I grew up eating peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch - I still love them. I moved on to bologna and sometimes egg sandwiches for special occasions. Eventually, I started 'roach coach' dining at construction sites. So, it might surprise friends and family of long ago that I cherish many types of food and that I have been primarily vegetarian for about 13 of the last 15 years. I have been fortunate to eat great food in homes and restaurants in many places and have sampled many types of cuisine. In that spirit, I will try to covey the occasional culinary experiences from our travels. I have already missed reporting on many excellent meals and I will continue to do so. But here is a brief excerpt of our eating experience in Quito.
Our first cheap and delicious meal at a friendly local diner in Old Town - about $10 for all four of us.
Our walking tour guide, John, suggested a set meal vegetarian restaurant in the La Ronda quarter. It was communal sitting with some genuinely nice folks. The language barrier wasn't a big deal as everyone was very accommodating. Maeve and Liam were a little uncomfortable with the idea so it wasn't our most relaxing food eating experience. It was another $10 meal for the four of us and included fresh pear juice and dessert.
Communal veggie food in La Ronda - $10 for all four of us.
Kristin has made some great dinners too.
Kristin's excellent creation - nearly free.
Dinner at the apartment - Liam is trying to freak me out.
We ate out a lot and really enjoyed Uncle Ho's pan asian cuisine with an Ecuadorian spin.
At Uncle Ho's
Kristin found something amusing.
Since I am on an Asian theme, it is worth mentioning that Liam has adopted a 'crouching tiger' pose whenever eating outside. He finds it comfortable while everyone else finds it disturbing.
Liam just finishing the food inhalation process of a pastry - great bakeries in Quito.
Delicious ice cream abounds.
Ice cream shop in La Ronda
We had some great meals in Quito. One that was not so great was ironically a Mexican restaurant that I believe we will have a starring role in an upcoming marketing campaign. There was a professional photographer circling for our entire meal and he often had his lens trained on our table. It was a little disconcerting. On a possibly unrelated note, it was the only restaurant where I have ever been where the waiter had more difficulty reading the menu than I did. His coke bottle lenses reminded me of my own experience growing up in the ‘80’s and his inability to read the menu mimicked my own difficulty as I often ask Kristin or the kids to read it to me.
On another positive note we found a great park where we could work off some of our caloric intake.