As the lovely El Chato just received the high honor of the 25th best restaurant in the world (also on the list are Borago, Pujol, and Cosme that I’ve visited), I decided its time for me to publish my review on Dan and my wonderful lunch at El Chato last year on a layover in Bogotá, Colombia when flying from New York to La Paz, Bolivia.

El Chato describes itself as a “contemporary Colombian bistro that pays tribute to the producers” of local Colombian producers.  Chef Álvaro Clavijo opened El Chato in 2017 after studying in Barcelona and Paris and working at numerous high-profile restaurants, including Copenhagen‘s famous Noma (now closed). 

Located off Bogotá’s safe Chapinero Alto neighborhood, El Chato is set inside a black building with the prettiest flowers out front. The interior spans two floors, with the second level offering a view of the kitchen, El Chato’s spice library, and a cut out to see the first level. El Chato, which is a term of endearment used by locals in Bogotá, offers tasting menus that change frequently, making use of whatever local ingredients are in season. We visited for lunch and enjoyed 11 courses, 4 wines, and 3 cocktails for $112 USD per person (exclusive of tip). Everything was fantastic and our lunch was a great way to spend our layover (we had visited Bogotá previously, otherwise Bogotá does have some cool things to see!).

I made a reservation about a month before our lunch online. They had our name and we were seated as soon as we arrived at El Chato. For such an award winning restaurant, the atmosphere is casual and not at all stuffy.

FIRST COURSE – PAN DE QUESTO & BONE BROTH WITH ROSEMARY & BASIL

We were, luckily, seated on the second floor with a fantastic view of the kitchen and the spice library. Our meal began with an amuse bouche of pan de queso and bone broth. Pan de Queso is a Bogotá bread that is made with local cheese. It is a little dry and quite soft, a bit reminiscent of American corn bread. Very good. The Pan de Queso was also served in the cutest little basket.

The bone broth was served warm in a wood bowl from which one is meant to drink. The bone broth was pretty smooth and filled with rosemary and basil (I think). It tasted very good and left us more than ready for our next dish.

We were also served a glass of chilled Franciacorta to pair with the amuse bouche and first course.

SECOND COURSE – FOUR SNACKS

Our second course was what our waiter described as “four snacks.” These were fantastic. Each of the four snacks was a crazy mix of flavors that tasted great. They were also gorgeous. The first, starting on the left and going clockwise, snack consisted of smoked trout pate topped with wild local blackberries. The next was crispy local tapioca on a cereal crisp topped with purple radish.  The third was very thinly sliced cooked snail on toast with pipian and tomato paste. The final snack, which I was terrified of, was a sardine on crispy rice. Dan insisted that I eat it, so I did. It was fantastic! I felt pretty silly for almost not eating it, LOL.

THIRD COURSE – SOUP IN PASSION FRUIT

Our third course, also the cover picture, was my very favorite course of the evening! It was fantastic. The fruit that you see is a local fruit called granadilla, which is similar to a passion fruit. The granadilla acted as a bowl, which was filled with a creamy soup, apparently made with cashew milk and orejero seeds. The soup reminded me a bit of a lobster bisque, and I throughly enjoyed it.

FOURTH COURSE – UNKNOWN BUT DELICIOUS

Our next course was incredibly tasty, but I have no idea what it was! I think some sort of local fruit in a broth made of olive oil. I could be totally off, however. In any case, here is a photo! If you know what this is, please comment below!

We were also served another glass of wine with this mystery dish.

FIFTH COURSE – A HUGE ASS OYSTER

If you know me well, you probably know that I am the sole person in my family that does not like oysters. I wish I did, but I just do not like them, so I was not particularly excited when our served brought out two of the largest oysters that I have ever seen on a bed of ice, lol. The oysters, which were indeed grand, were served in a tamarind broth with pear and sea lettuce. I sipped the tamarind broth, and it was actually very good. I had about half of the oyster and then had to hand it to Dan to finish. An impressive take on an oyster, which is high praise from someone who does not like oysters.

SIXTH COURSE – CRAB

The star of our sixth course was crab, which was underneath the yellow/orange bit. The crab was excellent and tasted great. This course was not paired with wine, but with the tastiest purple cocktail. The cocktail was served on coasters with the waitstaffs pictures – a fun touch!

SEVENTH COURSE – BORONIA

Our next course was a classic Colombian dish – Boronia! Boronia is made of grilled eggplant, tomatoes, and mashed sweet plantains. Our dish was topped with a brown sauce and some very pretty tomatoes. This was a great dish!

EIGHTH COURSE – TROUT

Next up are what I would describe as “main” courses. The first one was trout, which I find so popular in South America! This one was a candied trout served with cauliflower, a pil pil sauce (of Basque origin) and Belem flowers. I am not a big fish person, but this dish was quite good! It was also very pretty.

We were also served an Austrian orange wine during this dish.

NINTH COURSE – STEAK

Our final savory course was my second favorite dish of the night – steak! El Chato’s steak was served rare, like I like it, with a caesar dressing and a bit of warm lettuce. I thought the steak was cooked perfectly, and I loved the sauce with the steak (I usually do not eat my steak with sauce!). Very, very good. A great end to our savory journey at El Chato.

Our steak was paired with an Italian Sangiovese that we liked very much.

TENTH COURSE – FIRST DESSERT

Our next to last course was dessert # 1 – a granita of sorts served with another cocktail. This first dessert was light and acted almost like a palate cleanser between savory and sweet dishes.

ELEVENTH COURSE – SECOND DESSERT

Our final course was yet another dessert, this one ice cream on something that reminded me of toasted coconut (although I’m confident that was not what it was)! This dish was sweeter, but still not sickly sweet.

STEAL OUR TRIP

El Chato: Cl. 65 #4-76, Bogotá, Colombia. Open Monday – Saturday 12:00 – 11:00, Sunday 12:00 – 5:00. Tasting menu Monday – Saturday 12:00 – 2:30 PM, Sunday 12:00 – 2:30 PM. Reservations highly recommended and can be made on the website. The dress is fairly casual. Credit card accepted.

For getting there, we stayed at the JW Marriott in Bogotá and walked to and from the restaurant. We felt comfortable and safe, although we would have taken a car at night.