Work through the list in order. Hide the notes when you know what to do.
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Try encebollado
The coastal breakfast staple and legendary hangover cure: a rich albacore tuna soup simmered with starchy yuca roots, topped with pickled red onions and fresh cilantro.
Typically consumed before noon at specialized spots called encebolladerías. Serve it with a fresh lime squeeze and a handful of crunchy plantain chips or popcorn tossed right into the bowl.
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Try locro de papa
A rich, velvety Andean potato soup simmered with milk, achiote, and fresh local cheese, crowned with ripe avocado slices and a spoonful of table ají.
A quintessential highland comfort dish best enjoyed on chilly Andean afternoons in Quito or Cuenca. Traditional cooks combine floury and firm potato varieties to achieve its signature texture.
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Try Ecuadorian ceviche
Unlike its dry Peruvian cousin, Ecuadorian ceviche is served soup-style in a flavorful citrus broth infused with tomatoes, lime juice, red onions, and cilantro, often starring poached shrimp or black clams.
The most intense variety is ceviche de concha negra, made with black mangrove clams. Best enjoyed during morning hours at coastal cevicherías or Guayaquil seafood markets.
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Try hornado
Whole roast pig slow-baked in wood-fired clay ovens after marinating in beer, garlic, and cumin, yielding fork-tender meat and blistered, crispy crackling.
Order it at municipal market halls in Quito, Riobamba, or Cuenca. A standard plate includes hominy corn (mote), potato cakes (llapingachos), and a tangy onion-tomato marinade called agrio.
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Try bolón de verde
A baseball-sized, filling dumpling crafted from mashed green plantains, stuffed with melted highland cheese (de queso) or crispy fried pork bits (de chicharrón).
The undisputed breakfast king along the Pacific coast. Ask for 'mixto' (cheese and pork cracklings combined), topped with a fried egg and paired with black coffee.
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Try llapingachos
Golden, pan-fried potato patties seasoned with achiote, stuffed with savory curd cheese, and crisped on a flat griddle.
Originating from highland Ambato, these are commonly served as part of a loaded platter alongside fried chorizo, a runny fried egg, avocado, and creamy peanut salsa.
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Try encocado
Fresh fish, river prawns, or crab simmered in a luscious sauce of freshly pressed coconut milk, sweet peppers, garlic, and wild culantro.
A signature jewel of Afro-Ecuadorian cuisine from the coastal Esmeraldas region. Served alongside mounds of white rice to soak up the sauce and twice-fried plantain discs (patacones).
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Try seco de chivo
A deeply spiced goat stew slow-cooked until meltingly tender in a sauce built on beer or fermented corn chicha, tart naranjilla fruit juice, tomatoes, and cumin.
Despite the name ('seco' means dry), this is a saucy stew. It comes accompanied by yellow achiote rice, pickled red onion salad, and sweet caramelized fried ripe plantains.
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Try fritada
Tender pork chunks boiled in brass pans with garlic, cumin, and shallots until the liquid evaporates, then browned in their own rendered lard.
A highland road-trip classic found at roadside eateries and market stalls. Served alongside boiled yuca, steamed mote corn, fried sweet plantains, and homemade chili relish.
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Try cuy asado
Traditional Andean guinea pig marinated with garlic, salt, and cumin, then slow-roasted whole on manual wooden spits over charcoal until the skin crisps.
Reserved for special occasions and holidays in Cuenca and rural highlands. Order it at specialized countryside cuyerías; it is eaten with fingers alongside boiled potatoes and peanut sauce.
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Try empanada de viento
A crispy, giant deep-fried pastry puff filled with melty white cheese and a touch of minced onion, famously inflated with trapped hot air ('viento' means wind).
Traditionally sprinkled liberally with granulated white sugar right out of the fryer, creating an addictive sweet-and-savory contrast. A classic Quito afternoon snack.
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Try mote pillo
A beloved specialty of Cuenca: oversized boiled white hominy kernels (mote) scrambled with farm eggs, milk, scallions, achiote butter, and soft farmer's cheese.
Eaten as a hearty breakfast or an accompaniment to roast pork. Look for a moist, creamy texture where the eggs coat each corn kernel without drying out.
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Try corviche
An oblong, deep-fried street fritter made from grated green plantain and ground peanut dough, packed with a seasoned fish and onion filling.
A street-food hallmark of coastal Manabí province. Grab them piping hot from roadside stands, split open and stuffed with curtido pickled onions and hot ají sauce.
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Try dulce de higos con queso Desserts and pastries
Whole green figs scored, soaked, and slowly simmered in dark spiced cane sugar syrup (panela) with cinnamon, paired with thick slabs of fresh salty highland cheese.
The quintessential highland dessert found across traditional eateries in Quito. The magic lies strictly in pairing the deep molasses-sweet fig with creamy, salty queso fresco.
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Try espumilla Desserts and pastries
An airy meringue foam whipped from egg whites, sugar, and tart guava pulp, served by street vendors in ice cream cones and decorated with sprinkles and blackberry syrup.
Despite looking like soft-serve ice cream, it does not melt because it is room-temperature whipped foam. Buy it from licensed street vendors around Quito's historic plazas.
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Try quimbolitos Desserts and pastries
Tender, steamed sweet sponge cakes made from cornmeal and wheat flour enriched with butter, raisins, and a touch of sweet liqueur, steamed inside broad achira leaves.
The broad achira leaf imparts a subtle herbal fragrance during steaming. A beloved companion for afternoon coffee or hot chocolate in traditional Sierra tea shops.
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Try helados de paila Desserts and pastries
Centuries-old artisanal sorbet made by spinning pure fruit pulp in a shallow copper basin nestled over a bed of crushed mountain ice and rock salt.
Born in the northern city of Ibarra, these sorbets use 100% real fruit juice without dairy. Look for flavors made from local fruits like wild blackberry (mora), taxo, or guanábana.
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Drink fresh exotic fruit juices Non-alcoholic drinks
Fresh juices made on the spot from indigenous Andean fruits: tangy naranjilla, aromatic banana passionfruit (taxo), creamy guanábana, and tart tree tomatoes.
Juice bars in municipal markets make them to order. Specify whether you want your juice blended with water ('en agua') or milk ('en leche'), and ask for 'sin azúcar' to avoid added sugar.
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Try hot morocho Non-alcoholic drinks
A thick, comforting spiced drink made by slow-simmering cracked white morocho corn in rich whole milk with cinnamon, cloves, cane sugar panela, and sweet raisins.
Served steaming hot by street stalls and traditional bakeries across the highlands on cold evenings. Its texture resembles warm rice pudding and pairs wonderfully with cheese empanadas.
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Try colada morada Non-alcoholic drinks
An ancestral purple corn beverage simmered with wild Andean blueberries (mortiño), blackberries, pineapple rinds, sweet spices, and fragrant local herbs.
Historically brewed for the Day of the Dead in November and consumed alongside sweet bread figurines called guaguas de pan, though specialty cafes in Quito serve it year-round.
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Try canelazo Local alcohol
The iconic highland warming punch concocted with hot cinnamon water, unrefined cane sugar, tart naranjilla citrus juice, and a splash of fiery sugarcane aguardiente.
Sipped on brisk Andean nights throughout colonial quarters like Calle La Ronda in Quito. You can also order it virgin ('sin punta') if you want to skip the alcohol.
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Sample Pilsener and Club Premium beer Local alcohol
Ecuador's two benchmark lagers: the ubiquitous, ultra-crisp Pilsener seen at every family barbecue, and Club Premium, an all-malt pilsner with slightly richer body.
Always served ice-cold ('bien helada'). In neighborhood bodegas and seaside shacks, large 600ml bottles are traditionally exchanged with a deposit on the glass.
