The food critic makes a count of the best places that he considers the most outstanding of this year.
You can hardly tell which restaurant is in first place, which is second or third. That is why I prefer the methodology of guides such as Michelin, which qualifies excellence in different categories, to the 50 Best list, which gives positions without necessarily publishing the criteria and methodology used.
Coming to the end of the year, fans that we are of making balances and lists, I will count what I think are the best restaurants in Guayaquil in their category. Having done a similar exercise in 2018, the low mobility and development of the industry is notorious, a shrinkage and loss of valuable brands becomes evident. It is not for less, considering the last two years that this one has had to live.
There are signature Ecuadorian cuisine restaurants that in my opinion could be on any list, such as the one mentioned above: in Puerto Cayo, Bocavaldivia; in Quito, 3,500, Nuema and Quitu; in Saraguro, ShamuiCo.
Two restaurants in Guayaquil, with different types of cuisine than the previous ones, but which have the same level of excellence and are probably the best in the city, they are still Zeru y Mikka.
As for clubs, contributing with a great kitchen was before the Bankers, solo. Today the Union Club accompanies him, with a radical change in its gastronomy.
In Guayaquil the spaces for a large Japanese and French restaurant are still empty, seats that in Quito occupy Shibumi and Chez Jerome.
The best Italians are still two classics, with more than twenty years in the market. I mean The Riviera and Carlo and Carla.
As for Chinese restaurants, the best of the best is in the Queen’s Dim Sim, basically because of its excellent quality and variety of dim sum. However, as for the rest of the Chinese cuisine portfolio, Guayaquil and the country in general remain orphans of a high-level restaurant.
As casual food, the best pizzas which in my opinion I have proven are from Red Devil; and the best burgers are in Jurgers (Urdesa) and in Emmy’s, a hidden kitchen.
Manaba food is probably the most popular in the country, crossing regional borders. Casa Manaba is your best representative in town.
Thinking of the iconic guaiac dish, the onion, I do not change the one of The Little Trees and the Quarter Pound Tree. Continuing with the most popular dishes in the city: the best tigrillo, the Bolón Station; and in rice with stew, The Sartenazo de Morogrill and that of Porkysa.
Taking out the face for Esmeraldas, a kitchen with great potential but little exploited, as a great encocado is still above that of Corozo, the True One.
The best tacos in the country, in my opinion, it has them Comal; and Indian Magic It is the best in exotic food. One of the biggest losses for the city kitchen: The blackboard. Let’s hope that 2022 will be a rebirth of gastronomy in Guayaquil and that there will be new surprises.
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.
