Page 2 of 4 Food in Banos, Ecuador
Baños, being a tourist town, offers more restaurant variety than almost any other city in Ecuador, ranging from traditional Ecuadorian fare to European cuisine like French, German, and Italian.
For breakfast, the best option is the smaller restaurants surrounding the Parque Central. "Desayuno" (breakfast) was 1 USD and included 2 eggs, bread, fresh squeezed juice and coffee or tea.
Lunch and dinner offer more varied options. Casa Vieja de Dusseldorf, along the main street, implied German food, but actually didn’t offer any German food. The food was average and expensive (for Ecuador). The entrees range in price from about 3 to 3.50 USD and a 10% tax is charged.
Donde Marcello is a candlelit Italian restaurant catering to tourists, and the food is very good. The menu included pastas, and pizza that is served in the traditional European size using local goat cheeses. A meal with a couple beers runs about 5 USD. At this and many other restaurants, there were local Andean musicians playing, easily identified by the classic pan flutes.
Regine Café Alemán became one of our favorite restaurants that we visited multiple times during our stay. It is owned by an expatriate German couple, and offers a large menu including Hungarian Goulash, Kartoffelnpuffer (potato pancakes) with ham and cheese, schnitzels, chicken dishes and a variety of other Germanic specialties. The presentation, sauce, spices, and quantity were excellent and the pace was slow and relaxing. Dinners ran about 6 USD with wine and/or beer.
Kikataro Restaurant offers a good "almuerzo" (lunch) for 1.50 USD, including chicken soup, roast chicken, rice, french fries and a desert of bananas with grenadine syrup. It was tasty but the small portions were not very filling.
Le Petit, is one of the
three French restaurants in town, and keeping with French tradition, the food was
good but the prices were expensive (8 USD) and the service was snarly. Just like
in France! We ate on the patio which has a stone floor, window walls and lots of
plants.
pic 14 here
Nightlife in Baños, Ecuador
There are two types of bars in Baños – the traditional Ecuadorian type where you can see live Andean music and dancing, or the more touristy bars that play rock ‘n roll and offer mixed drinks and pool tables. We visited a mix of these places over our stay.
There is a Hard Rock Café in Baños, but it an obvious imitation of the bar chain throughout the world. Inside is a small one room bar with a pool table in the back. American music, language and posters filled the room. This is a good place to meet fellow travelers, but don’t expect any unusual experiences.
The Bamboo bar is housed in a tiny all-bamboo building which makes for a unique atmosphere. However, the drinks are expensive and the people are just a little too friendly, while the waiter kept pestering us to buy more drinks.
We also had the opportunity to fall into a tourist trap. While wandering around looking for the next bar, we were approached by some teenagers who suggested we go with them to their favorite bar, where we would hear a live Andean band. We asked about a cover and were told that there was none. When we got there, there was another group of tourists about to leave and no music playing. We sat at a table with the teenagers and some other Ecuadorians. They ordered a large spiced alcoholic drink (which was quite good), and then informed us that it cost 15000 sucres (10 USD), as well as a 10000 (8 USD) sucre cover charge per person. The band began to play (they apparently only played when there were tourists there), but we got up to leave and began a small argument with our hosts. It was not as much the issue of money as the fact that they told us there was no cover. In addition, we didn’t like them ordering a very expensive drink for us without explaining the cost. We ended up paying for the drink and quickly leaving. Situations like this require you to know some Spanish to get out of trouble.
The evening goes long in Baños, and we did find a traditional bar called the Pipas bar. Inside the walls and ceiling are covered with psychedelic 1960’s style abstract artwork. Huddled around the band were about 10 2-person wooden benches and some small pine tables. The traditional folk band that played was the best we heard in Ecuador. They played the saxophone, trumpet, pan flutes, acoustic guitar, electric bass, and drums. People in the audience were welcome to join in and jam with the band. Many people sang and clapped along. It was a great bar - the band was talented and the surroundings were relaxed and friendly.
Baños definitely has a hippie feeling, and this extended to the nightlife. Keeping with the hippie sentiment, marijuana is available from characters on the street selling pipes and other trinkets. 7.50 USD buys a pipe and about 2-3 grams of mediocre smoke. Drug use in Ecuador is discreet. Unlike it’s neighbors, Peru and Columbia, drugs are hard to find in Ecuador. Baños was the only town in Ecuador that seemed to cater to this element of society.