Serving up platters fiercely rooted in Caribbean culture, this little-known joint is tucked away on Calle Quero 9-58. It’s straight-up homegrown, honest food with fish fresh off the boats. Order the grilled octopus with coconut rice and avocado salad, and pair with coconut lemonade – all for under $10.

Head to Getsemani for tapas and some of the best vegetarian food in town. Laze in the outdoor rocking chairs and watch the world go by as you cool down with local beer on tap and hum along to the bar’s eclectic music collection. Don’t skip on dessert — the coconut cream pie is one to write home about.

La Cevicheria may be the more famous after a guest visit from Anthony Bourdain, but it’s nearby El Boliche Cebicheria that’s worth your patronage. An intimate setting, the colourful, quaint restaurant holds seven tables and a wooden corner bar. The food doesn’t let the side down either; locally sourced and served on beautiful handmade china, the plates are just begging to be Instagrammed.

This is a Michelin-starred restaurant with a difference – it’s in a women’s prison. Inmates are taught to cook by Colombian celebrity chefs, who have each donated a dish to the eclectic menu. The women, who wear a black uniform with a pink turban, serve the food in a brightly decorated hall in the prison.

The clean, sleek seafood restaurant is sadly often overlooked in favour of its famous neighbour Carmen. The establishment focuses on using fresh, seasonal ingredients to create exquisitely intricate plates with Mediterranean influences. Pair with the extensive list of avant-garde botanical cocktails and you’ll wonder why you bothered eating anywhere else.

A melting pot of Colombian flavours fused with southern European style, Bohemia isn’t afraid to experiment. The restaurant works with with local farmers and small producers to ensure each dish is made with sustainable ingredients. Try the almond-crusted tongue, sea-bass tartare and coffee-foam dessert to experience contemporary Colombian cuisine at its best.

Bogotá-born chef Alejandro Ramirez spent years under the tutelage of culinary kings – Daniel Boulud and Gordon Ramsay among them – before returning to his home country to open María. The sophisticated restaurant is a sensory overload; innovative seafood dishes such as jalapeño-infused cured salmon and sea bass with grilled bacon succotash are served under an oversized pineapple chandelier, with a psychedelic tiger mural and succulents on every table.

The new restaurant in town and the talk of Hay 2019. Chefs Jaime Camacho and Sebastián Giraldo find inspiration for their cutting-edge tasting menu on regular road trips along the Colombian coastline.

If the Basque-influenced culinary delights of Donjuán are good enough for the president of Colombia, they’re good enough for us. Don’t leave without trying the grilled octopus, crayfish and lobster risotto and chocolate mousse.

La Vitrola serves up an intoxicating mix of live Cuban music as well as a mean mojito, ropa vieja and camarones. It’s a Cartagena institution where Gabo regularly dined with his family, and world leaders and Mick Jagger rubbed shoulders with locals.