Ely Gourmet

This classy cake shop isn't just the best place in town to indulge your sweetest desires, it's a prize spot for lovers of healthy salads and sandwiches that will take your sugary pangs of guilt down a notch or two.

The family-run gourmet business lies off the beaten tourist trail, yet it's just a 2-minute walk from Calle de la Media Luna.

A cool air-conditioned breeze greets you as you walk into Ely's. Every bit as inviting is the clean, bright decor adorned with baroque-style sofas and golden cherub candles.

Whether your in agreement with the pre-nuptial style or not, (the name translates to 'The Bride's Café), you will most definitely appreciate the soft-touch ambience and the welcome escape Ely's provides from Cartagena's beeping horns and chaotic traffic.

Sink into your perfect chocolate cake (rich but not too rich, moist with dark chocolate fudge icing) paired with a first-class coffee whilst perusing charming retro wedding photos of Ely's family and the wedding tortes on which their reputation has been built.

Ely has been making cakes in Cartagena for two decades, and now it's her daughter Natalia who is taking the reins at the family's multi-tiered cake empire.

Ely's wedding gift to her daughter was a six-tier feat of culinary engineering, frosted with flowers that took six months to make.

If you're on the lookout for a special cake for your destination wedding, feast your eyes on the sumptuously fluffy pastels on display, including chocolate, vanilla, orange and carrot flavoured masterpieces.

Feeling guilty for eating sweets on an empty stomach? Ely's serves up a great selection of fresh sandwiches, wraps, salads and quiches that will keep the hunger pains at bay without leaving too much excess baggage on the hip, freeing your conscience up to spend a few sweet moments savouring the real draw, a bewildering collection of wicked cakes and other candied treats.

For possibly the best Colombian desert you've ever tasted, try the three-layered coconut, vanilla and walnut cake drizzled with Colombia's version of Dulce de Leche, arequipe (caramel) topping.

Prices:

A piece of cake:          From COP$3,000   | USD$1.67
A whole cake:             From COP$30,000 | USD$16.70
Sandwiches & salads:  From COP$16,500 | USD$9.20