The best restaurants Sierra

Located right next to the town's church, UFO offers an original menu mixing Ecuadorian and Lebanese recipes. The result is fresh dishes with a particularly good taste. The quality of the food is definitely above its small neighbours, yet you don't get caught up in this establishment. The modern and muffled atmosphere of the decoration punctuates the whole and makes this "organization" one of the best establishments of the city.

You enter in a very nice patio, the garden is superb. El Gringo y la Gorda is this nice little bar-restaurant open all day. It serves delicious breakfasts, brunches and dinners in a really nice setting. El Gringo y la Gorda is one of those places that you don't see at first glance, you have to seek it out and venture in. If you meet the owner, nicknamed El Gringo even though he is from here, he will be happy to tell you the history of this beautiful house. One thing is sure, you are never disappointed!

Despite the rather cold frontage and location a little removed from the hustle and bustle, the interior of this friendly restaurant within the Hotel Doña Esther boasts a lovely, warm decor. A varied menu of wood-fired pizzas! Pasta, French, Mediterranean and Ecuadorian specialties(fritada, quinua). A small folk orchestra often plays on weekends. Breakfast service. You can also eat on the patio. Attentive staff. Dinner starts with a canelazo: succulent!

Greeted by waiters wearing red T-shirts in the colors of the Swiss nation, you enter the beautiful garden of the Alisamay hotel, where the restaurant has relocated in 2021. Here, you'll savor tasty, typically Swiss dishes. Cheese boards, soups (cream of pumpkin, tomato, etc.), potato pancakes, fondues, cheese raclette... A complete change of scene! You'll also appreciate the friendly, relaxed atmosphere, which can get very lively on evenings and weekends. A popular address!

In this unpretentious restaurant, with its kitschy Italian decoration and hypnotic wall colours, you can enjoy very good Italian food. The pizzas are generous and excellent (they are even said to be the best in town). Juan and his team welcome you with a smile and prepare pizzas and lasagna on a wood fire. The lasagna is simply exquisite and Juan offers a homemade hot sauce that goes perfectly with it. The service is fast and friendly.

This cafeteria is crowded every morning for its copious breakfasts (müesli, eggs, fruit pancakes, honeyed yoghurts, home-made breads, good coffee, fresh fruit salad...). In a friendly atmosphere (wooden tables and benches), you choose your formula from the menu written in all languages on the wall. The service is fast. A tip: try the "Special pancake", a giant pancake filled with fresh tropical fruit. You can also buy various breads and cakes here. For late risers, service ends early on Sundays.

A room with frescoed walls and large tables: welcome to the gourmet canteen! The decor is rather rustic, but the atmosphere is family and joyful. The waiters are busy satisfying the customers, who all appreciate this place where a gastronomy worthy of the name is served. Tiesto's has built up an excellent reputation through word of mouth. The recipes are traditional and have that little something that makes them unique. The owner, who is very friendly, will be able to advise you.

This is a very popular restaurant where you can enjoy good local food. The menu offers a wide selection of dishes: meat, fish (trout, corvina...), pasta and house specialties. Nice decoration with Andean colours and live music some evenings. Johanna is very friendly and will perhaps make you discover dishes for which she alone has the recipe, do not hesitate to ask her. The chimney is a real advantage on rainy days, take one of the nearby tables and your clothes will dry during the meal!

This restaurant, located next to the Posada del Angel, offers an excellent à la carte menu with Italian flavours. The hotel is mainly famous for its artisanal pasta and wine list (mainly Chilean and Argentinian). Excellent value for money.

Next to the cathedral, under the arcades of the gallery and facing the Calderon Park, this traditional restaurant is very popular, especially with tourists. The menu offers typical dishes and tasty almuerzos (locro de papas, fried meat or fish with filling/menestra, etc.). The breakfasts are very copious and very cheap. (5 US$) Beware, enjoying its location and reputation, the place can be a bit too touristy for some time and the prices are affected. Professional service otherwise.

A great option for an economical meal in the heart of Cuenca. This vegetarian restaurant offers almuerzos and an amazing choice of juices and batidos with evocative names: natural viagra, back to life... Also fruit cups and ice creams. The house motto is inspired by Hippocrates: "Let food be your medicine and medicine your food". The place isn't glamorous, but the dishes are well prepared and the ingredients very fresh and often organic. Three other addresses in the city center.

In a beautiful old house, hidden in a flowery garden, this elegant restaurant offers traditional cuisine. You can eat outside or in the warm room where a fire is crackling. It is also a historical place that once hosted the libertador Simon Bolívar. On July 5, 1822, after having undertaken the ascent of Chimborazo, the illustrious general finished his famous poem " Delirium on Chimborazo ", which he started at the hacienda la Andaluza. Often full on weekends when folklore groups perform.

Casa Hortensia, new name since the pandemic of a restaurant that was almost an institution in Cuenca, La Quinta. It is still a very good address to taste typical dishes. If you want to taste a good seco de pollo or a ceviche, you will not be disappointed. For dessert, the cheesecake revisited with passion fruits is simply to fall. Casa Hortensia is already a sure value, it is moreover one of the addresses that the inhabitants of Cuenca willingly recommend. Nice setting and friendly staff.

If you're craving Indian flavors during your stay in Baños, don't hesitate: you're entering India through the front door. The welcome is, of course, as welcoming as you could wish for, and the dishes are up to the task. Chicken curries, lamb curries, fish curries, shrimp curries, everything is excellent. Beware of the spicy dishes, which are really quite spicy and should be reserved for more experienced palates. Vegetarians love this place, which offers them a vast choice.

La Taberna is a Tex-Mex restaurant that has been open for about ten years. Run by a young Ecuadorian who speaks French (he lived in Paris for several years). Warm welcome and good small cooked dishes. We recommend the hamburgers! For more intimacy, go upstairs. One of the favorite places of travelers in the evening. Note that the parchita cheesecake, a passion fruit cheesecake is homemade and particularly tasty. Since the pandemic, it is possible to have it delivered to your hotel in less than 30 minutes.

In the patio of the Saint Luis seminary, Thomas, a chef from Saint Léger sous Cholet, has opened a real French restaurant which offers, in addition to excellent croissants for breakfast, a nice menu of traditional dishes. Beef bourguignon, cassoulet or shepherd's pie are on the program and the quality is there. We like to meet here, in a very relaxed atmosphere, to have a copious French breakfast and to prepare our day of visit of the city. The place is charming and worth a visit.

The Good café is a genuine restaurant offering a wide selection of international and/or vegetarian dishes at unbeatable prices. You'll also find good, inexpensive breakfasts and alcoholic beverages. Many backpackers meet up in this friendly place to swap books and travel tips. And the adjoining hostal also seems to be popular with young travelers, who like to leave their backpacks here and don't require top-of-the-range comfort.

The eponymous hotel has a rustic yet elegant restaurant decorated with paintings by renowned Ecuadorian artists. It serves fine European and Ecuadorian cuisine in a beautiful setting (with a view that is worth the trip alone). On site, you will also find the Café del Cielo which offers more than 30 different varieties of coffee, sandwiches, crepes, salads, snacks and cocktails. The view of Tungurahua, the city of Baños and the Llanganates National Park is absolutely spectacular, day and night.

This restaurant, located in the most fashionable street of Baños, inevitably attracts… tourists! The place has no great interest - neither the room, the garden nor the reception stands apart from other establishments - but the food is good and very healthy. Here you can enjoy a good trout with plancha rice and vegetables, or a beautiful, colourful, colourful salad. One of the most expensive in its category, but in the end the prices are reasonable.

This wooden hut is a local fast-food restaurant that sells (take away) different burgers. They are very good, and the queue is proof of that. Veg', chicken, beef... you have the choice. Perfect if you're feeling peckish in the late afternoon after a busy day. On Mondays, the drink is free and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you don't have to pay for the fries if you follow the place on social networks. A new location has opened on Eloy Alfaro Street, where you can enjoy the burgers on the spot.