We were lucky to be able to have Christopher, our son, visit us here in Cuenca. This was his first time out of the country and we knew he would be not only tired from a long day of flying, but also a bit nervous seeing as he doesn’t speak much Spanish so Andy flew up to meet him for his arrival in Quito. A couple of hours later they took the short flight (45 minutes) into Cuenca and arrived “home” (our apartment) early evening.
I waited at home with the gatos and experienced another small, rolling earthquake – centered in Peru. It made me a bit anxious (seemed long!) so I got under our computer table! After Christopher got settled in, we spent an easy evening in getting caught up and letting him adjust a bit.
Note: Christopher is a foodie and much of his time here was spent exploring many of the wonderful options available, some of which were new for us too. This is meant to be a warning that what follows involves a lot of eating. 😁
Our first day together we walked over to our local Mercado (farmers type market), the 27th of Febrero. This is one of the smaller mercados in the city, but still has a large selection of fresh veggies and fruits, meats, small shops selling pots, clothes, sneakers, hairdressers, etc. plus a dozen or so hot food vendors. We introduced him to pernil (pork) sandwiches and fresh juices (he chose coconut and it was yummy). The vendor was super friendly and he enjoyed speaking with her and eating the delicious food.
Our next foray was a nice walk through the downtown “el Centro” area. Lunch was patacones and arepas at a small cafe we had tried just once before. The owner is very nice food is good, and portions are large – prices are, of course, very inexpensive.
We are pretty used to walking a lot, but being conscious that he doesn’t walk much in Vegas plus the altitude (Cuenca sits at 8400 feet and requires time for your body to adjust), we chose to have dinner at a place called La Chicheria which is only a few blocks from the apartment. This was our first time there and we were pleasantly surprised – the food was very good and beautifully presented, and reasonable. BTW, the restaurant takes its name from a corn drink called Chicha. An interesting flavor which can be alcoholic or non.
C’s feet were bothering him and his shoe inserts were worn out so we took him to a place in el centro that makes custom inserts (Andy had some made a few months back and they are serving him well). Since we were in El Centro again we took him to another, larger, mercado the 9th of October where we introduced him to one of our favorites, hornado – roast pig. A $5 plate of hornado usually includes a mound of meat, some mote (corn), avocado, pickled onions and lettuce, and a couple of llapingachos (potato with cheese formed into rounds and fried). CB really enjoyed this simple dish, especially the llapingachos.
For dinner we ate at Lamian a Chinese where they make their own noodles and dumplings. Lamian is one of the better Chinese restaurants in Cuenca, but not up to par for places in the states. So, good but not great.
Christopher was a good sport for the amount of walking we subjected him to, a lot for him, not so much for us. And we did take the bus or taxis when the distances were fairly far. Our next food stop was a walk to the Ironworkers street/area (Las Herrerias), a walk of about 2 kilometers from the apartment. This area is known for its many local food restaurants – humitas, tamales, quimbolitos, bolones, and a variety of other comfort foods. So naturally we stopped at a popular vendor and tried one of each: a tamale, a humita, and a quimbolito. Yummy and cheap – 60¢ for each. And boy was our timing good, no line when we arrived, but a long line just after we got our food.
We also tried a number of different types of foods for lunch. We had an Almuerzo at the Majestic [almuerzos usually include soup, main dish (with rice and salad), dessert, and jugo) for only $2-3). Ceviche at El Autentico Sabor Costeno (it self-advertises that it is the best in Cuenca – and it was pretty damn good!). Yanuncay Cafe for Tigrillo (normally a breakfast food made from green plantains, it was served “savory” with carne and became a delicious lunch; they had also just made fresh tamales which were delicious so we took some extras home for later. We arrived for a late lunch at a popular place called called Reine de Cisne that offers roast pig, cuy, and chicken. They were sold out of everything but chicken so that was what we had. The portions were huge and delicious and, of course, inexpensive, thankfully I brought containers because we each got 1/4 of a HUGE chicken). Bocatti – which is just down the street from our apartment (we hadn’t tried it because of the stigma that it seems to appeal to gringos only BUT we were wrong and the food was delicious and plentiful).
A trip on Valentine’s Day to Fabiano’s for wood-fired pizza. It was surprisingly busy and we were luckily able to be seated quickly. Their pizza is very good and we had enough left over for munchies for the next day.
We had been waiting to try cuy (an Ecuadorian and Peruvian delicacy) until Christopher arrived. We made reservations at Tres Estrellas a place well known for the best cuy. Cuy is guinea pig and this restaurant was recommended by my profesora as being the best for cuy. The inside of the restaurant is a mishmosh of items on the walls/ceiling. There is a very small “bar” (more like a small wet-bar in a house) and the atmosphere is very subdued. Our waiter was very pleasant and (since they ask when you make your reservation, how many cuy do you want) explained the other offerings. There was a lovely and very filling soup, a potato dish (also filling), and salad. Andy ordered a meat platter as well as the cuy just in case. Cuy needs to be eaten right away as it is crispy and sightly greasy. If allowed to “cool” it becomes too greasy, so we all tried it. It was very good, tastes similar to suckling pig. It’s a little challenging to eat as you get the whole animal and the plate arrives with its little face looking at you 😲. The legs are very thin and I could picture Munchie running through the house with it in his mouth! All told, worth the try but it will be a while before we eat it again, also pretty expensive for something that is just a big rat.
Our final eating foray was at an Argentinian restaurant called El Gaucho. It was a meat-a-thon with a platter for three (all different types of meats), macaroni salad, baked potatoes, and salad. The meats were delicious but very salty. The macaroni salad, which I normally wouldn’t eat, was a good counterbalance to the salty meat. There were plenty of pieces of meat leftover (I again brought a container 😉) to use in meals made at home – no need to season anything.
On the last day, we needed to get Christopher’s covid test for the flight home. We took a taxi to a small one-person lab where the service was great, the test was inexpensive ($10) and we had the results in just over an hour. Then back to the pernil place at the local mercado for lunch and some extras for him to take for later snack. I had baked oatmeal cookies so he had something for dessert too. As with most trips CB had a lot of hurry up and wait. His flight from Cuenca to Quito arrived at 9:30 and his flight to Miami wasn’t until 2 AM so he had a bit of a wait. That flight and the next were a little delayed so a long journey home. We empathize as we have done a lot of the same (hurry up and wait, then get packed into a sardine can) over the last couple of years. But he is home now and had a good trip.
The rest of our time together was spent playing cards, playing on his PlayStation, watching the Mandalorian, and chatting. We enjoyed walks, bus rides, buildings, the people and Helados.
brauner abroad 
Aloha from FL. So nice to see you reunited with your son. Thanks again for sharing with us your family time. Love the food adventures. Love all the pictures. Until next episode…
Aloha Tita! Hope you and family are doing well and (as usual 😉) enjoying life. Miss you and hope to see you sometime in the future (maybe even here 🤗).💖