La Perla

Opened in 2008, La Perla quickly rose to the top of Cartagena’s culinary list and has managed to stay there, thanks to a regularly changing seafood-heavy menu from Peruvian chef Carlos Accinelli. There’s also the city’s most creative cocktail menu from owner and mixologist Roberto Carrascal. Some favorites are always on offer, including tuna tiraditos (thin strips) cured in yellow chilies and ginger, crispy, succulent suckling pig, house-made limoncello and the signature La Perla cocktail, an electric blue gin martini mixed with Hpnotiq, basil, cucumber and lime juice which tastes far more sophisticated than it looks. Amber lighting and a convivial crowd make the restaurant’s long, narrow space especially inviting.