Colombian -- and lots of it

Paolos, 102 W. Susquehanna St., Allentown, 610-791-6556
Date: December 13, 2005

I passed by Paolo's about a month ago. How could I miss it? The building is painted in the brilliant colors of the Colombian flag: bright blue, yellow and red. The structure has housed a variety of eating establishments before, the most recent iteration being Italian.

Oddly, reminants of the Italian menu still reside on the menu. But what my ethnic eating buddy, Rob, and I wanted was Colombian food. We were not disappointed, though not completely entralled.

Despite coming for lunch, the menu had only a variety of platters and appetizers -- no smaller lunch portions. That didn't stop us. Through a pronounced language barrier (a good sign -- see previous posts), we ordered: I had a "country platter" while Rob requested the beef tongue.

Upon arrival of the food, I learned why the entree was called the country platter -- it was larger than half of the world's countries! The large oval dish included a thin, marinated steak (a bit on teh tough side), a nine-inch link of Colombian sausage, two fried eggs atop a mountain of white rice, fried pork skin, fried plantains, a side of red beans, a piece of flat bread and a slice of avacado. If this was a traditional Colombian meal, it's safe to say the Colombians like their meat and lots of it. The beans were especially delicious; the pork skin was succulent, but too fatty for my liking (I only ate about half.) Even with a large appetite, I damaged only about 2/3 of the platter.

Rob's beef tongue was tender from hours of simmering in seasoned broth. His entree included a variety of tropical vegetables that he was familiar with from his time in Africa as well as a salad. He remarked that the food was above average.

The waitress also served fresh bread slathered with a caramel spread before the entrees were served. I'm thinking this was the dessert rather than appetizer. Still, that didn't stop us from eating it when it arrived. It was excellent.

The bill -- including two sodas and a tip -- came to $27. It's more that you'd typically spend for lunch. However, it would be worthwhile to try in the evening with adventerous diners.