Fine Dining in El Tingo

This morning Alan and Faby decided they wanted to go on a little walk up to the chapel on the mountain behind the house. So we all put on our walking clothes and headed up the rock path towards the chapel. Once up there we were met with a beautiful view. After we had enjoyed the scenery for a few minutes, Alan suggested we take a different path back down the mountain. And on our way back down another rock/dirt road we stumbled upon what we later found out was rated the third best restaurant in all of Ecuador! Faby was an old family friend of the owner, Thomas, so we got a tour of the place. 

We started in the front where the customers dine. There were two huge arrangements of roses (one inside and one outside) and roses on every table. The salt and pepper were in sea shells on the tables. There were old refrigerators full of bottles of wine. It was a beautiful place to eat. There was even part of a whale skeleton that Thomas had found on a beach, hid in the mountains, and then went back a few years later to pick up. Then Thomas took us out back and showed us the cages where they keep all the quail, pheasants, chickens, and rabbits that they serve. Then on the way to their herb garden we passed the little pond that the trout swim in before they are served as fresh as physically possible. The herb garden was quite large and had every seasoning the restaurant could possibly need. Once we were done smelling all the little samples of herbs Thomas handed to us, he told us we could take a table outside. So we all sat down expecting a little sample of what was on the menu that day. We were in for a surprise.

First came the bread. Three different types; white, wheat, and cornbread, all homemade with homemade butter, herb butter and liver pâté. I wasn't quite adventurous enough to try the liver spread so I stuck to the herb butter. It was the perfect complement to the subtle tastes of the fresh bread.

Then our waiter, Carlos, brought out a beautiful salad and served us all. The lettuce, radishes, and cucumber were crisp and crunchy, fresh from the garden, and the dressing was sweet but mild enough to really bring out all the flavors of the vegetables without overpowering them. To drink there was mandarin orange juice, the freshest, most natural tasting juice I have ever had. And naturally amazing.

Next was the main course: A sizzling steak with potatoes au gratin and macaroni and cheese with a sweet salsa and a yogurt sauce. The steak was on a hot rock, so it didn't stop sizzling for a while. It was cooked a perfect medium-well and expertly seasoned. Both the salsa and the yogurt sauce were great, but the taste of the steak alone was exciting enough to make you wish for more. The potatoes had little bits of bacon in them and had a rich bacon taste to them that prompted Kristina's question, "why were there only three?" By the end of the meal we were all so satisfied we couldn't possibly have asked for anything more. We understood why people drive down from Quito (a 40 minute drive) all the time just to eat lunch.

Best walk ever.

-John