¡Olé, Colombiano!

On my next visit to the restaurant, I brought along my friend Patrick and my new pals, Colombian-born Mauricio and Ivonne Garcia, and their teenage daughter, Andrea. The Garcias, who live in Lenexa, are thrilled that Rincon Colombiano has opened; now they can indulge in real home-style fare. Ivonne says the spotless restaurant is — in both style and cuisine — more rustic than you'd find in Bogota, but where else in town is she going to find a bowl of mondongo? I started to say that I had seen a dirty movie with a similar title, but Patrick kicked me under the table.

"Not everyone likes it," Ivonne said, offering me a spoonful of the thick, pungently aromatic tripe soup. I tasted it and thought the flavor was lovely but the fragrance wasn't. A more luscious sopa was the cazuela de mariscos that Mauricio ordered (it's not on the menu, he says, but Lambrana will make it if you ask), a creamy Colombian variation on cioppino that's loaded with shrimp, squid, mussels and chopped fish.

We started the meal with crunchy empañadas filled with beef and potatoes and a delicious discovery for me, crunchy bits of fried pork skins called chicharrones that are addictively good, particularly drenched with pique sauce. Andrea liked this treat so much, she ordered bandeja paisa, a dish that combines all kinds of Colombian delicacies: beef, sausage, pork skins, fried plantains and a tidy pillar of rice topped with a fried egg.

Eggs, Ivonne explained, are a popular culinary accessory in Colombia, along with the crunchy tostones, fried plantains that are smashed, then fried again.

I've never seen a flatter piece of red snapper (that's what the menu said it was, anyway) than the cardboard-thin filet of pargo a la plancha that Patrick ordered. "It doesn't taste like fish, really," he said. "It needs lime juice," Ivonne said, motioning for Aldemar to bring over some slices to squeeze over the fish. It helped, sort of. Dry, but citrusy.

I was tempted to order a Colombian breakfast (which the place serves all day) but was lured by the seductive description of a chicken breast sided with boiled yucca and potatoes and smothered in a mildly spiced tomato sauce.

After eating so much food, dessert seemed vaguely excesivo, but Mauricio explained that Aldemar told him he'd made the tres leches cake himself, so we had to taste the wildly rich pastry, heavy with cream, condensed milk and evaporated milk. The menu lists a four-milk version, too, but we were too intimidated to order it. We also shared the very nice flan, dripping with a dark caramel sauce, and a fluffy rice pudding dusted with cinnamon. All of them were fantastic.

Mauricio told me that Rincon Colombiano is his favorite restaurant in Kansas City, along with Piropos, the Argentine steakhouse, and the all-American Cheesecake Factory. Now that I've discovered this attractive little place, I think it's one of my favorites, too. Even if I can't habla Español.