Andrés Carne de Res: a different dining and clubbing experience

When we learned we were having dinner in Andrés Carne de Res, I was quite excited, having viewed their unique website. But the website (or the great reviews) was not enough to prepare us for this bar/restaurant. I cannot even remember when hubby and I last went to a club--definitely not in the last 7 years. Andrés Carne de Res was more than a club or a restaurant. It was a castle of an artist’s junkshop!

We went to the Chia location about 40 minutes away from Bogotá. The host was agitated that we had brought kids along. We thought that the restaurant converted into a club at about 10pm (by which time we would have been done with dinner and could take the kids back to our apartment). But at 9pm, the party was already on! So, we got the kids registered and they were given wristbands for identification (Bogotá is a stickler for ID’s!).

The interiors were just amazing! Junk items from bottle caps to tin cans transformed into wonderful, colorful art were too much for our eyes to devour. The lights, shaped like hearts, delighted my little girls. There were cows in tutus, water craftily packaged in milk bottles, and forks holding up sauce bottles hanging from the ceiling.--awesome details if you ever got your eyes to focus on one thing.

The menu was a giant book filled with delicious, though on the expensive side, dishes. Our group started with Mixto de Acompañamientos (mixed appetizers) which included arepa (traditional South American bread made of corn), potatoes and yummy baked plantain (variety of banana)  with cheese and guava jelly. Then, we shared a Filete de Trucha (trout fillet) and an order of Tres para Dos (mixed grilled meat). Our grilled meat platter consisted of tenderloin, rump steak and chicken breast. These went perfectly well with my Club Colombia Roja beer. Our bill came in a tin box complete with a magnifying glass and a flashlight—in case you started to doubt your eyes with too many zeroes (at that time, the exchange rate was 1US$=1,700 pesos).




a different way of presenting bottled water

 


our appetizer platter

 


our mixed grilled meats

 

What club experience would be complete without dancing? So, with our wide-brimmed woven hats, we set off for the dance floor for some merengue. And, who was to say that this was not a place for kids? My girls had a blast—even if it was just to watch mommy and daddy, and grandma and grandpa dance!

It was great to party in Colombia. Our hips did not lie!