Is La Cevichería in Cartagena Worth the Hype?

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La Cevichería has long been one of Cartagena’s most popular and well known restaurants.

It was firmly put on the map as a must visit in Cartagena after Anthony Bourdain featured it in an episode of No Reservations. Ever since, it’s been a mainstay as a recommended restaurant to try on a visit to Cartagena.

But is it worth the hype?

Susana and I have been to La Cevichería in Cartagena many times. It was definitely on our short list of top options when looking to treat ourselves to some tasty seafood during my 11 years living in Cartagena.

I’ve written this review of La Cevichería Cartagena based primarily on our visit during a trip to Cartagena in 2024, but I’ll be drawing on our many other visits too.

So read on to learn all about what to expect, what to try, and if it does in fact live up to all the hype you see in other La Cevichería reviews online.

La Cevichería Cartagena Review Overview

As I mentioned above, La Cevichería blew up in popularity after Bourdain’s visit.

Not only did Bourdain eat at La Cevichería, but he also toured the Bazurto Market with the restaurant’s chef, getting a crash course in fresh local ingredients and Cartagena’s fascinating culinary heritage blending Spanish, African, and indigenous influences.

You can read about his visit on La Cevichería’s website. If you want to get the full Bourdain experience, consider booking a tour to Bazurto to complement your visit to La Cevichería or doing this great cooking class, which has an option to include a tour to the market (see my review of doing that class with my mom here).

However, I absolutely do think La Cevichería lives up to the hype and should be, at the very least, on your radar for a place to eat during your trip to Cartagena.

Everything we’ve ever gotten here has been great!

La Cevichería Menu

As the name suggests, the La Cevichería menu specializes in ceviche, and the ceviche here is certainly among the best if not the best in Cartagena.

However, La Cevicheria’s menu is pretty extensive and it has a lot of cooked seafood dishes too.

So, don’t shy away from visiting even if you’re not a big fan of ceviche. Although, I’d still encourage you to do a small ceviche as an appetizer at least.

The place is called La Cevichería, after all!

You can see a full La Cevichería menu on their website by the way.

We always thought the seafood rices and paellas here were real standouts, and ordering a ceviche as an appetizer and a paella to share can work really well.

Below, I’ll talk about what we ordered on our three visits during the summer of 2024 as well as some other menu items we’ve had over the years.

I will say, this is one of the pricier places in Cartagena though.

Due to their status as a universally recommended place to go in Cartagena and the Bourdain claim to fame, they are definitely able to charge a premium.

That being said, even if they are perhaps a bit overpriced, I don’t think they are overrated. So, I tend to think the premium price is worth it, mostly because the food is actually excellent, and the prices are on par with similarly well regarded restaurants.

Buena Vida Marisquería is probably my top seafood recommendation in Cartagena and is a bit better a value than La Cevichería, in my opinion, and you can get good ceviche at just about any good Cartagena restaurant.

Check out my post on our favorite restaurants in Cartagena for more ideas, by the way.

Still, it’s absolutely worth treating yourself at Cartagena’s La Cevichería while on vacation too!

Getting a Table at La Cevichería

Be aware that at peak lunch and dinner time, there can often be a wait, and they don’t do reservations.

However, if you can do mid-afternoon for a late lunch/early dinner, it’s often not too crowded and there is little or no wait.

Their mojitos are great, and popping in here for a refreshing drink and ceviche snack is a great way to take a break from an afternoon exploring Cartagena’s Walled City if you didn’t want to do a proper meal.

Also, be aware that the outside tables are great, but street vendors do often approach and street performers also come by and will ask for tips.

So, if you’d rather not deal with them, opt to sit inside.

What We Ordered at Cartagena’s La Cevichería

We actually ended up here on Father’s Day, my first official Father’s Day actually, after trying to go to La Vieja Guardia and Lunático, places I wanted to try.

When they were both closed, opting for an old favorite was an easy choice!

We were three adults, Susana, her mom, and myself, plus our daughter Aaliyah, not quite ready for ceviche.

We ordered the largest portion of the Ceviche combinado, which has fish, shrimp, and calamari in a sauce that includes lime and coconut. You can get this in 3 sizes, medium, super, and the mega we got.

We also got 2 cooked entrees: the octopus, or pulpo, in peanut sauce and the Real Suprema Isla de Bastimiento Panamá, which has shrimp, calamari, and clams in a coconut curry sauce and has always been a favorite of Susana’s

The ceviche was, as expected, delicious.

I especially loved the touch of the grated coconut on top. Another thing I’ve always loved about the ceviches here is they serve them in a bowl full of the juicy marinade, so you really just get so much flavor.

By the way, the hot sauce here, called Cocodrillo en llamas, or Alligator in Flames, is terrific!

It has a great flavor and is fiery spicy.

I always make sure to ask them to bring us a bottle, and took a bottle home too. It can even make a nice little unique gift for friends and family since it comes in a cool little pouch.

That mega size of ceviche was quite large too.

Honestly, if you just want a ceviche lunch for 2, it would probably be enough food unless you were really hungry. It and the two entrees definitely left the three of us very satisfied.

Speaking of the entrees, the octopus was delicious!

It was well presented with a bed of coconut rice, a layer of chopped avocado and tomatoes, and a generous portion of chopped octopus on top. The octopus had a great flavor of soy sauce and peanut, and the mixture of flavors when taking a bite of all 3 layers together was terrific.

I had been craving a good pulpo ever since we arrived in Cartagena, and this really hit the spot.

The Real Suprema Isla de Bastimiento Panamá was also good.

The coconut curry sauce is tasty but not spicy, more sweet and savory with a hint of spicy.

I’ve always liked how they serve this in a bowl that looks like a boat too. It had a pretty generous portion of the shrimp and calamari, with some clams too, but since it doesn’t come with rice or any other side, you probably would not want to order this alone unless you’re not very hungry.

Honestly, in that case, I’d probably recommend a ceviche over it, but it is tasty.

For drinks, I got a mojito, Susana got a limonada de coco, and her mom got a corozo juice.

Honestly, I’d encourage you to get one of these three drinks!

The mojitos here have always been among my favorites in Cartagena, although I’m sure their other cocktails are good too.

Limonada de coco and corozo juice are two local favorites, and, in my opinion, virtual must tries during your time in Cartagena. La Cevichería is one of the best places to try both too.

Limonada de coco is a creamy coconut limeade, and the best ones are served at an almost milkshake consistency like they serve at La Cevichería. Corozo juice best compares to the taste of black cherry or almost like a more tart cranberry juice.

I should add here too that service was great as usual too.

Our Other Two Visits to La Cevichería This Trip

I actually came back by La Cevichería on my own one day while I was doing some other things in the Walled City and Getsemaní.

This time I ordered the octopus sandwich called the “Pulp Fiction Burger” (clever name) still trying to get my pulpo fix. It was very good.

The octopus was tasty, I liked the grilled red bell peppers, and the bread was great.

I probably would have been happier with just letting the taste of the pulpo shine instead of the barbecue sauce, although the sauce was good.

I had a limonada de coco too and can confirm it is in fact very good.

We came back one other night too when my mom was in town for part of our trip. This night, my mom and I shared the same ceviche combinado with coconut and lime as well as a coctel with shrimp, calamari, and octopus (of course!), which was really good too.

I had a corozo juice, and can confirm it is in fact very good too.

Susana had a shrimp sandwich that she enjoyed too.

We sat outside this visit. There were at least 3 different street performers that came by in the hour or so while we were there, so keep in mind that tip above and if you have some spare change or small bills you can tip them if you like (or don’t if you don’t).

We did tip the Michael Jackson impersonator, because he was pretty funny.

So, as you can see from 3 visits in 6 weeks, we definitely like La Cevichería!

La Cevichería Cartagena Restaurant Review Final Verdict

In conclusion, yes, La Cevichería absolutely lives up to the hype!

We were as pleased as ever on our visits here and happy an old favorite still lives up to its fame and our memories of it.

I definitely recommend it as one of the places to include on your list of restaurants to try on a visit.

You could get a small ceviche and cocktail as a snack and chance to cool off while exploring Cartagena, or get a ceviche as an appetizer and any of the tasty entrees or rices for a larger meal.

The sandwiches also hit the spot if you’re looking for something lighter or something you don’t see on every menu in Cartagena.

So, there should be something here for just about everyone who likes seafood, and while it does come at a bit of a premium price, I think you’ll really enjoy it.

Plus, you’ll get to tell everyone you ate at a place Anthony Bourdain visited while in Cartagena.

La Cevichería is located just off the Plaza San Diego in Cartagena’s Walled City across from the Hotel Santa Clara’s Bar named El Coro.

It is open 7 days a week from 1:00 to 10:30 pm.

Once again, you can see a full menu on their website and also check out their Instagram to see how tasty the food looks!

I hope you found this review of La Cevichería in Cartagena helpful.

If you do go, I’d love for you to share your experience, what you ordered, and what you thought in the comments below.

Most importantly, I hope you enjoy it as much as we have so many times!

Cheers and Happy Exploring Eating!