REAL ESTATE IN ECUADOR 

Ecuador Real Estate: Cotacachi, San Clemente, and Mindo, Ecuador

 

 

Eating Out IN Cotacachi  

 

by Steve Marchant

 

 

The variety of cafes and restaurants means eating out in Cotacachi is a pleasure. From the humblest eateries to the Chateau Relais (better than 5 star) restaurant at La Mirage spa, all palates and wallets are catered for. 

 

Some restaurants are well known to the tourists who come here searching for bargains in the leather stores but others are hidden away and only frequented by locals. Take this marisqueria (seafood cafe) below. 

 

 

 

Only the locals go here and it is 2 or 3 blocks off the main thoroughfares but they serve a delicious encebollada, a fish soup chock full with pieces of real tuna, soft cassava and red onion in a rich tangy broth. It’s always served with quarters of lemon and lemon squeezer so you add to taste. Its a meal in itself and costs about $2.  

 

The small but growing expat community here in Cotacachi look for places to meet and the other day when I walked past this internet cafe below I found six people sat here chatting away. You can get a coffee and a sandwich here for a couple of dollars while you catch up on your email. The chairs below are made from coffee wood. 

 

 

 

 

Across the street (calle Gonzalez Suarez) from the internet cafe above we can find the newest restaurant in town, Anita’s, open for just a month. This is a cosy little restaurant that has quickly become popular for all who get to know it. A 4 course lunch is $3,50 and a freshly made tropical juice will cost you $1,00. 

 

 

 

 

In the evening, or well, just about any time you are feeling peckish, you can stop by a another new cafe. They serve hamburgers and fries and other snacks. But that’s not the reason anyone goes there, No Sir! ... the real draw are the most delicious empanadas in Ecuador. Empanadas, are snacks in fried pastry. In this case meat or chicken or cheese. The meat and chicken pastries are a delight with rice onions and other vegetables. The price is absolutely incredible at 30 cents each. I’m not pretending they’re healthy but boy do they ever taste good.  

 

 

 

 

 

Had your lunch? Then maybe its time for an ice-cream? Now we’re not talking about just any ice cream here! How about a fruit salad with whipped cream and ice cream on top, or a banana split, or strawberries and ice cream. On the main square in Cotacachi you’ll find this small ‘heladeria’ (ice-cream parlour) does a roaring trade on weekend afternoons. The ice cream and fruit salad in the photos below costs $1,25. 

 

 

 

There are larger restaurants in town too. One of the well known institutions is Meson de las Flores on calle Garcia Moreno. I used to live and work in this hotel so I know all about the staff and quality of food – both are excellent.. I think the best deal is a multi course breakfast served in the sunny courtyard. You sit here surrounded by ‘flores ’ (flowers) and served by the charming staff such as Consuelo below. The weekends see Ecuadorians from Quito arrive to eat the famous ‘Carne Colorado’ (Coloured meat) – pieces of pork or beef colured with ‘achote’ – a food coloring derived from local plants. 

The staff here are the friendliest anywhere in Ecuador that I’ve come across and I remain friends with all of them. 

 

 

 

Other large restaurants in town, often used for local fiestas are El Leñador (the Woodcutter) where in my opinion they serve the best steaks in town for a $7 super sized plate that you will struggle to finish 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And also two large restaurants on the main commercial street in town – Avenida 10 de Agosto, La Marqueza below, which is cavernous inside. 

 

 

... and El Majestic, which is smaller and has a cosier feel. Prices here have gone up to make it the more expensive than La Marqueza or El Majestic so I can’t really recommend it.  

 

 

All of these restaurants and also Meson de las Flores serve what is deemed as traditional Ecuadorian food for the mountain region; main courses are made up of staples such as Chicken, steak, pork chops, trout, Corvina (Sea Bass) and prepared in a variety of different ways. For me the pick are El Leñador and Meson. 

 

I know of folks who got sick eating at the restaurant below, La Casa de Turista, although plenty of Ecuadorians and foreigners have eaten there too. I go for the occasional coffee or to get a beer and to watch a game of soccer on the big screen tv., but they serve the traditional staples. 

 

 

 

 

For a most healthy snack you can eat from this little stand. They sell a snack consisting of lupin seeds, toasted corn, salad, lemon juice and pieces of pork if you want them added. These lupin seeds are high protein food rich in minerals and vitamins too. The indigenous people love to eat this for breakfast and I can vouch that it fills you up. 

 

 

Right across the street is Cotacachi’s pizzaria (pizza parlor). Here you can go in and sit down and wait ... and wait ... while they make and bake your pizza fresh. The wait is worth it, the pizzas are wonderfully tasty and this makes a great little place to go with a bunch of fellow travellers or friends. 

 

 

Finally lets talk about two very different eating haunts in Cotacachi but both are great fun and value. Cotacachi market is very much a center of activity for the locals who go there to buy fresh produce and meat, poultry and dairy products. 

 

Outside the market there is a large patio and maybe a dozen little cafe stalls which cook and serve everything from chicken and meat lunches and soups to sea food dishes such as mixed rice and prawns. There is more seafood variety at the weekend. The locals love the prices here which are hard to beat - $1,25 for a lunch or 30 cents for a little bottle of soda. And sitting here in the sun you see the world go by ... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally for a treat you can call in at Colors and Flavors, an exquisitely decorated restaurant under the hotel El Arbolito. You can eat a 3 course Almuerzo (lunch) here for $2,50 – that's the best value but they have wines, licor and local beers and another favorite of mine is la Tablita, a selection of mixed meats and sausages with fries on your own small chopping board (tablita). 

 

This new restaurant is a firm favorite with the foreigners visiting or living in town and the service is second to none. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cotacachi eating is varied, value and fun – and there are even more places which we’ll ‘visit’ at a later date, including the best BBQ food in town and the Chateau Relais spa we mentioned at the beginning. 

 

Until next time ... ‘Buen Provecho’ ... Good Eating!!