Junior Colombian Burgers in Orlando, FL

I've heard people rave about how good the food is at Junior Colombian Burgers on Kirkman Road for a long time. Being that I'm not a huge fan of hamburgers, I was always a little hesitant to try this place. Finally, I decided that it was about time. Would I find their burgers be dry, boring tasting pieces of beef like so many other places that supposedly have good burgers, or would a Colombian burger dress up the beef into something much better?

I've visited the Kirkman location of Junior twice now. My first visit was late at night and I didn't actually try one of their burgers. I had a Hawaiian Empanada. I like empanadas. Dumplings of any sort are normally good, and I think empanadas fall into the dumpling category. In this particular case though, I did not enjoy the empanada. It was filled with cheese, pineapple, and ham. The cheese and the ham worked fine together, but the moisture from the pineapple made the empanada very soggy. I've had Hawaiian pizzas with the same problem. Tasted okay, but soggy empanadas are no fun...

I also tried something called Salchipapa. This was completely new to me, and consisted of fried potato balls with pieces of hot dog cut into fancy shapes. The potato balls were very moist and tasty. Dipping them in the garlic sauce that Junior had made them better...

On my second visit to the restaurant, I decided to actually try one of their burgers. I ordered their Combo #2 which came with the cheeseburger, fries, and a drink.

The burger consisted of a hamburger patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, potato chips, garlic sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup, pink sauce, and pineapple sauce. Did this burger pass the test of not being boring? Yes it did. The beef was very moist and had flavor. All the sauces were very tasty and blended together well, without one overpowering the others. The potato chips were interesting. They started out crunchy, but as they sat on the burger they started forming a mush that sort of reminded me of mashed potatoes.

I liked my first experience eating a Colombian burger. The sandwich was nowhere as boring as most American style hamburgers that tend to leave me with a bad taste towards burgers. I'd return to Junior Colombian Burger!

La Ventana in South Beach, FL

I was in South Beach in Miami and stopped into La Ventana for lunch. This tiny Colombian restaurant was located on Washington Avenue, several blocks away from the bustling and overpriced Lincoln Road. It has been a very long time since I've been to a Colombian restaurant. It fact, I'm actually not sure if I've ever eaten at a Colombian restaurant before. Regardless, I was excited to try some new food.

I ordered the Pollo en Salsa Criolla. This large chicken breast was topped with a very tasty, bright orange colored sauce containing lots of sliced onions. Salad, rice, and fried yucca were served as side items. Our server asked if we wanted the spicy sauce on the side, and of course I said yes. Beware of this spicy sauce. Unlike American versions of hot sauce which really aren't all that hot, this Colombian hot sauce was insane and one little spoonful on the chicken was enough for me.

Overall, I enjoyed my meal at La Ventana. I'm pretty sure Colombian food was new to me, so hurray for trying the food from a new country and finding out that it was pretty tasty!