Montolivo - Medellín

Was doing some grocery shopping in the Niquia/Bello mall (Puero del Norte) yesterday September and so pleased to see the Food Court opened for business! I last ate here in March before the pandemic (see my March review) and this meal was just...as tasteful and fresh. I had the Camaron al pesto and it came with a small but fresh salad. My dish was Colombian pesos and worth the value. You place your order at the counter then it is prepared for you, served hot and best of all served in a real ceramic plate, very classy! Look at my photo. It was so good to see that they were doing a brisk business. Like I said in my March review I recommend and I will return.

For the past years I have lived in the northern end of Medellin and very surprised that this was my first meal at Montolivo Pasta Express yet I have been passing it by every time I shop in the mall (Puerta del Norte Commercial...center at Niquia/Bello. So glad my friend suggested to try this. Yes it is fast food, you place your order at the counter then find an open seating and once your order is ready you pick up and enjoy. The salad was very fresh and had just the right amount of dressing, the pasta was perfectly cooked and had a pesto sauce which was delicious, all of this not to be overshadowed by the tasty salmon, again my dish was tasty and satisfied my palate. My friend had the pasta with shrimp and it was just as tasty. Our total bill came in at pesos or about USD, a good value given the quality and taste AND it is served on china plates with real silverware (not plastic forks). I will definitely return as I shop in this mall about twice each week. I recommend this fast food to others. The short of it is that stars for each Service, Food and Value!

Pasta carbonara is very good. The salad that goes with it is lovely as well. Mandarina drinks are nice and fresh. Its a common lunch spot for us.

You and I know, mall food is usually greasy, tasteless and not great looking, but Montolivo has a business proposition that makes that much better, and though it's not the best place, it's very affordable and way better than the thousand alternatives you find in Premium Plaza.Montolivo specializes in pasta+meat+salad, and they do a decent trio, salad is fresh, meat either beef, chicken is grilled, good quality and pasta has character. For instance I ordered spinach risotto, beef tenderloin and garden salad and they were all good, all for less than $5 including iced tea. Think of Olive Garden, except the food is better quality and not as pretentious as the fake italian decor. It takes about 5-10 minutes to have your order ready, it's a communal mall restaurant, noisy as hell but the food was good. My friend had spaghetti carbonara and it was good.

Food is nice and tastes lovely. The variety that they offer is good and there are a many available mixes. The restaurant is in the food court of Oviedo mall so at lunch time it can be quite hard to find a table. The prices...are budget friendly.