Treat yourself to an indulgent breakfast at charming Mila, an all-day bakery and dessert spot located near the city’s historic Cathedral. With a cute, kitsch decor, once you step into this bakery you’ll feel as if you were in Paris rather than Cartagena. This pastelería is owned by bogotanaCamila Vargas, and she offers everything from delicious savory sandwiches with freshly baked bread to deeply indulgent brownies and cakes.

This upscale bakery and coffee shop offers touches of quaint, country-style decor and friendly service. Particularly popular for a midmorning coffee break or afternoon tea, the temple of pastry, cake, and silken mousse delivers a welcome respite, and you'll likely end up spending more time than you have planned. The pour-over filter coffee is good, and the lemon-coconut drink—a Cartagena classic—may be at it's best.

The undisputed queen of the afternoon sugar rush, eponymous owner Mila Vargas earned a black belt in the dark chocolate arts in the cafés of Buenos Aires and Paris. She shipped a winning mix of chic interior design and sassy snacks home to cater to visitors accustomed to a more cosmopolitan version of café culture. Her fame for delivering a different level of candy-covered means you will have to fight the farandula - Colombia's soap star set - for a mid-afternoon macchiato or a slice of Mila's signature Porteño chocolate cake in high season.Centro, Calle de la Iglesia 35-76, Cartagena (00 57 5 664 4607; mila.com.co)

To satisfy those with a sweet tooth, don’t miss Pasteleria Mila where decadent desserts like churros with chocolate dipping sauce and gold-flaked slices of chocolate cake await in a gorgeous (and air-conditioned) interior. If instead you’re looking for more of a grab-and-go dessert that doubles as a way to cool off too, La Paletteria has you covered with their dozens upon dozens of popsicles to choose from, including many local flavors like limonada de coco, guanabana, and corozo con chocolate. For a guaranteed sugar rush, the historic Portal de los Dulces in the Plaza de los Coches is a must-visit.

When Mimosas in Cartagena were barely a mythical whisper from those fortunate-enough to have ventured overseas, Pasteleria Mila was pioneering their cause. The home of the original Cartagena brunch, Mila still remains one of the city’s best; thanks to an enormous selection of scrumptious sweet and savoury offerings, gorgeous French-farmhouse ambience and those aforementioned Mimosas. If you can make it out without ordering “breakfast dessert” from the ridiculously tempting window displays, you’re a better man than I am.

Mila is where everyone meets up for breakfast at the crackof noon--or where you can dip in for a quick and easy afternoonpick-me-up in the form of, say, a dulce de leche-topped brownie or afrothy coconut lemonade. Whenever the tropical heat gets to be toomuch, stop by a coconut cart and drink the water straight from theshell. And don't be scared to try the many juice joints: Where else areyou going to taste fruits with names like mamey, lulo, nispero, or zapote?.

Mila Pastelería is another place we might have skipped because it’s a cuisine we can easily find at home, but they had absolutely wonderful air conditioning and plenty of places to sit and cool down during the hottest part of the day. Instead of eating a French-style pastry as we recovered from the sun, we went for the order of churros and they were spectacular.

A visit to Mila Pasteleria will satisfy your sweet tooth craving. The shop offers a tempting assortment of cakes, pastries, and confections that will appeal to dessert lovers. We specialize in decadent chocolate cakes and delicate macarons, all of which are meticulously crafted with passion and precision, ensuring a truly indulging experience.

Pastelería Mila is a trendy brunch spot in the walled city full of young, well-dressed locals. They have a full brunch menu in Spanish only, so we took a bit of a gamble but the food was really good. We both had an arepa and egg situation, and the pastries and dessert in the counter case also looked delicious.

Location: Walled CityPrice Category: Moderate to Moderately HighNeed Reservations: Not a bad idea for dinner. And to close out this list of Cartagena best restaurants is the best dessert place in town. Located in the Walled City, Mila is one of a small handful of restaurants in Cartagena that have cheesecakes.

Our Airbnb host recommended many restaurants, bars, and cafes to us. Based on the way he described them, you could tell what his favorite places were and he couldn’t have been more glowing in his endorsement of Mila Pasteleria. According to him, it’s a local institution and a must-visit in Cartagena.

If you have a sweet tooth like me, you cannot leave Cartagena without trying the Quatro Leches (think Tres Leches but 10x better!) at Pasteleria Mila – wow it is superb!. Even Anush who normally does not like Tres Leches ended up loving the Quatro Leches here. They also have other sweet items to try.

For a more leisurely morning meal, Mila Vargas’s flagship, Pastelería Mila, has pistachio muffins, banana split cupcakes and savory offerings like a Caprese quiche with mozzarella, spinach and tomato. Try the coconut lemonade (6,500 pesos), or the brain-freezing mango smoothie (7,500 pesos).

When it comes to satisfying your kids’ sweet tooth, make a beeline for Mila. This pastelería (bakery-café) is the brainchild of Colombian celebrity chef Camila Vargas. For lunchtime fare, she prepares soups, salads, and gourmet sandwiches using fresh-baked bread.

Don't miss Mila Pasteleria and Gelateria Paradiso for local sweets like coconut cake layered with dulce de leche and gelato made with mamey, a local fruit with a creamy texture and sweet pumpkin-like flavor.

Mila is the classiest shop in town to nibble on pastries like the rightly famous arepa de huevo cartagenera, a fried corn cake filled with an egg and spiced ground meat.

Mila is located in the center of the old town and does a great morning pastry and a coffee. Swing by early, before spending the day exploring in the sun.

Mila Pasteleria: Home of the original Cartagena brunch, this fancy patisserie serves up sweet treats and delights in the heart of the Old Town.