Brazilian Restaurants

Review Submitted by - The Gringa

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I must confess; I did not know what Temaki was before going to Cono Sur – Bogota’s 1st Temakeria.   Chef/Owner Juan Manuel Arango fell in love with the ideas of Temakerias while traveling through Brazil on a motorcycle, and opened Bogota’s 1st Temakeria, with a distinct Colombian touch, a few months ago.  I know y’all are wicked smart and probably knew all this already, but just as a refresher I have included the blurb below from Wikipedia. 

Temaki (手巻き, lit. hand rolls). A large cone-shaped piece of nori on the outside and the ingredients spilling out the wide end. A typical temaki is about ten centimeters (4 in) long, and is eaten with fingers because it is too awkward to pick it up with chopsticks. For optimal taste and texture, Temaki must be eaten quickly after being made because the nori cone soon absorbs moisture from the filling and loses its crispness and becomes somewhat difficult to bite.

Cono Sur is a great casual place to meet friends and family.  Because the cones are to be eaten with your hands they are served with napkins instead of silverware and all the drinks are served in paper cups – perfect for the very young and the very old and the very drunk.  In addition to a selection of nori temakis, Cono Sur shows their Colombian influence in offering their unique patacón cones as well.   And to make it easy for you to sample all their tasty treats, they offer combos so you can mix it up by ordering 2 temakis and 1 patacón, or 2 patacóns and 1 temaki, or 2 temakis and 1 desert cone, or … oh, you get the idea.

All the temakis are seafood filled, and you can choose from a wonderful array of fresh, marinated, or tempura salmon, tuna, scallops, shrimp and crab, or go for the Cono Sur Temaki which combines pretty much all of them.  The fish was very fresh, and they combine it with fun ingredients like wasabi peas, sesame seeds, avocado, or mango.  If you are searching for a little meat, I recommend the ropa vieja patacón.  For desert, try the rice crispy cones with ginger or lulo ice-cream.  A little coffee would have been the best way to finish this off but alas, they do not have coffee.  What they do have instead though is a special treat – a sake caipirinha they call a sakerinha. 

I am giving up on my V ratings.  It is just too difficult to rate all these fabulous Bogota eateries.  I will definitely return to Cono Sur.  I love the casual atmosphere, the price (4 cones and a cerveza for under P25.000), and the food was muito bem.

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