Food in Banos (Saturday and Sunday)

 

This little fella was sitting at the entrance of the restaurant we ate at for dinner on our first evening in Banos. I asked him if I could take his photo, he wiped his face with his hands, hid them behind his back, and posed. Brian gave him two dimes.

We are so grateful to be travelling with Paul and Naomi, who have lived in this area, and know some spanish. I pretty much trail behind them when it comes to shopping and restaurants, and it certainly enriches our experience here. For $2.50, we ordered full meals. The total for seven of us was $20.00. Brian's and my meal together cost $5.00, and Brian left a $5.00 tip. That was a favourite moment for me.

First course was a large bowl of chicken, rice, and vegetable soup.

My bowl was special- it came with extra protein.

Next, the dinner plate: a whole fried fish, lentils and rice, and salad.

I can't tell you how delicious it was.

 

 

Breakfast in the morning starts with juice squeezed from any local fruit. Day one we were served a juice from a fruit called "the tree tomato", and day two, the juice was made from something none of us had ever heard of before, so that will remain a mystery for infinity.

Scrambled eggs. (There are a lot of eggs in this country!)

Super fatty buns, much like a croissant, fresh jam, butter churned locally, and fresh, soft cheese.

So, so good.

The only complaint (and its a Doozey!) is that the coffee here sucks monkey balls. Good thing I worried about that before arriving (south America exports all their good beans and then serves crappy instant coffee here. :{ blech). I bought instant Starbucks packets to bring along with me here, which also suck, but less so than powdered Nescafé.

 

The breakfast is served at the "Hosteria" that we are staying in, served to us by a very attentive and polite young, Spanish speaking waiter.

The thing we did not eat in Banos was the Krusty Burger.

Although it is apparently available.

Quite high on the yummy scale was that stuffed oval thingie. It's made of plantain, some kind of meat, and goodness knows what else. Each thing on this grill was $1.00, so I asked for one of each.

 

 

The fried oval plantain thingie got split, salad laid inside,and a creamy Mayo type dressing drizzled on top. Ridiculously yummy.

The empanadas was more roll kuchen-esque- a bit of sugar sprinkled on top, and a bit of fresh cheese inside. There's a lot of dairy here.

The plantain was baptized in hot oil (they love their grease!), then slit, and a few slices of fresh cheese inside. They had me at carbs and cheese, any way.

These little apparently impromptu food stands are everywhere. I don't think you need a permit or a food handling safety course! A hot plate, pot of oil, and ingredients are just about all that's required.

I notice that the young people we are travelling with are quick to agree to swing jumping, waterfall rappelling, horseback riding in the Andes, or zip lining.

I tend to be the one shooting my hand up to try the local food. And I must say, carbs, cheese, beans, roasted corn, 89 cent pilsener beer, buns made out of lard, and fried eggs are making this old gal a pretty happy traveller.

 

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