Eating Out In Vilcabamba

In Vilcabamba there are a number of cafes and restaurants, but the following were particularly able to cater to our vegan diet. We sampled them while we were staying at the Rendezvous Hostal (we didn't have kitchen access until we moved to our lovely casita). 

For the best vegetarian/vegan almuerzo deal in town head to the road just behind the square (there is a blue building on the corner - horseback riding service) to Restaurant Vegetariano. It is a small family-run business with the restaurant inbuilt to the family home. The owner is extremely pleasant and her lunches are hard to beat when it comes to value for money. The daily almuerzo special consists of horchata or natural juice, soup, small side salad, main and a dessert, all for $3! Please note that her daily almuerzo is not always vegan-friendly, but she will happily make you a small, but tasty avocado sandwich with a side salad. Her lip-smacking food goes quickly, so if her sign is not out front then she is closed or has run out of food. Restaurant Vegetariano is closed on Saturdays. 

On the square itself there are two cafes of note Cafe Cosmos and Sambuca Cafe. You can usually spot Cosmos by all the gringos pouring out the door and into the outdoor seating. Norie and Richard are an American couple who are building an intentional community, where they source some of the ingredients for the menu. They have succulent superfood smoothies (my favourite is the Goji-Mojo minus the flax seed) and alluring juices. Vegan options on the menu are limited, but they are happy to veganize their existing menu options or whip-up something off the cuff. Nalassa (one of the vegan members of staff) is especially crafty in that way. She also created vegan-friendly chocolate bliss balls made that are super rich. The only down point to Cosmos is the slow service, but if you plan in advance and go when you are just marginally hungry by the time you are starving you should have your food. Cosmos is closed on Tuesdays. (Norie also sells organically produced panella from her land for 50¢. 

Directly across the square from Cosmos is the Mexican-owned Sambuca Cafe. Raul & Isamar, the purveyors, are just about the sweetest couple you'll meet in Vilcabamba - they both also speak impeccable English. Most of the ingredients come straight from their organic garden on the outskirts of town. You are always guaranteed a fresh meal. They are more than happy to adapt their menu to suit your eating needs and/or create something of your liking - raw or vegan. The tempeh sandwich and guacamole are particularly nice along with their pizzas (although these can be quite dear). Sambuca's menu offers a wide choice of drinkable goodness, too. Sambuca is closed on Wednesdays. 

Raul also mentioned that soon they would have a storefront to sell some of their produce from their organic garden. Their garden produces some of the finest veg. around (especially their basil). Depending on when you visit, you can always ask them if you can buy items out of their organic garden. Angel, their gardener, is a generous man offering up whatever is ripe, mature or ready to eat at ridiculously low prices. 

The more forgettable of our gastric sampling was El Jardin Escondido. Just down the road from Cafe Cosmos (heading away from the square) is El Jardin Escondido, a hostel with a restaurant. The food and the service was nothing to write home about.

Comments

[Bill M]

In this part of Ecuador, "horchata" (the "h" is silent in Spanish) is a tasty, colorful tea made of parts of as many as twenty herbs. In Mexico, asking for the same thing will get you rice milk with cinnamon and maybe almonds.

Ecuadorian horchata can be ordered hot or cold--even iced, if you're secure about the water used to make the ice (the tea water has been boiled). Horchata is sold loose, in teabags, and, here and there, one can buy someone's personal blend.

Tasty stuff. One of my friends drinks it lukewarm with vodka in it. But then, he'd brush his teeth with vodka, so maybe he's not a good example.

[Giovanna]

where can i order horchata tea bags online?
thanks in advance for your attention
regards
Giovanna from Italy

[Jamie]

Hi Giovanna,
I'm really not sure. Have you tried putting it into google and doing a search? I really haven't seen Horchata tea bags outside of Ecuador, but I am sure there is some one, some where selling them.
Jamie x