Our first dinner in Quito was at the famous Relais & Chateaux
restaurant called Zazu located in the new part of the city so it was about a
20-minute taxi right away which is a steal at $6. We entered into the huge
restaurant with many different rooms and we were taken immediately to our table
which was located next to a huge group of Americans from New York that we had
just met at the hotel 30 minutes earlier. Unfortunately they generated way too
much noise for the next several hours and the restaurant was generally noisy the
entire time and the music behind all the noise didn't help. We were given some
menus in Spanish and one in English and some bread was put down with some butter
and the plates that were very beautiful were whisked away but then nobody came
to the table for quite some time and we had no clue what was going on.
They seem to be severely overtaxed and very limited with staff and everyone
was running around like crazy as huge groups entered into the restaurant to be
seated.
Ultimately our server arrived and things quieted down at least as far as
the service was concerned. We ordered our food and wine and settled down for
what turned out to be a truly memorable meal.
I was kind of surprised that no amuse arrived as this is considered the
most elegant restaurant in the entire country but that was not a problem is
everything that followed was truly delicious. Our first wine was a Catena Zapata
Chardonnay 2015 from Mendoza that arrived at the table virtually frozen and we
had to warm it up and then we tasted the wonderful acidity and gooseberries. We
also ordered a red: the Montes Alpha M 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot and petit
verdot blend from Santa Cruz Chile which had nice tannins, intense plum flavor
and really a huge body and amazing legs.
Samuel chose to order a la carte and started with the Wagyu beef tartar
fillet with capers and blue cheese foam (really a softish medium local blue
cheese). He loved the beef but he's not a fan of blue cheese and tried to get it
as far away from the meet as possible. He opened up one of the small brioche
rolls and a raw quail egg came out onto his meat exploding with flavor which
he eventually decided was ok.
His main course was a shiitake crusted filet mignon with Parmesan quinoa
cakes which he loved except he shoved aside each and every one of the
mushrooms.
Will chose the five course tasting menu which started with a wonderful dish
called Andean grains and vegetables consisting of those large lupin beans which
are more like large corn kernels with hearts of palm, tiny crispy quinoa and a
slightly spicy yellow pepper sauce with cilantro. As a reminder most of these
dishes can be seen on my Facebook page.
His next course was octopus with corn puree, chimichurri and native
potatoes which was a 4 out of 5 star dish and the only downside on his 5 course
menu.
His third course we're suckling pig taquitos which she said were okay but a
bit lukewarm; they were pork confit with guacamole and gruyere cheese and were
topped with a Chipotle aioli.
His main course with a seafood tamale made from prawn, squid, mussels,
clams and a spicy seafood sauce with maize.
His dessert with simply called chocolate and had three different kinds of
chocolates in different forms: ganache cuite 78%, babarois 40% and mousse
62%.
I have to say I think I fared much better with the seven course menu and
should mention that it only costs $50 for the five-course menu and $70 for the
seven-course menu.
My first course was a Ceviche of black clam with lemon and a craft beer
foam on top with a little teeny plantain fried on the side to clear your palate
afterwards. AWESOME.
Next came the same Andean grains and vegetable course which I was in heaven
over and gave more than 5 stars.
My down course was the stone crab without a cutter green apple pesto and a
crab salad with 6 pieces of caviar.
Cazuela was a huge single prawn with banana and peanut "salprieta" with
maize and shrimp-plantain pot-au-feu, which was a homerun.
This was followed by a dish that most people probably would think is really
disgusting, but I was very excited to try as it is considered a delicacy in the
north of the Andes in Ecuador. The empanada was filled with guinea pig confit,
maize and aji chicha reduction of corn.
Be sure to take a look at this amazingly presented dish on FB with a
gorgeous crispy tortilla with the confit and the reduction on top that was
simply fabulous and everyone at the table tasted it and agreed.
My main course was a pork cheek with barley, potato llapingacho and jus
with organic salad.
The meat was gorgeous and crispy skinned, perfectly cooked and a 5star
dish well-deserved.
Dessert for both Samuel and me was an amazing presentation of Helado de
Paila, a traditional local ice cream made a table side here with blackberries
and strawberries and of course liquid nitrogen to create the ice cream with
hazelnut crumble and meringue.
There is a video of this on Facebook which you can't miss.
Chef Oscar Camacho came out to greet us and we were thrilled to tell him
that almost everything was amazing and he welcomed our commentson the dishes
that were not such big hits. Kudos to.our server Elvis even though we had some
language difficulties it was a truly memorable experience.
