Colombian lunch - Pochis - downtown Grand Rapids.

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The daughter of a friend lives in Florida but for this post it must be noted that she is married to Colombian man originally from Bogota.  

She came to town for a college roommate reunion and fortunately for us ( her mom, sister and me) she had time to go out for lunch with us.  We went to Pochis- a Colombian cafe. 

 https://www.pochiscolombiancafe.com


Under her tutelage  we toured Colombian via the food.  One main dish from the north, one from the coast and one from the south.  Had she not been with us we would not have been so brave.

We started with an appetizer of chicken and mushroom empanadas. Deep fried nuggets of goodness served with a mayonnaise based dip and a very mild chili dip. 

Apparently, like other South American country’s food , Colombian food is very flavorful but not spicy hot!

We had ajiaco - a specialty from Bogota. It is a rustic soup made from chicken broth in which we found a piece of chicken, 3 kinds of potatoes, corn still on the cob and served with rice and fresh avocado on the side. It is topped with some cream and capers!




We ordered two main dishes to share.  Mojarra, an entire fried red snapper served with a delicious coconut rice, patacones (green plantain chips) and a salad! Great food for the eyes as well- so pretty!




Bandeja Paisa was the most impressive. It came to the table in/on a tower! Chicharron like I had never eaten before! It was like pork belly instead of the deep fried pig skin.  This was on the top.  Next a bowl of traditional beans- every country has a unique flavorful bean dish. On the bottom was the main dish- ground beef mixture, a chorizo sausage, white rice topped with a fried egg, sweet plantain strips and fresh avocado!




It was a wonderful food tour.

We ended with OBLEA. Obleas are typically two wafers filled with cajeta or other jam that you can eat like a cookie. This version consisted of two very large wafers filled with jams, cheese and whipped cream.

Not what we expected but tasty nonetheless.


Pochis is a wonderful place to go for lunch or dinner. The plates are all black pottery from Columbia. There is also a little store that sells columbian arts.





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