Cuenca has become fashionable as a gastronomic destination in the upper class of Guayaquil. Actually, there are reasons to visit Cuenca, Guayaquil’s natural gateway to the Sierra, because of its proximity, and because we identify much more with Cuenca, by history, than with any other inhabitant of different regions of the Sierra.
However, many Guayacos tourists go to the same places, already famous in our city, without taking time to discover other restaurants that have a lot to offer. For this reason, we will try to cover some not so well known ones in the coming months.
La María is located at 516 Benigno Malo Street and Larga Street, right in the center, on the second floor of an old building.
Two brothers with their partners start this restaurant, bringing together different cooking styles each, so they decide not to make a restaurant with a specific, thematic or conceptual line, but what they call free cuisine, with a menu that constantly changes. . Every month there is a modification of your letter, generating the possibility of constantly having new experiences in the same place.
They welcomed us with mistelas, marinating all of themselves in the bar, in the middle of the room. Visiting the site with a foreigner I was inviting, I could see how he was amazed by the mistela de naranjilla.
The essence of this cuisine is Ecuadorian, taking liberties to make variations, changes or additions to traditional recipes.
The first course was an octopus locript. The locro made in a traditional way, adding chili in its preparation, with smoked paprika and octopus in a perfect term. Actually, it’s a great idea to modify this dish, as it lends itself to countless variations, like another one we didn’t try, the locro with cheese brulee, with chili, avocado and caramelized cheese brulee.
The main course was a dry pork with tigrillo. Let me tell you that tigrillo is by far a better side to this dish than rice, believe me not. Experience it in Mary. The dried pork was cooked in the traditional way, adding a good amount of passion fruit, a sauce that was mixed with the tigrillo with egg and pork rinds.
Maduro and chistorras was the dessert. A large, roasted mature, stuffed with charred salprieta or rather salprieta ashes, chistorras, labneh, grated cheese, on a bed with three types of mayonnaise, ginger, avocado and yellow bell pepper. An extremely interesting dessert, showing the immense possibilities of varying the famous ripe cheese so popular, but at the same time so malleable, that it gives infinite variations. It is almost an obligation for a cook what La María does, simple but successful variations of our traditional gastronomy, with a touch of elegance and freshness. (O)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
