Culinary food tours seem to be our thing when we travel to a new city, so we did our research and scheduled one for this day. We we’re picked up early by our guide, David, and driver, and shuttled around town for a number if stops to learn some history about Quito’s Old Town, and sample some of their food.
Things started off a little weird when we first got into the mini-van, and David pulled out a microphone to speak through. There were only the six of us mind you, and we felt a bit like we were on a day tour for returnees, or that maybe he would start singing karaoke. We did get him to eventually break a little bit out of his tour-guide character, but he was a little bit stiff mist of the time.
One of our first stops was to the local market. It was a little cleaner than I expected and pretty we’ll organizes. There are, apparently, other markets around that are a little more rough around the edges, but this one was pretty interesting none-the-less. With the jungle so nearby, fresh fruits and vegetables were the stars of the market, with colorful piles of produce lining all of the walls. One local specialty was roast pig. There were dozens of stalls. Each with 2-4 whole roast pigs on display, which they would serve with llapingachos (fried potato balls with cheese ). Alyssa and Eric devoured a plate of this, claiming it to be some of the most amazing pork ever.
We toured some parts of old town, and finished the tour with what was meant to be a cooking class. It was held in the restaurant of the most expensive hotel in town, so it was a bit fancy, but it was kindof weird. It ended up being more of a presentation, where the chef of the restaurant made us ecuadorian ceviche while we watched, and David translated. They then served us a separate meal along with the ceviche that they prepared.
There was one amazing highlight of this meal though. For the dessert course. All of the lights were suddenly turned down, a recording of a church bell hinging was played, and a server dressed in a traditional robe and hood ( think klu klux klan, but brown) came out and served os ice cream billowing with dry ice. It was a bit surreal, and more than a little hilarious. Even our guide David was surprised by it.
After out tour, we went back to the hotel for a bit. And mark, Eric, Sarah and I ventured out for dinner. Our first stop was the theatre bar in d town which had a lot of promise, but we were the only ones there so it was a bit awkward. A would of caution for anybody going to quito, do not stay in Old Town if you’re expecting to find food or drinks after dark. From there, we took a cab to the top of the hill overlooking town and went to cafe Mosaico. This was much better. Congruent with all the reviews we read, the food was mediocre, but the view, music and atmosphere was perfect.
Peru/Galapagos
