Quito Kitchens Food Tour with 14+ Tastings

Explore Quito's culinary scene with 14+ tastings from the historic centre to La Floresta’s street food scene. Join our small group tour limited to just 8 guests.
Quito sits almost three kilometres above the sea, surrounded by Andean peaks and built on a food culture that reaches back long before the conquistadors arrived. Maize, potatoes, chillies and protein-rich lupini beans sustained Indigenous communities for centuries. Spanish rule brought pork, wheat and European ingredients, while dishes from Ecuador's Pacific coast and surrounding highlands gradually found their way into the capital. Today, eating in Quito means tasting a little of the whole country.

Over four hours and 14+ tastings, we'll explore two sides of the capital. Begin among the cobbled streets and grand colonial architecture of Quito's historic centre before crossing town to La Floresta, a proudly bohemian neighbourhood that becomes one of the city's great street-food destinations when evening falls.

Start with cevichocho, a distinctly Andean take on ceviche that swaps seafood for plump lupini beans tossed with lime, tomato, onion and chilli. Then dive into encebollado, the deeply comforting albacore tuna and yuca soup that originated on Ecuador's coast before becoming a nationwide obsession, one that's known to zaps the morning handover after a night of indulgence.

Next comes fritada, pork cooked slowly until tender before being crisped in its own fat. From here, maize takes centre stage. Few ingredients have played a greater role in Andean life, and tonight you'll taste just how versatile it can be. Try tender humitas, morocho empanadas and crunchy toasted corn with salty chicharrón, alongside tigrillo, another Ecuadorian favourite built around green plantain.

We'll wash it all down with traditional drinks including chicha de jora, fermented from maize using a technique with ancient Andean roots, and aromatic colada morada.

Then it's time to leave the historic centre behind.

La Floresta began as a leafy neighbourhood on the outskirts of Quito before generations of artists, intellectuals and students helped forge its independent, creative character. We'll follow the smell of charcoal towards the evening stalls, where Quiteños gather around smoky grills and plastic tables. Expect sizzling meats, and gloriously crisp fried tripe. Come ready for caucara completa, a formidable plate of beef accompanied by an assortment of Andean favourites. This is mountain food with its sleeves rolled up - hearty and exactly what you want when the temperature drops after dark.

We'll keep some of the 14+ tastings a surprise, but dessert deserves a mention. Finish with warm pristiños, curls of fried dough traditionally paired with a sweet syrup, crisp around the edges, sticky in all the right places and dangerously easy to keep eating.

Quito's churches, plazas and colonial architecture tell the city's official history. We'll tell another version through ancient Andean crops, coastal comfort food, neighbourhood kitchens and the smoking grills of La Floresta. Come hungry. Quito tastes even better after dark.

För att garantera tillgänglighet, boka så snart som möjligt. Tidig bokning är värt att överväga, särskilt om du planerar resan under högsäsong som allmänna helgdagar eller helger.

Denna utflykt kan du avboka utan kostnad upp till 24 timmar före resans start. Om du avbokar efter 24 timmar eller inte dyker upp på utflykten kommer du fortfarande att debiteras hela priset för aktiviteten. Att vara sen vid upphämtning eller avresa kommer att betraktas som att inte dyka upp.