and leather seating, and the menu features some international dishes along with a lot of well prepared local foods.  With both of these, expect to pay about 120 B for the full experience, entré, glass of wine, dessert and coffee or tea.

Current exchange rate is 1 Boliviano = 0.14 USD or 0.18 CAD

Candlemas

I have never previously been in a country where Candlemas is celebrated quite so strongly.  There is an obvious Catholic presence here and in all of the other Latin America countries I have visited, but this is the first time I was made aware of the services happening on this specific date. (Feb 2)

And in an unrelated note, I walked past this hotel, and was forced to take the picture.

For any who are unaware, my daughter's name is Virginia.