On an Ecuadorian street lined with little restaurants sits a whitewashed building with a subtle sign.
Upon entering, you are greeted by an airy room, with light grey walls and wooden floors. The “Relais & Chateaux” sign is prominently on display, as is a gorgeous pop of orange from the Bird of Paradise flowers. To the left lie the curved glass doors of the wine cellar.
The tables are white table-clothed with stone vases holding single red roses. The colour in the room compliments the various flowers beautifully arranged and displayed in niches in the walls.
The beautiful room adds a level of excitement for the meal you are about to have, and the kitchen does not disappoint.
As I had suffered through a long day’s journey (over 31+ hours of delayed and canceled flights) to meet Pete in Quito, I was very happy that the ZAZU takes reservations up to 3pm for lunch.
To toast the start (finally) of our “bucket list” trip to the Galapagos, a Pisco Sour was definitely in order!
The menu is quite a mix, honouring local ingredients and Ecuadorian flavours. I would love to go back again for a dinner.
To honour being in Ecuador, we have the guinea pig. The traditional luxury item comes served three ways, each fabulous. The first is a crispy “tomate de árbol” with a demi glacé which, like a chicken wing, comes with a “drum” and a “flat”. If I told you it was a chicken wing, with your eyes closed you would not know the difference. The second item was a “Morocho” which was almost like a tostada with a crispy tortilla topped with shredded meat. The third way was a peanut ravioli stuffed with a confit of guinea pig.
This starter was delicious and I would highly recommend ordering it. (No haters, please.)
The second starter we shared was the suckling pig Taquitos.
The five mini taquitos were stuffed with a pork confit with Gruyere and avocado, and a little tomato onion salsa on top. The taquitos sat on a chipotle aioli which had a slight kick.
For mains, we shared a Duck Carbonara. The fresh tagliatelle noodles were topped with duck confit, crispy bacon, chives and a poached egg for tossing into your warm pasta (no cream present, thank you very much!).
A chicken breast stuffed with grilled portobello mushrooms and truffles served with chicken jus, sugar snap peas, and a pea purée rounded out our lunch selections.
Petit fours – strawberry jellies and chocolate mousse on chocolate wafers – were brought to the table for a sweet finish.
The wine list is quite extensive and, as you can imagine, features South American wines from Chile, Argentina and Ecuador as well as French, Italian and American choices. We had a delightful Castile Del Diablo “Devil’s Blend” from Chile.
The service was spot on and would not have been out of place in any major North American city. I am so glad that we started our adventure by lunching at ZAZU. It was the perfect start and a great reward for finally getting to Quito!
If you are heading to Quito on your way to Galapagos, do yourselves a favour and book this gem. Your tastebuds will thank you.
Where: Mariano Aguilera 331, Quito 170517, Ecuador, http://zazuquito.com/ When: Closed Sunday; Mon-Fri – 12:30pm -3:30pm; 6:30pm -10:30pm; Saturday – 6:30pm – 10:30pm
