Melodias, translated into English, means “melodies.” It is a lovely Colombian restaurant and bar in the Orient Heights neighborhood of East Boston (just steps from the Orient Heights Blue Line T stop). Melodias now serves take out and some limited dine in seating, at the already cozy restaurant. There is a flat screen tv playing Latin music videos in the background.

For our drinks, we got the Guanábana, also known as sour sop milk, custard apple, and a blackberry milk, for $4 each. Think of a fresh fruit milk shake (without the ice cream), served in mason jars. Both were lightly sweet and very refreshing. To start, we had the traditional empanada de carne ($2), which was fried, with a slightly crispy cornmeal crust, and stuffed with beef and potatoes. It came with two kinds of dipping sauces, aji pepper and green chile verde dipping sauces, which went well with the empanada.

Our entrees came out, and we ordered the entraña ($19), a marinated skirt steak. The plate was sandwiched between the brisket and flank parts of the cow. This dish has roots in Argentinian cuisine. There was a huge portion of meat, served with a side of rice and beans, and it came with some lovely baby boiled yellow potatoes, with a chimichurri sauce drizzled on top. We requested it to be cooked at medium. The steak was tender, juicy, and full of rich meaty flavor. The parsley based chimichurri sauce, with oil and herbs, brightened the dish in every bite. Filet mignon is just as tender but does not even have a quarter of this dish flavor.

The unofficial national dish of Colombia is the bandeja Paisa (Paisa is a region of Colombia’s platter or cowboy’s platter). Here it is called the bandeja Melodias ($19.50). This heaping plate of food consists of two kinds of sausage, fried chicharrón (pork belly), rice, beans, fried egg, and fried sweet whole plantain. We loved the murcillo (blood sausage), and the other was made with beef and pork sausage. This was great, with fried pork belly that was not over cooked. I found the crispy skin to be crunchy without being overly chewy. It is a hearty and filling dish, with the lovely fried runny egg, and it is no wonder this dish is favored. Luckily, we brought our appetites with us for this meal.

We finished our meal with the tres leches (three milk) pastry cake ($5) and churros with ice cream $6. Both were just right, as we wanted dessert, but nothing too big. The tres leches had light and not overly sweet cake, served with whipped cream, with chocolate drizzle. The churros (Spanish and Portugal origin) were cut up very crispy and were doughy, served with vanilla ice cream. This balanced the hot churros, which were sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar on top. Plus, there was caramel sauce on each churro piece.

Service was friendly and attentive. Our waitress kindly and enthusiastically answered all my questions. Plus, my friend translated from Spanish to English when needed, which was very helpful.  Tables were spaced out, and there was hand sanitizer at the entrance. I fell in love with the food, especially the entraña, and want to go back for more. If you find yourself in East Boston, do check out this lovely gem, Melodias, out.

Melodias

1045 Saratoga Street 

East Boston 02128  (Orient Heights)

(617) 561-6400

To read this article in Chinese (Traditional), please click here.