The Food of Ecuador

On September 27, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes, South America4 Comments

We definitely enjoyed a variety of food during our time in Ecuador. Similar to other places in South America, having both rice and potatoes with a meal was a common occurrence. There was also a variety of seafood and ceviche that is definitely worth trying. We mentioned prior to our trip that we weren’t sure if we were going to try the guinea pig, which is called cuy. In the end, we ended up giving it a try and we actually enjoyed it very much. The restaurant district of Quito is called La Mariscal and there are a lot of wonderful choices for trying Ecuadorian food. One of the best was a restaurant called Achiote, which is where we tried the guinea pig that had a bit of a curry flavor.

Some of the other specialties that we tried was the potato and cheese soup called Locro de Papas as well as a soup of beef feet and hominy called Caldo de Patas. Honestly, neither of those were our favorites, but we wanted to give as many local dishes a try as we could. No visit to Ecuador would be complete without at least having empanadas once, so we made sure to have a nice variety of them. Another interesting thing that we tried was Tamal de Gallina, which is a corn pastry with chicken that is steamed in an “achira” leaf. Almost every meal is served with a spicy salsa that you can add to your dish if you enjoy a little extra heat and they were all quite tasty.

We also had a lot of wonderful food at the eco lodge in the jungle, but we were too tired from our long days of exploring to take pictures of the buffet. If it wasn’t for all of the walking that we did during our time in Ecuador, we probably would have put on a few pounds from all of the delicious food that we tried. It didn’t stop with the food either, we also tasted several Ecuadorian wines and beers to accompany our meals. We definitely tried some foods in Ecuador that we haven’t seen anyplace else and were glad that we tried so many different options.

The Food of Strasbourg, France

On April 5, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn France, Recipes12 Comments

We had been in Frankfurt for a couple of months before making our first trip outside of Germany, so we were truly looking forward to trying some foods that were different. We took a train to Strasbourg, which is just across the border from Germany and is a wonderful, historic, city. Having been to France before, we knew the culinary history and were anticipating having some traditional French cuisine. After arriving, we asked the hotel to make reservations at a restaurant that served traditional food for the region. We arrived at the restaurant and they quite proudly had a section on the menu with a variety of food that were considered specialties of Alsace. Unfortunately, it was schnitzel, sausage, cabbage, and potato dumplings, everything we had been seeing on menus throughout our travels in Germany.

What we didn’t realize at the time was that Alsace had been under the control of Germany for a large majority of its history, so it was as much German as it was French, perhaps even more so. Undaunted, we endeavored to find unique meals while we were in Strasbourg and in the end we were treated to some wonderful meals. Needless to say, there was beer, but we also had some very good wine as well since Strasbourg sits on what is considered the wine road of the region. We even went for a wine tasting and purchased a few bottles of wine to take back with us to Frankfurt.

As is true with most cities, you can find a wide variety of food if you are willing to look for it. The one restaurant that we visited didn’t even have a formal menu, they brought a large chalkboard by your table with the day’s specials written on it. The food was so good that we decided to indulge in a dessert, something that we don’t typically do. We had some old favorites, but also tried some things that we had never eaten previously. All-in-all, we really enjoyed the food that we experienced while we were in Strasbourg.

Plenty of Choices for Food in Denver

On August 17, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes7 Comments

Whether on the 16th Street Mall or in the LODO (Lower Downtown) area, there are plenty of restaurants to choose from. We’ve said this before, but we are not big eaters. We do, however, like to try a variety of food so we tend to have small bites in several places spread out throughout the day. It was no different during our visit to Denver over the weekend. We ended up eating at five different restaurants before our weekend was over and each offered the opportunity to have something a little different.

When we arrived in Denver, it was time for lunch, so we walked down to Henry’s Tavern to grab a bite to eat. Because we like good service and we don’t always like to take up a table on a server when we know that we’re going to share a meal, we usually will sit at the bar for a meal, even if we’re not having any alcohol. Since we weren’t going to do any driving while in Denver, we opted for a glass of wine with our lunch. One of the interesting things about their bar was that there was a frozen strip around the bar where you can put your beer and it will stay ice cold no matter how hot it is outside. After perusing the menu, we weren’t sure what to have, so we asked the bartender for some advice. Based on her opinion, we ordered the bangers and mash, which was served with an incredibly rich onion gravy. It was delicious.

Later in the afternoon, we went to one of our favorite places called The Kitchen. We ordered some roasted beets and marinated olives, but overall were disappointed with the changes that had been implemented since our previous visit. They had raised their prices and reduced the creativity of their offerings. Unfortunately, they have most likely lost our business. After walking around for a little bit, we went to Jax Fish House. We had been to another one of their restaurants in Fort Collins, so we knew that we were in for a treat. Oysters, peel-and-eat shrimp, seafood tater tots with salmon, and seafood sausage made for quite the meal. Although all small plates, we were quite full by the time we were done.

Before leaving Denver the following day, we had time for one more restaurant and we chose one near our hotel called Stout Street Social. It was brunch time and they had some really interesting brunch choices, but we ended up selecting their cheddar biscuits and green chili. It featured a large, homemade cheddar biscuit, scrambled eggs, bacon, and green chili. Even though we were splitting it, there was still too much food for us to finish, but it was definitely a savory way to start our day.

All in all, we had a wonderful time during our quick break in Denver and part of the reason was the delicious food that we tried. We try to go to new places as well as visit some of our favorites from past trips as well. Obviously we’re looking forward to the food when we get overseas, but for now we’ll enjoy opportunities to try some new places until we leave.