Regarding the Quito Festival, we prepared a list of restaurants that are bringing Ecuadorian products and their typical recipes to a gourmet style that attracts international attention.
Mashuas, geese and chicha de jora, in a culinary creation from the Nuema restaurant.
Ecuador has plenty of products and talent to take Ecuadorian gastronomy to the next level. As an example, Nuema is ranked 11th in Best Restaurants in Latin America.
‘Gourmet’ is a word of French origin that is used in gastronomy to describe preparations that require specific techniques, exclusive and good quality ingredients, which result in delicious preparations.
Under this definition, we present a list of restaurants in Quito that offer a menu of gourmet Ecuadorian cuisine.
Nuema, among the best in Latin America
In last November’s 50Best, a competition that rewards world gastronomy, the Ecuadorian restaurant Nuema climbed to 11th place among the Best Restaurants in Latin America.
It is the first time that an Ecuadorian restaurant reaches this position. Days before, in the same month, its chefs Pía Salazar and Alejandro Chamorro appeared in the Top 100 of the best in the world (position 65).
Nuema describes on its website that its purpose is to express the “biodiversity of Ecuador from a contemporary and avant-garde perspective.”
The restaurant is located in Bello Horizonte and Coruña. It operates under a tasting menu and prior reservation.
Urko, the Best Restaurant in Ecuador 2023
In the heart of La Floresta, with a beautiful and cozy atmosphere, is Urko, recognized as the ‘Best Restaurant in Ecuador 2023’ by the World Culinary Awards, for the second consecutive year.
“We make Ecuadorian food, inspired by the flavors and elements that throughout history have been part of our lives, and we present our products in a contemporary scene that reflects the purity, essence and origin of our foods,” describes the Urko website.
The restaurant offers a unique multi-course menu, which changes four times a year, according to ‘Los Raymis’, as a tribute to the cycles of nature, the basis of the indigenous worldview in Andean communities.
Chulpi Urbano, the new Ecuadorian cuisine
Carlos Saltos, a 29-year-old Quito chef, is living his dream of redefining Ecuadorian gastronomy.
Chulpi Urbano was born 5 years ago and seeks to show wealth, culture and history using local products and modern techniques to offer “a new perspective on Ecuadorian cuisine,” details its chef.
It is located in Ruiz de Castilla and Selva Alegre, in the Las Casas neighborhood. It offers an open menu, with free choice dishes and a cocktail bar worth savoring.
Aura, cooking with soul
Quito chef Quique Sempere, who has been a judge on MasterChef Ecuador, travels the country to discover new flavors, techniques and ingredients. He returns and captures them in the dishes he serves at Aura.
Located in Whymper and Coruña, the restaurant presents a varied menu, which surprises with exotic ingredients from the Amazon.
There are starters, main courses, desserts and pambamesas. In addition, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks of exotic mixtures that entertain diners who try to refine their palates and discover the chef’s secrets.
Casa Gangotena, Best Hotel Restaurant in Ecuador 2023
Located in the Historic Center of Quito, Casa Gangotena was awarded at the World Culinary Awards 2023 as the Best Hotel Restaurant in Ecuador 2023.
Its chef, José Tamayo, defines the gastronomic proposal as ‘Mestiza Cuisine’, which explores the intense flavors of Ecuadorian products to enhance them with techniques and presentations that elevate the gastronomic experience.
The restaurant offers an extensive menu, and each dish is presented by waiters who describe the products and the chef’s recommendations to achieve the ‘perfect bite’.
Quitu, in the Top 100 in Latin America
“Intimate and welcoming, proud to feel unique,” is how the Quitu restaurant is described, which in 2023 entered the Top 100 Best Restaurants in Latin America in the Worlds 50Best.
Quitu ranked 69th, with its haute cuisine proposal based on ancestral products and recipes.
Located in La Floresta, they serve under a tasting menu that changes according to the availability of products, thus maintaining one of their principles: environmental sustainability.
Kriollo, by Michelin Star chefs
“Authentic Creole food from Ecuador elevated to haute cuisine,” with that phrase welcomes the website of the restaurant Kriollo by Icaro, by chefs Carolina Sánchez and Iñaki Murua, recognized with a Michelin Star in their Icaro restaurant in Spain.
Carolina Sánchez is the beloved chef from Cuenca who is currently a judge on the reality show MasterChef Celebrity Ecuador.
Kriollo offers a free choice menu, a complete tasting menu that promises a gastronomic experience from the four regions of Ecuador and a midday menu as an ‘express’ version for a very special lunch.
It is located in Eloy Alfaro and Quito, where it also serves signature cocktails and traditional and exotic desserts, always with local products.
Annatto, heat of home
Fritada, potato locro, guinea pig, morocho, green and mejido empanadas, seafood casserole, fish maito, llapingacho and many other typical Ecuadorian dishes are offered at ‘Achiote Ecuador Cuisine’.
Located in La Mariscal (Juan Rodríguez and Reina Victoria), this restaurant is proud to use Ecuadorian products with low-temperature vacuum cooking techniques (Sous Vide) , which preserves and elevates the flavors and properties of the ingredients.
With excellent Tripadvisor reviews, Achiote has been a family restaurant since 2010, inside which a 65-year-old magnolia tree stands out.
La Purísima, a party
Ecuadorian finger food cuisine! This is how La Purísima is defined, a restaurant located in the Historic Center of Quito (Junín and Ortíz Bilbao).
In its internal garden it offers a free choice menu that varies according to the season or adds surprises. Now, for example, it offers a ‘Children’s Christmas’ menu, with desserts such as ‘Torta de manicho’ , ‘Spiced pudding’, among others.
“Normal people don’t eat tasting menus, that’s why Ecuadorians have the flag, the best we have but on the same plate,” says their menu, offering the plate with pork ribs, golden chips with chimichurri, fish chuzo and host candies.
We are, born in Ecuador with global inspiration
Alejandra Espinoza is the founding chef of Somos, a restaurant that offers Ecuadorian cuisine from all four regions.
“Rooted in local ingredients, flavors and traditions” is how this restaurant located on Av. Eloy Alfaro and av. Portugal, in the Bellavista neighborhood.
It offers a tasting menu and an open menu. Among its most interesting dishes are:
‘Tribute to the East’ (Amazonian bouquet, macambo, roasted chontacuro), ‘Inti’ (watermelon peel pickle, fresh strawberries in cold hibiscus flower soup, with freeze-dried cocoa mucilage), ‘Killa’ (creamy palo santo, grape sorbet, 75% chocolate ganache, fresh grapes and chocolate sheets), among others.
There are surely several places left to mention, because Ecuadorian cuisine has a lot to explore and share.
Enjoy!
