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Posted

I have been wanting to go to David Guerrero's Andes Cafe ever since it opened.  We were exploring Mexican cocteles de camarones, campechanas and vuelve a la vida cocteles last month as a Dish of the Month feature on another board and I had to step outside the lines a couple of times.

 

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This is the Ecuadorian version of a coctel de camarones - poached shrimp marinated in lime juice and sour orange, ketchup and mustard, with pickled red onions, tomatoes, cilantro and olive oil, served chilled.  Sour orange definitely has a place in a shrimp cocktail and this was very good but very, very tart.  A Mexican coctel, like a shrimp cocktail north of the border, is typically served with saltines and that would have been helpful here.

 

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The accompaniments were popcorn, chifles, the Ecuadorian term for thin plantain chips, and toasted corn.

 

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I also had the Tamal de mi Abuelita - a steamed rice and potato dough tamal stuffed with shredded chicken, egg, olives and raisins, wrapped in banana leaves.  It was served with Tomate de Arbol - a tomarillo aji sauce.

 

I've had some great tamales in Houston, Tex-Mex, Mexican, Salvadoran, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan, Cuban - this was interesting.  It wasn't bad but wasn't great, either.

 

For dessert I had the Pionono - a Peruvian cake roll with Dulce de Leche.  I had passed on the same dessert at a Peruvian restaurant the previous evening and couldn't resist the temptation again but didn't read the menu carefully enough.  The other restaurant described it as a sponge cake roll; this one was closer in texture to a pound cake and it was very heavy, more than I wanted.  It was also cold, right out of a refrigerated case, and I didn't have time to let it come to a more palatable temperature.  It was a disappointment.  I should have asked them to box it up to go.

 

A few years back I was really into Central and South American cuisines, eating at restaurants representing every nationality I could find here, and there basically isn't anything on the menu here I wouldn't like to try, so I will be returning.  Guerrero himself is from Ecuador but true to it's name, the restaurant's menu features dishes from 7 different South American countries.  But there may be a little bit of a bias in favor of Ecuador...

 

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Andes Cafe

  • Like 1
Posted

Wonderful report, Bruce.  I'm definitely going to check that out, and sooner rather than later.  Thanks.

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

  • 3 weeks later...
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