“The best breakfast
in Ecuador!” Well, that's what I was promised at El Cafe de la
Vaca, but is this dairy-cum-restaurant the cream of the crop?
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| El Cafe de la Vaca |
El Cafe de la Vaca
(Coffee of the Cow) is an isolated little restaurant on the Pan
American highway, south of Quito. Conveniently it's just the right
side of the toll road to Ambato, if you're driving down from the
capital.
This is a working dairy
and, hammering home the fact, you even walk through the milking room
to enter the restaurant.
Breakfasts are its
specialty and well-renowned. So much so that between 8am-10am you
can struggle to find a table – lengthy queues aren't unknown.
Fortunately, by the time we'd arrived at 11:30am for brunch, we had
the place to ourselves.
I plumped for Desayuno
de la Vaca – a veritable breakfast banquet that requires the
stomach of a cow to finish in its entirety.
For $11 (USD) you get
coffee, fresh juice, croissant, bread, biscocho (savoury biscuit),
nata (clotted cream), blackberry jam, fresh white cheese, and my
personal highlight huevos a la cazuela - a piping hot casserole of
eggs, cheese, tomato topped with strips of ham.
If you're feeling
brave, the restaurant serves glasses of house (read unpasteurised)
cow's milk, freshly teased from the udders of the local herd.
Also on the menu are
hamburgers, omelettes, trout, locros (potato soups) and salads.
The building is nicely
finished with wooden beams and its cartoon cow logo is plastered,
painted, printed and stitched on every available surface.
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| Colourful, cutesy cows abound |
Service is snappy, but
why rush when the views from the window are so stunning? The
restaurant is nestled between the volcanoes Illiniza (to the front)
or Ruminawi (to the rear) and there's even a paddock of horses to
complete the postcard panorama.
Travel-weary children
trekking reluctantly along the Pan American highway might enjoy a
restorative rumpus in the playground, complete with zip-wire.
I was promised the best
breakfast in Ecuador and El Cafe de la Vaca duly delivered.
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| Panorama of El Cafe de la Vaca and a spookily empty Pan American Highway |
I visited the original
restaurant (Machachi) but its popularity has seen sister sites open
on the Pan American north of Quito at Cayambe and the San Luis
shopping centre.
For more information
click here or call:
022-315-012
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