Buena Vida Marisquería

Buena Vida takes up a three-story house on Calle del Porvenir. Downstairs is the air-conditioned dining room with the full menu; upstairs, a rooftop made for drinks and sharing plates.

The food is seafood with Caribbean flavor: crab and shrimp nachos, seafood rice, shrimp in coconut and ginger sauce, whole fried fish and a mixed seafood grill. To drink there are micheladas, including one made with corozo (a tart local palm fruit).

Portions are big, more for a long meal than for snacking. For a relaxed lunch, the dining room downstairs works better; the rooftop is best when the sun goes down.

What to see

• Air-conditioned seafood dining room.
• Rooftop with views over the old town's rooftops.
• House micheladas.

Getting there

• On foot from the Plaza de Bolívar or the Plaza de San Diego, along Calle del Porvenir.
• Taxi: ask for Calle del Porvenir, across from the Universidad de Cartagena.

Tips

• Book for weekend dinners, especially if you want the rooftop.
• On weekdays at lunch there's usually a table without a reservation.