Maria y Mulata

One afternoon, I was taken out for an amazing lunch date to Meson de Maria y Mulata. It is located on a quiet street of spanish colonial buildings across the way from the uber modern convention center. The restaurant captured my heart quickly and over a split bottle of white wine, I inquired about the name. 

Through a most entertaining and potentially terrifying story, I learned about the nature of the black bird that makes its home only in Cartagena. Think of Alfred Hitchcock’s film, “The Birds” and that about sums up the nature of the maria mulata. Apparently they are very aggressive, and if you start something with them, they hold a grudge and will summon a crowd to attack you. That’s the stuff of nightmares!  

While I was absorbed in the story, our server unobtrusively delivered a wire basket filled with fried potato and plantain slices. One word: addictive. Since we discovered we had a shared love of tapas, we decided to start there. 

One of the best parts of being in Cartagena believe it or not, has been the fact that I do not speak Spanish. At least not well enough to understand a menu, or order. So dining has been a total experience as my food has been selected for me, and I have gotten to try some things that I may not have ordered for myself. 

So, here came the tapas. There were marinated, sautéed baby mushroom caps on a bed of lettuce, a typical Spanish potato and onion torta which is essentially an omelette that has been flipped in a heavy bottomed sautee pan several times until firm. Then you just slice and enjoy it warm or cold. 

Finally, we had an order of muelas de cangrejo which are crab claws in a warm cream sauce. Essentially you just suck the meat off. Definitely a new experience for a recovering vegetarian such as myself. Just as I was getting full, the plates were cleared and a piece of volcanic stone was place in front of us. Next came three sauces (one being a sort of pesto that I am still fantasizing about) and a plate of uncooked beef medallions. 

I watched as the meat was cooked for me on the sizzling rock, doused with each of the sauces, flipped until browned and then delivered to my plate. As I said, I am not a huge carnivore. But these little medallions were so tender, so flavorful, and juicy…that I could barely wait as I waited for the next one to be prepared for me. There was another surprise in store for me at the end of the meal. 

“Salute"

I was taken through a rear door to see the “rest of the restaurant”. It was enormous! Each room appeared to open up to an even larger room, and each one had walls covered with artifacts such as chairs, brass horns, and other objects of intrigue. It was fascinating. My only regret is that my visit occurred near the end of my trip. Although on retrospect, perhaps that was a good thing, because I could have gone broke eating there many more times!