On Wednesday night in Quito we decided to eat at a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet as having good, reasonably priced real Ecuadorian specialties.  Nancy got the goat and I ordered the cuy (guinea pig).  Being a little circumspect about eating a guinea pig, I ordered the smallest serving; a wise decision as it turned out.

 Above, my order, as served, with the cuy on the bottom left hand corner of the plate.  The meat was extremely tough, dry, and loaded with tiny little bones.

Above, the serving of goat, which I (more than Nancy) found pretty tasty, certainly better than the nasty cuy.

 

The remains of the cuy, a pile of very tiny bones.

While in Banos on Friday, we saw cuy being prepared for a street restaurant.  Stopping to take pictures, we ran into a couple of other foreigners who spoke English also taking pictures of the grilling cuy.  They said they had eaten cuy there the night before and found it delicious.  So, I guess I will have to try it again - perhaps the lower cost version closer to the Ecuadorian streets, so to speak, will taste better.

Cuy background - On a day tour we took outside of Quito about a week ago, we saw a typical rural Ecuadorian extended family home where they raised guinea pigs primarily for sale but also for their consumption.  Pictured above, the guinea pigs were allowed to roam the floor of their home, the family slept on platforms several feet above the floor.