Paletas @ Neveria La Vallesana
And of course, everything old is new again. We've got housemade paletas, the Mexican version of frozen ice pops, at Neveria la Vallesana on Cherokee Street, where they're surrounded by Mexican stores and other restaurants. Both the simple, like coconut with chunks of coconut meat in it, and the more exotic, like mango chile, seduce. Ice cream by the scoop, too, in flavors both simple and striking, like rice (we haven't seen that since a trip to Florence). There's a restaurant here as well, but you can find the ice cream counters at the very front of the store.

Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream @ Gelateria del Leone
Very close to an authentic Italian coffee house is Gelateria del Leone. There's more than gelato here, with baked goods, coffee and light meals, all made in-house. (Here's your chance to try St. Louis' signature gooey butter cake). The gelato is dense and flavorful, with lots of fruit flavors and nuts, too, like pistachio and hazelnut. Consider as well, London Fog, flavored with bergamot and vanilla, a creamy trip to the tropics, and the amazing vegan chocolate, dark and seductive even to omnivores like us. There's a courtyard in the back, arm chairs, wi-fi, and sidewalk tables, too. Just right in this busy neighborhood of multi-ethnic restaurants and shops.

Ice Cream @ Clementine's Naughty and Nice Creamery
Tucked back into a building in the historic neighborhood of Lafayette Square, Clementine's Naughty and Nice Creamery describes itself as a microcreamery. All-natural ingredients, including lots of local providers like Perennial Ales and Whisk Bakeshop, star here. The naughty part of their name includes ice creams like salted pecan maple bourbon, an absolute winner, and banana rum, which should be paired up with the chocolate stout to achieve near-nirvana. Lemongrass coconut? Gingerbread Love? Right here, or at least part of the rotation of their non-alcoholic flavors. The shop is tiny, but there's a small patio alongside.

Berries and Cream @ Ices Plain & Fancy
The most remarkable execution of next-gen ice cream in these parts has to come from Ices Plain & Fancy. It's a storefront in a residential neighborhood, making most of its ice cream right in front of the customer. They use liquid nitrogen, KitchenAid mixers and blowtorches to create a dense, creamy mixture that's unlike anything else around. It's Ferran Adria crossed, almost literally, with a Victorian London cooking school - see the wall decorations. Berries and cream are topped with a berry coulis, fresh fruit, frozen pomegranate seeds and a rosette of fruit-flavored whipped cream. For the over-21 crowd, there's Dickel whiskey and pralines partying together. Theirs is an unusually flavorful waffle cone, too.

Gold Coast Chocolate @ Serendipity Ice Cream
The progenitor of this group is Serendipity Ice Cream. Owner Beckie Jacobs supplies customers and plenty of better restaurants around town. While the new flavors like cotton candy (candy floss to non-Americans) and chocolate orange tickle us, she really made star status locally when she re-created Gold Coast Chocolate, a long-gone deep, dark chocolate that the boomer generation remembers from a now-gone St. Louis mini-chain called Velvet Freeze. Below are the summer hours for 'Dipity (as it's often referred to); cold weather shrinks them.

House Ramen @ Sticks & Broth
Sticks & Broth, as the name suggests, focuses on two things: yakitori and ramen. Head over at lunchtime and you'll be able to choose from a range of dishes priced at just £6.50 each...and they're well worth the money. Check out the House Ramen, a slow-cooked pork bone broth piled high with noodles, tender beef brisket, bamboo shoots, beansprouts and slice of grilled corn – along with a beautifully cooked half soy egg.

Vegetarian Gyro  @ Grecia Caf y Zuvlaki
Giorgios Sitaras and Petros Skirlis have introduced the tastes of Greece to Cartagena that brings to mind olive groves and Salonica. Although the gyros come in pork, beef, and chicken, we recommend the Vegetarian gyro. Feta cheese, cucumber, tomato, onion, tangy Greek olives, and dzadziki sauce are all stuffed inside a homemade pita bread and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. As people from Cartagena say, it’s “bueno, bonito y barato” (good, tasty and inexpensive).

Sandwich de Carnes Frias  @ El Barn
It’s no surprise that the El Barón cocktail bar is so popular since they serve fantastic cocktails in an informal setting. At dusk the tables are set out on the lively San Pedro Claver Plaza, drawing an expat crowd looking to unwind after a long day at the beach. The mixologist’s creations (drinks with names like Alacrán, Antonio Banderas, and Don Alejandro) are some of the best in the city. The food is surprisingly good with tapas, sandwiches and salads. We recommend the delightful Spanish chorizo sandwich.

Cuatro Leches Cake  @ Mila Vargas
This charming bakery provides a refuge from the heat of Cartagena with a variety of cakes, cookies, breads and typical Colombian treats. Our favorite was the Cuatro Leches cake. In Latin America we have eaten plenty of Tres Leches cakes, but we were intrigued by the fourth milk. This cake, served in a glass, had layers of milk; sweetened condensed milk; evaporated milk; and was topped with arequipe, a thick South American caramel. It was simply amazing.

Chicken Turnover  @ La Esquina del Pan de Bono
It’s not a pretty place. It’s too small and the little metal stools are incredibly uncomfortable. But when we saw people lining up to buy pasteles or turnovers, we had to investigate. Inside, we looked at the cheese, chicken, and meat turnovers and decided that the people lining up were right. These looked great. Buttery, light, and superb, these are one of the best informal bites to get in Cartagena. But make sure you get them fresh!