Review: Pastoria, Latacunga, Ecuador

As Ecuador is small and easier to get around that many of the other larger countries in South America we decided the best way to see the country would be hiring a car.  So we set off on our road trip from Quito heading for the southern city of Cuenca, stopping at different places along the way.

Our first stop was for lunch near to Latacunga at a chugchucara restaurant called Pastoria.  Pastoria claims to have over 100 years of experience in preparing chugchucara and you can certainly tell they know what they are doing.  The food here was so tasty and the restaurant has an old, country, cowboy feel to it.  The kitchen is open and part of the restaurant so you can go and have a chat with the chefs and see how they prepare the food.  The empanadas here were particularly tasty and morish.

It’s definitely a place that you need to have a car to get to as you just come across it on the duel carriageway.  If you are hiring a car though then make sure you stop at places like this as you get to taste some quality traditional food and meet lovely people.