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Girasoles, Cartagena

5 Posted on 01 / 24 / 2013

There's 3 parts to this place:-

* Restaurant upstairs
* Take away counter downstairs
* Health food shop downstairs

I had lunch in the restaurant. Its a set menu job take it or leave. I tried to explain in Spanish my veganism (sin leche etc) and that seemed to understood easily as I was corrected when I made a mistake in my Spanish. It was a juice drink, soup and then a main of what seemed to be a falafel ball or the like, some veg casserole, rice and salad. For 7000 pesos, this was a tasty bargain.

Interestingly I asked how much a 2nd bowl of soup after the 1st would be. I was told this wouldn't be possible so it looks like the cooking process is precision planned.

Downstairs at the take away counter there was cake on offer (apple cake specifically), empanadas (eg mushroom, spinach, green beans, vego chorizo) and mushroom or brocolli pizza by the slice.

The choice in the shop isn't the most extensive by any means by some choice is better than none. I asked for some honey granola but was told all the granolas they sell contain honey.

I have a 20+ hour bus journey ahead of me tomorrow. I went in to ask if I could reserve a bunch of empanadas to take away for the journey. I was told 'no problem'. For that I am cranking the rating up to 5.

Its located right on a corner where all 4 street names are different.

Pros: Vegan friendly, Inexpensive, Useful take away service

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It was vegetarian, but...

3 Posted on 11 / 24 / 2012

Maybe it was because I arrived 30 minutes before closing, but the food wasn't great - a lot for $7000COP (about $4 USD) and included juice, soup, rice, salad, eggplant dish, gluten, and a fried fritter.

Pros: Vegetarian, Large portions
Cons: Uninterested staff, Not much flavor

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Great place for lunch / snacks

4 Posted on 06 / 13 / 2012

We went here twice; the first time was in the afternoon so they only had empanadas available (the green bean, spinach, and mushroom ones were all vegan and all pretty good). The second time was during the lunch rush, they were very busy (we had to share a table with strangers) but the food was mostly great. I really loved the corn fritter and Thai stir fry, the salad had a gross dressing but the rest was pretty good and the price was great.

One thing that was weird was that they only brought one plate of food (but two bowls of soup) for the two of us, and it was very hard to get a hold of our waitress to get more.

The location shown on the map is incorrect. Its actual location is 10.42627, -75.54727 (NW corner of Tablada & Los Puntales, or Carrera 9 and Calle 37 as shown on Google Maps).

Also, they're either closed on Sunday or open later that day, I stopped by at 10:45am hoping to get empanadas for the plane ride home and they were still closed.

Pros: Variety, Cheap
Cons: Crowded, Limited service

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Don't miss lunch

4 Posted on 06 / 04 / 2012

I wasn't able to make it for lunch, so the only other options outside that time are the juices, and reheated empanadas and pizzas. The empanadas were nice because they were whole wheat and baked. The fillings were very nice (they have spinach, mushroom or green bean) although I wished there were more inside. Didn't have the pizza - not vegan - but it had broccoli on it. Healthier options. Easy to take away.

There is also an attached health food store were you can buy granola, quinoa, protein powder, flax seeds, etc.

Pros: Cheap, Healthy, Take away
Cons: Lack of diversity

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Good and cheap lunch fixed menu

4 Posted on 08 / 13 / 2009

Ate there 2 days in a row because it was about US$3 for a solid, big serving of brown rice, curried veggies, salad, soup and juice! Filling, tasty and affordable. Ask around for it near Plaza Fernandez de Madrid, in a very pretty spot of Cartagena's old city

Pros: big portions, healthy food, cheap!
Cons: A-C not working great, fixed menu, no choices