‹ The best bowl in 50 cities › Bogotá
Soup season · Bogotá, Colombia
The best bowl in Bogotá: Ajiaco
Chicken and three kinds of potato simmered with guascas until the small yellow potatoes melt into the broth, finished with cream, capers and avocado.
Bogotá sits at 2,600 meters and it's cool all year, so soup is lunch. Ajiaco is the city's own, and the oldest door in town still ladles it out.
La Puerta Falsa
Calle 11 #6-50, La Candelaria, Bogotá
Get: Ajiaco with the cream, capers and avocado on the side, then a tamal and hot chocolate with cheese
Un ajiaco completo, por favor, con todo aparte.A full ajiaco, please, with everything on the side.
Open since 1816 beside the cathedral, a narrow room of a dozen seats that has been making the same ajiaco for two hundred years.
Lunch is the time; it fills up by 12:30.
Make it at home
Ajiaco santafereño
Three potatoes do three jobs: the small yellow criollas dissolve to thicken the broth, the waxy ones hold their shape, and the floury ones go creamy. Guascas, a dried herb, gives ajiaco its taste.
You need
- 2 1/2 lb (1.1 kg) bone-in chicken breasts or a mix of breasts and thighs, skin removed
- 10 cups (2.4 l) water
- 1 bunch scallions, white and light green parts, cut in half
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 bunch cilantro, stems tied with string, leaves kept for serving
- 2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1 lb (450 g) papa criolla (small yellow potatoes; frozen from a Latin market is fine), peeled
- 1 lb (450 g) waxy potatoes (Yukon Gold), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 lb (450 g) floury potatoes (russet), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 3 ears of corn, each cut into 3 pieces
- 3 tbsp dried guascas (Latin markets or online)
- To serve: 3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy cream or crema, 1/3 cup capers drained, 2 ripe avocados sliced, steamed white rice
How to make it
- Put the chicken, water, scallions, garlic, cilantro stems and salt in a large pot. Bring to a boil, skim off the foam, then simmer gently, partly covered, for 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Lift out the chicken and let it cool. Fish out and discard the scallions, garlic and cilantro stems.
- Add the russet and Yukon potatoes to the broth and simmer 15 minutes.
- Add the papa criolla and the corn and simmer another 20 to 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the criollas fall apart and the russets start to break down. Mash some potato against the side of the pot to thicken the soup; it should coat a spoon like thin porridge.
- While it simmers, shred the chicken into large strips, discarding the bones.
- Stir in the guascas and the chicken and simmer 5 minutes more. Taste and add salt; it needs more than you think.
- Ladle into wide bowls, making sure each gets a piece of corn. Pass the cream, capers, avocado, cilantro leaves and rice at the table so everyone finishes their own bowl.
Pans and tools
- Large heavy pot (at least 6 quarts)
- Slotted spoon
- Two forks for shredding
Chef's tips
- No guascas? It's the one flavor you can't replace, but a pinch of dried oregano and extra cilantro gets you close.
- Ajiaco thickens as it sits. Thin leftovers with water or broth when reheating.
- In Bogotá the rice and avocado are eaten on the side, spoonful by spoonful.
Four more bowls in Bogotá
Milk and egg breakfast soup
Milk and water simmered with scallion, an egg poached in it and a stale roll softening in the bottom: Bogotá's breakfast.
Panadería Hornitos · Bogotá
Get: Changua with calado (stale bread) and an almojábana
Una changua con calado, por favor.A changua with bread, please.
A bakery since 1980 with branches all over the capital, named by local papers for its two versions of changua.
Breakfast.
Make it at home: Changua (Bogotá milk and egg soup)
It sounds strange and tastes like the gentlest breakfast in the world. Use whole milk.
You need
- 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
- 1 cup (240 ml) water
- 2 scallions, white and green, thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 day-old bread rolls (calado or any crusty roll), torn
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander
How to make it
- Bring the milk, water, scallion whites and salt to a gentle simmer.
- Crack the eggs into the pot and poach 3 to 4 minutes, until the whites are set.
- Put the bread in two bowls, lift an egg onto each and ladle over the milk broth.
- Finish with scallion greens and coriander.
Chef's tips
- Don't boil the milk hard or it skins and catches.
Hen sancocho
A big hen soup with plantain, yuca, potato and corn, served with rice and avocado on the side.
Fulanitos · Carrera 3 #8-61, La Candelaria, Bogotá
Get: Sancocho de gallina and a lulada (lulo drink)
Un sancocho de gallina y una lulada, por favor.A hen sancocho and a lulada, please.
A family-run Valle del Cauca kitchen in a colonial house in La Candelaria; the sancocho is its most popular dish.
Make it at home: Sancocho de gallina
Colombia has a sancocho for every region. This is the Sunday hen version, with all the starches.
You need
- 1 stewing hen or 3 lb (1.4 kg) bone-in chicken thighs and legs
- 3 quarts (2.8 l) water
- 4 scallions, 4 cloves garlic, 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 green plantains, peeled and cut in chunks
- 1 lb (450 g) yuca, peeled and cut in chunks
- 1 lb (450 g) potatoes, in chunks
- 3 ears corn, cut in thirds
- 1 bunch coriander
- 2 tsp salt
- To serve: white rice, avocado, lime, ají
How to make it
- Simmer the hen with the water, scallions, garlic, cumin and half the coriander, skimming, 1 hour (40 minutes for chicken pieces).
- Add the plantains and corn and simmer 15 minutes.
- Add the yuca and potatoes and simmer 25 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender and the broth thickens a little.
- Season, add chopped coriander, and serve the soup with rice, avocado, lime and ají on the side.
Chef's tips
- Break the plantain into chunks with your hands rather than cutting: the rough edges thicken the broth.
Seafood casserole
A creamy coconut-milk seafood soup from the Caribbean coast, thick with shrimp, squid and fish.
Ébano · Bogotá
Get: Cazuela de mariscos on the weekend, with patacones
Una cazuela de mariscos, por favor.A seafood casserole, please.
Named by colombia.com for weekend sancocho, ajiaco and seafood cazuela.
Saturdays and Sundays.
Make it at home: Colombian seafood cazuela
Coconut milk, a little cream and a splash of white wine; add the seafood at the very end.
You need
- 2 tbsp butter, 1 onion, 1 red bell pepper, 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tsp sweet paprika, 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) white wine
- 1 can (13.5 oz / 400 ml) coconut milk
- 2 cups (480 ml) fish or shrimp stock
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
- 1 lb (450 g) shrimp, 8 oz (225 g) squid rings, 8 oz (225 g) white fish, cubed
- Salt, coriander, lime, patacones (fried plantain) to serve
How to make it
- Soften the onion, pepper and garlic in the butter 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and spices and cook 5 minutes.
- Add the wine and bubble 2 minutes, then the coconut milk and stock. Simmer 15 minutes. Blend for a smoother soup if you like.
- Stir in the cream, then the fish and squid; simmer 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook 2 to 3 minutes more.
- Season, add coriander and lime and serve with patacones.
Chef's tips
- A spoonful of grated Parmesan on top is how Bogotá restaurants finish it.
Beef rib broth
Beef short ribs and potatoes in a clear broth with coriander: the soup Bogotá eats for breakfast after a long night.
The breakfast counters of Paloquemao market
Get: Caldo de costilla with arepa and a hot chocolate
Un caldo de costilla, por favor.A rib broth, please.
Paloquemao is Bogotá's great market; its cooks start ladling caldo at dawn for the porters and the hungover.
Early morning.
Make it at home: Caldo de costilla (Colombian beef rib broth)
Breakfast soup. Make it the night before and reheat with the potatoes in the morning.
You need
- 2 lb (900 g) beef short ribs, cut in pieces
- 2 1/2 quarts (2.4 l) water
- 1 onion, quartered, 4 scallions, 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 lb (680 g) potatoes, peeled and halved
- 2 tsp salt
- A big handful of coriander, chopped
How to make it
- Put the ribs in the water, bring to a boil and skim well.
- Add the onion, scallions, garlic and cumin and simmer 1 hour, until the meat is tender.
- Add the potatoes and salt and simmer 20 minutes more.
- Serve in deep bowls with lots of coriander, and an arepa on the side.
Chef's tips
- Skim the fat once it's cold for a clearer broth.
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No. 1 checked October 28, 2026; the other four picked the same day from local guides and menus. Places change; if one has, tell us at hello@chefamazing.com.
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