Our last day in the Galapagos was spent doing the reverse of what we'd done on the first day - taking the flight from Baltra back to Quito. We took the first flight out of the day, so when we landed in Quito, it was the middle of the afternoon. We hadn't really eaten lunch, so after doing a visit to the local craftsmarket (just a couple of blocks from our hotel), Tom and I decided to leave early, head back to the hotel and eat local junk food.
Well ok, I wouldn't count my bag of Ruffles as local junk food. But Tom had a bag of chincharrones:
After our little break, we headed out for a brief city tour of old town, where the colonial Spaniards had settled. There are lots of churches, plazas and colonial buildings in the area and after walking around for a bit, we had our last dinner for the trip at Cafe Plaza Grande in the Hotel Plaza Grande.
The restuarant is located in an old historic building that was bought and renovated by Swissotel and now houses several restaurants. The cool thing is that it overlooks the main square in Old Town - the Plaza Independencia:
The restaurant serves local Ecuadorian delicacies, but it's in a very formal setting - by far the most formal place that we had visited the whole trip. But it was a nice change from flip flops, mosquitoes and sand.
The first thing that that give you is bowls of crisply fried plantains in like a flower arrangement:
along with three dipping sauces:
There was peanut, sesame and something spicy that I don't remember. But I liked the spicy one.
As for the menu, it's basically a prix fixe menu, and you get several choices for appetizer, entree and dessert. For my appetizer, I got this potato cheese soup served along with local avocado:
Ok. To be honest, my tummy wasn't feeling so great the last couple of days in Ecuador (I blame that chicken stick I ate on the beach in Isabella), so I didn't really have much of an appetite. The soup was pretty good, but I didn't eat most of it.
For Tom's appetizer, he got a really pretty ceviche:
served with the ubiquitos popcorn and toasted corn:
Even though it was quite pretty, he thought it was just pretty good. He like the ceviche we had at Las Redes more.
For my entree, I ordered fish:
It was locally caught, well prepared and very pretty. But again, my stomach just wasn't into it - I mainly ate the veggies.
Meanwhile, Tom ordered chicken:
And it was fine. I tried some of it. Well cooked and well seasoned, but nothing extraordinary.
And lastly, dessert. Apparently they like dramatic things at this restaurant, because the ice cream was served over a bowl of dry ice:
I'll admit, it was pretty cool, and you could make it continue misting just by adding more water to the dry ice.
Overall, we had a really pleasant dinner. I mean, the place certainly is one of those places where you'd see foreign tourists dining with wealtheir Ecuadorians. And for me and Tom, we'd certainly prefer eating this type of food in a local joint. But it was still fun to be a bit pampered and surrounded by that type of elegance. I just wish my stomach had been feeling better so I could've enjoyed the meal more. (But that should teach me about eating street food on a beach).
The restaurant serves local Ecuadorian delicacies, but it's in a very formal setting - by far the most formal place that we had visited the whole trip. But it was a nice change from flip flops, mosquitoes and sand.The first thing that that give you is bowls of crisply fried plantains in like a flower arrangement:
along with three dipping sauces:
There was peanut, sesame and something spicy that I don't remember. But I liked the spicy one.As for the menu, it's basically a prix fixe menu, and you get several choices for appetizer, entree and dessert. For my appetizer, I got this potato cheese soup served along with local avocado:
Ok. To be honest, my tummy wasn't feeling so great the last couple of days in Ecuador (I blame that chicken stick I ate on the beach in Isabella), so I didn't really have much of an appetite. The soup was pretty good, but I didn't eat most of it.For Tom's appetizer, he got a really pretty ceviche:
served with the ubiquitos popcorn and toasted corn:
Even though it was quite pretty, he thought it was just pretty good. He like the ceviche we had at Las Redes more.For my entree, I ordered fish:
It was locally caught, well prepared and very pretty. But again, my stomach just wasn't into it - I mainly ate the veggies.Meanwhile, Tom ordered chicken:
And it was fine. I tried some of it. Well cooked and well seasoned, but nothing extraordinary.And lastly, dessert. Apparently they like dramatic things at this restaurant, because the ice cream was served over a bowl of dry ice:
I'll admit, it was pretty cool, and you could make it continue misting just by adding more water to the dry ice.Overall, we had a really pleasant dinner. I mean, the place certainly is one of those places where you'd see foreign tourists dining with wealtheir Ecuadorians. And for me and Tom, we'd certainly prefer eating this type of food in a local joint. But it was still fun to be a bit pampered and surrounded by that type of elegance. I just wish my stomach had been feeling better so I could've enjoyed the meal more. (But that should teach me about eating street food on a beach).
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