Some optimistic bloggers use adjectives like delicious, mouth watering, and scrumptious to describe Bolivian cuisine. I might use similar words to write about Thai, Indian, Italian, or Turkish. But Bolivian? I think bland, boring, and dull are much more accurate.
I’m willing to bet you have never seen a Bolivian restaurant outside of Bolivia and there’s a reason why. Although there are a few tasty exceptions, Bolivian food is just not very good. So without further ado, I present to you an honest review of Bolivian cuisine: The good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good:
(I’m being fairly generous in some cases)
Anticuchos are a popular snack throughout the Andes including Bolivia. Essentially, they are kebabs of chopped up, flame grilled, cow heart lathered in a spicy peanut sauce and accompanied with a potato. The snack is only eaten at night and is especially delicious after a few beers. Look for Cholitas waiting outside your local discotec with a mobile flame grill.
Flame Grilled Anticuchos. Source: cochabama.go.bo
Tucumanas are a deep friend empanadas (pasties) that actually originate in Tucuman, Argentina and are typically filled with beef or chicken, boiled eggs, peas, carrot and various spices. You can usually find them in little street stalls accompanied by a huge selection of sauces and salads. The best ones in La Paz are on Calle Mexico up from the stairs from the Prado. Tucumanas and Salteñas are exclusively a breakfast or mid-morning snack so, don’t even bother trying to find one after midday.
Tucamanas. Source: boliviancookbook.wordpress.com
Salteñas were invented by a lady from Salta who fled Argentina in exile to live in Tarija, Bolivia. She started making a different kind of empanada and the locals would say “go and pick up an empanada from the woman from Salta (salteña)” and thus the name was born. Salteñas are oven baked breakfast pastries with similar fillings to Tucamanas except with a sweet and sometimes spicy sauce and a firmer crust. Recipes vary somewhat throughout the country but in La Paz La Pacena Salteña and El Hornito are the best bet.
Salteñas. Source: Wiki Commons
Chicharron are deep fried, crispy and extremely fatty ribs of pork, chicken or beef which are often cooked in beer. The meat part is delicious but the downside is they are usually served as a small portion of meat with a mountain of Choclo (flavorless Bolivian corn).
Chicharron. Source: yelp.com
Sopa de Mani (peanut soup) is my favorite Bolivian soup, loaded with peanut flavor, pasta and vegetables. Like most soups, it usually forms the entree of a Bolivian almuerzo (set menu lunch).
Peanut Soup. Source: bolivia.for91days.com
Llajua (pronounced yak-wa) is a spicy Bolivian sauce made from ground tomato, onion, and locoto peppers. Made fresh each day, it beats any bottled hot-sauce out there. Llajua is a godsend to give some flavor to the plain white rice and potatoes which accompany almost every Bolivian dish.
Llajua. Source: boliviancookbook.wordpress.com
Milanesa de Pollo/Carne is a chicken or beef schnitzel accompanied by plain white rice and a bland Bolivian salad of lettuce, tomato, and onion with no dressing. The schnitzel can be quite tasty (depending on the restaurant) but the accompaniments are not.
Milanesa de pollo. Source: http://www.onedishcloser.com
Silpancho is a Bolivian classic originally from Cochabamba. Those crafty Cochabambinos realized that if you put a fried egg on top of a slab of cooked minced meat it slightly improves the flavor. A salad of diced up tomato and onion is served on top of the egg to add a bit of interest.
Silpancho. Source: youtube.com
Pique Macho is essentially a Bolivian version (inferior version) of an Asian stir fry, containing chopped beef, sausage, onion, tomatoes, boiled eggs, locoto (peppers) and, in true Andean style, potatoes. While it lacks the flavor of its Asian counterparts, it’s actually pretty good by Bolivian standards.
Pique Macho. Source: cochabomba.blogspot.com
Majadito is a dish from the warmer Bolivian lowlands consisting of flavored rice with chopped beef, onions, tomatoes a fried egg and banana. I prefer it over most highland dishes but it’s still nothing to get excited about.
Majadito. Source: na-chacha.webnode.es
Trucha and Pejerrey (trout and kingfish) of very high quality can be found in Lake Titicaca, with the freshest catch to be found in Copacabana. In La Paz, try the fish market around the cemetery where buses from the lake stop to unload fish and passengers. I don’t actually eat fish so I can’t speak from experience, but pretty much everyone I know says they’re good.
Trucha. Source: http://www.recetasricas.net
Sandwich de Chola is a La Paz favorite consisting of roast pork, pickled vegetables, and salsa. This simple yet delicious combination can be found all over the city, though the best place to consume one is the food stalls near Parque de las Cholas on a Sunday afternoon, washed down with a few beers of course.
Sandiwch de Chola. Source: http://www.sbs.com.au
Buñuelos are a sweet, deep fried, flour based pastry smothered in icing sugar or honey which are typically served from street stalls and often eaten for breakfast along with a warm glass of Api, a sugary purple corn drink.
Source: La Razon
Sonso (which means silly, no idea why they called it this) is an afternoon pastry popular throughout the lowlands of Bolivia. The snack is made from a dough of yuca (an edible root popular in Latin America), cheese, eggs, and butter which is then fried over a hotplate like a pancake. It’s one of the better desserts in Bolivia in my opinion.
Sonso. Source: http://www.opinion.com.bo
The Bad:
Asado means grilled or barbecued meat so one could be misled into thinking it will be delicious. The reality is that you will be served a thin, tough, and dry piece of beef accompanied by plain white rice and a bland Bolivian salad.
Asado. Source: http://www.flickr.com
Saice is a combination of fried minced meat, tomatoes, peas, and a few herbs which is served with raw sliced onion and short cut pasta. While it’s not particularly offensive to the pallet, it is rather boring.
Saice. Source: gastrono1234.blogspot.com
Chairo is what I would eat if I were poor, hungry, and living on the Altiplano (highlands) where there is little access to other ingredients. It’s been popular with the Aymara people since well before the Spanish invaded and for some strange reason remains popular today. Ingredients include onions, beef, carrots, choclo, heaps of potato, chuño (disgusting freeze dried potatoes), and herbs.
Chairo. Source: distritoplural.wordpress.com
Fricase is a spicy pork soup popular throughout the highlands which is served as a main course rather than a starter. It was originally invented by the French and brought to Bolivia by the Spanish and has since mutated to suit local tastes. Over here, they cook it with onion, garlic, choclo, cumin, black pepper, and oregano then thicken it with breadcrumbs. Edible though unsatisfying.
Fricase. Source: boliviancookbook.wordpress.com
Sajta is a western Bolivian staple made from boiled chicken, plain white rice, potato, chuño, and an onion and tomato garnish. This is a traditional dish of carnival but is also consumed at other times of the year, especially in La Paz. Sajta is okay (except for the chuño) but nothing to write home about.
Sajta. Source: http://www.guiabella.net
Aji de Fideos (spices noodles) is a pasta dish accompanied with potatoes, minced meat, ground chili, yellow coloring, and various herbs and spices. Despite the name, it’s not actually very spicy so extra llajua should be added to give it a kick. The dish is filling though dull.
Aji de Fideo. Source: http://www.recetas.com.bo
Plato Paceño is painfully dull and unappealing. The dish consists of a huge cob of butterless and unflavored choclo, some ridiculously large beans, fried cheese, unpeeled potatoes and, if your lucky, a piece of dry meat. It makes me sad to think this is my city’s signature dish.
Plato Paceno. Source: www.kheussler.de
Charki is similar to beef or llama jerky and can be found in empanadas or as part of an almuerzo. Unfortunately, like almost all Bolivian almuerzos, it is usually accompanied by plain white rice, potatoes, and a bland salad.
Charki. Source: pixgood.com
Falso Conejo means fake rabbit and this dish tastes like it could be rabbit. The typically Bolivian combination of ground beef, plain rice, vegetables, and a few herbs leaves a lot to be desired.
Falso Conejo. Source: boliviancookbook.wordpress.com
Papas de Huancaina actually comes from Huancayo in Peru but it’s also very popular in Bolivia. It’s a vegetarian dish consisting of lettuce, boiled eggs, potatoes, and olives smothered in a peanut sauce. The peanut sauce gives it some flavor but in my opinion it could use a bit of meat.
Pollo Picante (spicy chicken) is chicken thigh lathered in a reasonably tasty spicy sauce and served with the usual plain white rice, potato, and sliced onion. The chicken part is good enough but accompaniments are predictably bland.
Pollo Picante. Source: lunaticllama.wordpress.com
Fritanga is a spicy pork, egg, corn ,and potato stew that is popular in the highlands. The sauce is quite nice but I find the ratio of corn and potato to be too high.
Fritanga. Source: chuquisacadelbicentenario.blogspot.com
Mondongo is a pork stew from the Chuquisaca region of which Sucre is the capital. The stew is cooked with ground colored chili power, garlic, brown pepper, and served with a huge amount of choclo. The stew is decent but the mountain of choclo is not to my liking.
Mondongo. Source: calendariosaboresbolivia.com
The Ugly:
Aji de Lengua (spicy tongue) is boiled cows tongue served alongside chuño, plain white rice, onions, and peas. The texture of the tongue is predictably slimy and rubbery which makes the dish taste just as bad as it sounds.
Aji de Lengua. Source: thefatchickdiaries.wordpress.com
Cuy (guinea pig) is a delicacy of the indigenous Quechua people, so look for it in Cochabamba rather than La Paz. It’s actually quite nice and tastes very similar to chicken. The downside is the little critters have millions of tiny bones which you have to sift through to get to the meat. It still belongs in the “ugly”section because it’s a little disconcerting seeing the family pet staring up at you in horror as you eat your meal.
Cuy. Source: innovaupec.esy.es
Tripa are fried cows intestines sold as street food throughout La Paz. The texture and taste are more or less as you would expect – disgusting. They are surprisingly popular, however.
Tripa. Source: lafutrica.blogspot.com
Ispi are tiny little fish from Lake Titicaca that are deep fried and eaten whole. I don’t eat seafood so I must admit I’ve never actually tried them, but they look and smell horrible. Also, keep in mind you are eating entire fish, brains and all. If that wasn’t bad enough, they are accompanied by my least favorite Bolivian sides, chuño and choclo.
Aji de Panza means spicy cows stomach. As you may have figured out by now, not much goes to waste in Bolivia. Typically accompanied by potatoes and rice with a sauce of herbs and vegetables, the dish is pretty gross.
Aji de Panza. Source: calendariosaboresbolivia.com
Rostro Asado is without a doubt the most repulsive Bolivian dish of all, the kind of food nightmares are made out of. An entire sheep’s head including eyes, nose, teeth, and wool is slow roasted in the oven and you know it’s ready when the sheep’s wool “slides off like a glove”. The rather unappetizing head is then served alongside bread, potatoes, and rice. Thankfully, this monstrosity is mostly eaten in Oruro during Carnival. Believe it or not, it’s actually a traditional hang over cure. I’ll stick to my bacon and eggs, thanks.
Rostro Asado. Source: calendariosaboresbolivia.com
Caldo de Cardan is bull penis soup. Yep, they eat bull dicks over here, testies and all. Don’t worry though, because this is said to be a hangover cure too. No thanks.
Bull Penis soup | © http://ojo.pe
Most of these dishes are from La Paz which is where I live. Did I miss something important? Don’t agree with my reviews? Let me know in the comments bellow.
Fancy trying to cook some of these for yourself? Check out the following recipe websites whose pictures I “borrowed” so I feel I should give them recognition.
boliviancookbook.wordpress.com
http://www.recetas.com.bo/ (Spanish)
Mis Recetas (Spanish)
calendariosaboresbolivia.com (Spanish)
A GRINGO IN BOLIVIA 
Haha! I couldn’t agree more: “Pique Macho is essentially a Bolivian version (inferior version) of an Asian stir fry.”
It’s funny how some of the dishes I liked are the ones you disliked. I will admit though, that I haven’t craved any Bolivian food or drink since leaving, except tucumanas and api.
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Yeah some foreigners swear by some of the foods I hate. All down to personal tastes I guess. Tucuamana’s are my regular go to meal but I’m not that keen on api though.
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I feel like you were kind of robbed. Alot of those dishes looked gross and I wouldn’t eat them. Santa Cruz has the best and freshest food you will find in all of Bolivia!
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I think you’re from Sta Cruz that’s the reason you say that! “Kollas” food or La Paz food is good, those Saltenas!, A good prepared food Sajta, Chairo, Peanut soup, that CHUNO but covered with Peanuts or onion with tomatoes and eggs, chunos stirred on any of those are great, what are you talking? Evidently you eat from the streets.
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As the name of the blog infers, I’m definitely not from Santa Cruz =-) I actually prefer camba food over the stuff in the highlands, for what it’s worth.
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Picana is my favorite Bolivian dish! Too bad you can only get it around Christmas… I also liked those ‘pancakes’ with sugar on top and cheese inside, the combination salt and sugar works surprsingly good! Forgot the name though
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Hmmm, a cheesy pancake sounds like it might be Sonso. I’ve never seen them served with sugar on top though.
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It’s called pastel and you are right it’s tasty, you can make them with frozen empanada dough they have it in Latin stores or sometimes Walmart and use Mexican xuaxaca cheese.
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Thats called a empanada de queso and you can buy them all year round in the states. Goya makes the discs. You just roll them out, get the cheese, deep fry them and sprinkle sugar. You can find them easily in the states.
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Oh that’s the shame…I was looking forward to trying Bolivian food. I am going to Bolivia for a week after a two month trip in Peru. What do you think of Peruvian food, gringoinbolivia?
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It’s much, much better than Bolivian food and is arguably the best in South America. To be fair, Bolivian food isn’t all bad. I quite like the dishes I listed under Good.
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Haha I was hoping you would say that about Peruvian food… I’m actually Peruvian! :)
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Don’t listen to him, Bolivian food is delicious. Just go with your gut! I promise you won’t regret it!
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I think you should visit Santa Cruz for a weekend, and try their food. I am native Bolivian, and I have never heard of Rostro Asado; that thing looks plain scary! Also, I firmly believe on who is cooking the food. My great grandmother made the best Bolivia dishes (Personal Preference). I hope that your experience improves in the cusine department. You should definitely try more of the fruits like chirimoya and achaicharu (I miss those the most).
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I’ve been to Santa Cruz a few times and I agree that the camba food is better than that of the highlands. Mojadito is an old favourite of mine.
You can get some pretty awesome fruits too which probably deserve a blog post of there own.
Thankfully Rostro Asado is only really eaten in a few places.
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There’s a restaurant in Norfolk. VA called Luna Maya. It was started by two sisters from Bolivia. The food is basically burritos and there’s this amazing corn casserole called pastel de choclo con chorizo, but I’m pretty sure it has chicken sausage in it, not chorizo. It is soooo good.
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I stand corrected! To be fair, burritos are certainly not Bolivian and Pastel de Choclo originates in Peru (according to wikipedia). I’ve never actually seen it here but if I do I’ll give it a try.
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Gotta say, my fiance is Bolivian and she hates western food because the flavors are over-saturated and intense (she hates yellow sweetcorn; i’m not that big a fan either). My favorite dish is plato paceno, very easy to make since everything is boiled except the meat and cheese which are made in a pan. Eat the choclo and habas with bites of cheese, then eat the potatoes with the meat and llajwa. Choclo on it’s own is pretty bland, but I think that is the point, it’s something of a palette refresher and not meant to overpower the rest of the dish. Chuno is bitter and definitely meant to mix with other flavors in the dish, but if cooked right is delicious on its own.
Story of pique macho: “Legend says that a group of workers, late at night, drunk, were hungry. The owner of the restaurant said they were closing and had nothing. The group of workers insisted that they would eat anything. The owner proceeded to chop what she had left of the ingredients that constitute the pique macho and served them really spicy to help with their drunkenness. She then said ‘Piquen si son machos’, eat it if you think you’re man enough, and that is how it got the name of Pique Macho.”
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I’ll have to disagree with you on the plato paceño. Each to their own though, as they say. Great story about the pique! Never heard that one before.
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Learn geography, Bolivia is in the Western hemisphere, usually mestizo are ashamed of their roots, the ugly gringo page shows his nature.
There are plenty of Bolivian restaurants in many countries.
In the USA ,Europe,Asia.
Our food is healthy, tasty.
Bolivia gave the world potatos,ajies,quinua ,etc.
I am a criolla lady that has lived all over the world,eaten in the best Michelin restaurants, but I dont change my Bolivian gastronomy for another.
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The thing about food is it’s totally subjective. One man’s Beef bourguignon is another’s silpancho.
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We are trying to tell about Bolivian cuisine to our Russian readers here – http://kitchen.727go.com/bolivian-cuisine/
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Who would have thought Russians would be interested in Bolivian cuisine? Best of luck
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I would say people who know how good friends Russia and Bolivia are.
About “I’m willing to bet you have never seen a Bolivian restaurant outside of Bolivia and there’s a reason why. Although there are a few tasty exceptions, Bolivian food is just not very good.”, i would say it has nothing to do with how tasty the food it. Counter exemple ? US food invaded the world.
The reason there is no Bolivian restaurant outside of Bolivia is simple : no one knows about Bolivia, no one cares but when it is about cocaina, lithium or llamas. It’s like Bolivian meat that is on par with Argentinian meat, no one knows about it because because no one care and Bolivia, sadly, do not promote it.
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we’ll have to agree to disagree about Bolivian meat being on par with that of Argentina :-)
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I have never cared for LaPaz, having lived in Cochabamba with its eternal spring weather, delicious food, and abundance of fruits and vegetables, LaPaz always made me feel claustrophobic. Cochabamba is considered to have the best food in Bolivia.
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Yeah, cochabambinos sure know how to eat :-)
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You had me crying in places with that. Guess you aren’t working for the Bolivian Tourist Board then.
I’m cooking Around the World in Eighty Dishes for a local paper in Bahrain. I don’t think they would go for the Guinea Pig somehow.
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Well, guinea pig is technically a rodent so I guess it’s okay under Islamic law?
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Technically a rodent…? What is it philosophically, spiritually, financially or artistically, if not a bloody rodent?
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During two years in Bolivia ( 1965-1966) I was served chunos, sometimes twice a day. I could never understand why anyone would eat chunos unless faced with starvation.
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Agreed 100%
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My parents are bolivian, and I agree pretty much with your comments, with the exception of beef charki, I love it.
However, I am not sure la Paz is not known for having a great cuisine, besides fricase or llama charki. La Paz versions of Bolivian dishes are not the best. They focus their lives in other things.
I would suggest going to cochabamba. It is said, people from la paz, santa cruz and cochabamba focus their lives in a different manner; that is, they spend their monies in clothing, carnival and food respectively. Food appears to be a very important subject to Cochabambinos.
Cheers!
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I quite like charki too, but it pretty much always seems to be served with a mountain of choclo which isn’t too my liking. Same could be said for chicharon.
Cochabamba does indeed have the reputation for eating the best (and the most) food.
As for paceños spending their money on clothes, maybe true for the rich kids in Zona Sur, but the average paceño seems fairly poorly dressed IMO.
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Only to your knowladge, I think you are confuss between choclo and mote. They are different, mote is more dry. And choclo, there are two types one is choclo colla, that´s the bigger one, and the camba that´s the smaller one, that´s mor sweet.
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You’re probably right. After all, I go to great lengths to avoid eating either of them :-) Thanks for the heads up either way.
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I don’t think it is fair to compare Pique to Asian stir-fry. They are made differently…the vegetables aren’t even cooked. Anyway, my parents are Bolivian and I lived in Bolivia for four years of my childhood and I remember absolutely loving the food. (My family is from Cochabamba and I’ve never eaten food in La Paz). Saltenas and bunuelos and pasteles for the holidays were my favorite. But after moving back to California I guess my taste in food changed. I still really enjoyed peanut soup and Pique but it wasn’t the flavor experience I remembered. I wouldn’t say Bolivian food is bland, it is just different. The rice and potatoes are usually made plain because the meat or stew they make is supposed to be full of flavor (just like curry over plain rice). Strangely enough, my Bolivian family rave about Bolivian produce being the best and American potatoes not having any “flavor”. I don’t really notice a big difference, I guess maybe Bolivian potatoes are a tad bit sweeter? I really think you should somehow befriend a family in Cochabamba and eat a home-cooked meal. Those are the best. And I get the angle you are going for here, really trying to stick to your opinion of “bland and boring”, but the reason why there aren’t a lot of Bolivian restaurants outside of Bolivia is not because Bolivian food is unappetizing, it is because there aren’t a lot of Bolivians outside of Bolivia (compared to Italian, Indian, Thai). My own parents never served Bolivian food owning a restaurant because they knew there was a better market for Mexican food in California (which is hardly even Mexican unless you’re in San Diego). But thank you for making this list! I didn’t know what a lot of these dishes were called. I didn’t even know they ate bull dicks. Just really wish my mom could cook for you. Also I don’t get why everyone is hating on chuno. It literally just tastes like potatoes with salt and uncooked peanuts. Also I hope you’re mixing your own salad! Oil, vinegar and salt. They usually have that on the table for you to mix yourself.
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I’ve been eating home cooked meals and going to the “best” Bolivian restaurants for years now and still can’t say I enjoy Bolivian food. Some foreigners agree with me, some don’t. Interestingly, I’ve never met a Bolivian who didn’t adore their national cuisine. They all absolutely love it, and many have no desire to eat anything else.
As for chuño, it’s honestly one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever eaten. There are other freeze-dried tubers they eat too, I can’t remember the name, but one of them tastes like dog shit.
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Well if you have tasted dog shit no wonder you think Bolivian food is bland. Ha! I do agree with you on the chuño thing, but there is no way in hell Bolivian food is Bland, have you ever had a churrasco in Santa Cruz? Bolivian meat is by far the best in the world. All the food you posted seems to be served in a jail cell and is exactly what poor people would eat, (if you are a gringo that escaped the US because you are poor and thought you would live in Bolivia like a king and now realize its not true, then I’m sorry for that comment) But the truth is that the better versions of all those dishes you showed in the good category are delicious when prepared well. All of the best dishes in The Peruvian Cuisine you rave about would be disgusting if you ate them at a rundown market (which is what La Paz essentially is) That being said your tastes just might be different and I might be a disgruntled Bolivian reading your post. Haha To each its own.
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Santa Cruz beef is better than here, I’ll hand you that. But let’s not kid ourselves by proclaiming it the best in the world. It’s not even the best in South America. Not that us lowly collas would know, as all we eat is jailhouse food :-)
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Gringo, you are what is called the ugly gringo, if you despise so much us, go back to your squat in your country.
Many excellent restaurants are for Bolivian only ,they dont want backpackers, hippie, or the same.
Many are kept private.
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I actually love Bolivia… I’m just not a big fan of the cuisine.
Anyway, you’ll be pleased to know that I’ve left. When I come back to visit I’ll be sure to try these Bolivian only restaurants.
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Bolivian food is good, and you need to know where to go and what to get. There are plenty of Bolivian restaurants in Northern Virginia, and they stay busy selling dishes like lomo montado, aji de pollo, aji de lengua, silpancho, papas a la huancaina, sopa de chairo and saltenas As for your comments about plain rice and potatoes, it is meant to accompany a spicy meat dish, and needed to offset the spicy meat such as aji de pollo. Llajua is added to make the dishes more spicy. The potatoes here are served fried, and the rice is usually eaten with a fried egg on top, so that the yolk can be mixed into the rice. In good restaurants in Northern Virginia, the quality of meat is better than what you describe. Chuno here is good, so it is your opinion of what you tried at a particular place or your taste that is bad. The sopa de chairo I’ve had here in restaurants is amazing. And if you want to talk about bland food, why not discuss the American cuisine of cooked meat with a side of potatoes and steamed vegetables, and no spice at all. Your posting is insulting. Many countries eat foods that are exotic. You don’t have to like it, but that doesn’t mean that it’s bad.
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Hey Renee. Sorry if I’ve insulted you. The post is somewhat tongue in cheek as I’m well aware taste is subjective. Glad you found some good Bolivian cuisine in Virginia.
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Who wrote this idiotic report do not have an idea of Bolivian gastronomy.
Our food is fresh,healthy, uses ingredients that are eternal, no quemicals,modified.
Bolivia gave the world our ajies, chilis, quinua,Amaranto, and more, more than 300 varieties of potatoes ,our valleys,amazon fill our bolivian dishes with its products.
Argentine first winner of MasterChef was won by a daughter of Bolivians with a Bolivian receipe, Peanut soup
Bolivian dont use used old oil like in Chinese,Indian cuisine, we dont eat pets.
We have Europeans that have moved to Bolivia to learn to cook our dishes, some even open restaurants.
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Seriously. Go review the cuisine from your own part of the world, you picky elitist snob. You, and many like you, give the term “gringo” a bad reputation. Your basic knowledge of food, combined with your insensitivity to culture and lack of curiosity, make this survey about as credible as anything coming out of the White House these days, which is to say, utter tripe. Actual tripe, which you unfairly dismissed, would be a welcome and delicious change.
Also, only a couple weeks ago I went to a Bolivian restaurant in Queens, NY; the NY Times reviewed this restaurant, La Puerta del Sol, a few months ago–quite favorably I might add. And this is not the first Bolivian restaurant I’ve been to outside of Bolivia. You know nothing, white boy, and you’re doing a disservice to “gringos” and Bolivia with this asinine blog.
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This article might just be the most poorly written “review” of Bolivian food I’ve ever read. It’s quite obvious that the author is a picky eater or at the very least closed minded; his go-to food in the states is probably chicken tenders. Bolivian restaurants are actually quite common in places where many Bolivians immigrate to such as northern Virginia and DC so the opening paragraph is false. There also is just not a huge Bolivian population in the US at all, hence why there aren’t restaurants everywhere like there might be for americanized Indian and Chinese food. It’s laughable to describe Bolivian food as bland or dull. Rice and potatoes are meant to cut through the spices of dishes like pollo picante. It’s ironic that he mentions Indian food as the pinnacle of good food, when it also uses white rice in the majority of their dishes. In addition, you’re supposed to mix the rice with the entree being served, not eat them as individual meals. Maybe some of the bigger problems in this blog are the generic pictures that are obviously stock images and the way the opinions were written. It is disrespectful to the cultural to compare a meal like pique macho to stir fry, two meals that are cooked and prepared in very different ways. The opinions were disrespectful to say the least, bull’s penis is considered a delicacy in many parts of the world and to just write it off and stick it in the blog is capitalizing on the fact that white Americans are quick to turn up their nose at any foods that aren’t familiar to them without giving it a chance. It’s okay that the author didn’t like everything, but some things are better left unsaid. I truly hope that nobody else comes across this sad excuse for a blog because this is a beautiful culture based around family and good food.
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Hey Alyssa. Apologies for hitting a nationalistic nerve. FWIW, I love Bolivia, but we’re just going to have to agree to disagree on the quality of her cuisine.
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This is a little whiny… I mean you basically say quite a few of your “bad dishes” are good except they come with too much rice/potato/choclo so you classify them as bad? I mean I do feel you on being overwhelmed by the amount of starch… I’ve spent a good amount of time in Bolivia and lived in Peru for even longer and I remember an ugly gringo moment of my own where I nearly came to tears in front of Peruvian friends over being so sick of the mounds of plain rice served to me daily. That said, it was very much an ugly gringo moment. Keep in mind that meat is really expensive in a lot of countries such as Bolivia and to make meals filling and affordable large amounts of starch are served compared to what Americans and Europeans would be used to. Also, from your photos I can tell you were eating in cheap divey places where, again, the idea is to provide sustenance at a value. You’re a gringo? Go eat at Casa de Campo or Casa Del Camba, you can afford it on USD or Euros easily. You’ll get the same dishes and with the portions of meat your gringo stomach is used to. Finally, anyone that knows Bolivian food knows that Cochabamba is the gastronomical heart of the country; I’d try living there over La Paz if you’re worried about food… a good number of your “good dishes” are from/done best in Cochabamba. You might well like fricase, aji de Lengua, falso conejo and picante de pollo better there than in La Paz… along with silpancho, sopa de maní and salteñas, I’ve always thought of those as Bolivia’s hidden gem dishes. But to each their own… despite those of you raving about camba food I went to the Eastern lowlands only once and was given a minuscule plate of Majadito and hot chocolate for lunch… needless to say I had an internal ugly gringo moment of “wtf, who eats a dinky plate of rice with scraps of meat and hot chocolate for lunch?! Take me back to Cocha for silpancho, now.”
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I’ve eaten all the classic Bolivian dishes in Cocha, La Paz, and Santa Cruz, not too mention the little pueblos inbetween. And I’ve dined everywhere from grandma’s house to the most expensive restaurants in the country. Yet despite all that, I still find Bolivian food bland. Luckily I moved out a couple of years ago and no longer have to suffer through such gastronomic mediocrity.
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Please tell me a non mediocre dish from your country. Educate me.
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My country (Australia) is too young to have any decent traditional recipes. Feel free to rag on our typical dishes all you like. I’m certainly not a fan of the meat pie–tucumanas blow them away.
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well chuño and tunta alone is bad but combine it with cheese or an aji sauce its heaven. and sucre aji its on another level.
iam from oruro head its delicious but it is cumbersome to eat. and its like and delicacy. expensive for the eatable parts you get.
and i dont think you will like it because you eat organs tongue brains and eyes. but if you like organs its heaven.
i would say bolivia its an nice place to eat.
in oruro go to bonbar to eat some lamb, or eat charke.
go to sucre to eat some aji.
in la paz get and chairo and pour some cheese on it.
at sc have some sonso and eat meat.
in cochabamba eat pork(and eat and drink a lot).
anyway we have developed love for llajua and aji and once you change your pallate.
You find the lack of it in foreign food. so yeah bolivians crave for llajua when they emigrate and i bet you will crave it too.
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I’m a Canadian who grew up in Bolivia and I had to laugh at this article. All of the “tourist, rich people foods” were on the good list. And all of the “ traditional foods” were on the bad list. I remember hating American food when I moved back. I can’t seam to find a good chewy piece of meat anywhere, as a matter of fact from the entire cow all you guys seem to eat is hamburgers and steaks. So boring, no variety. However there is hope for us people who love chewing our meets. Venison. And all the parts Americans turn into hamburger, you turn into steaks.
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I totally get your review. I think Bolivian food is only for Bolivian people. I have to keep my mouth shut every time a bolivian person start to brag about how delicious the food is in their country and I don’t say anything against because 99% of the times is the only thing they eat their entire life but I have to say to the world if you like boring, flavorless and occasionally infections (stomach virus) food, try Bolivian food in Bolivia. Also is good you didn’t mention deserts they are the worst.
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Thank you for writing this! People generally react with an incredulous, slightly judgemental stern when I state Bolivian food is certainly not the reason why it’s worth visiting Bolivia. And I have this bet with my friends: should anyone find a Bolivian restaurant in Berlin (or anywhere in Germany for the matter), I’ll invite them to dinner there. Obviously no authentic restaurant will open and survive here, but even if it did I wokld still not be the one losing in that situation.
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Thanks Aurora. I’m certainly getting a few stern incredulous comments from the Bolivian readers of this post.
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