Where to Eat Ecuadorian FoodQueens is rich in Ecuadorian food that’s both from the coast (heavy on fish and seafood, peanuts, green plantains, coconut) and the highlands (think pork, corn, potatoes). Not only that, but there’s plenty of choice in setting, from restaurants to street vendors and bakeries. Here are some places we love. For the (unofficial) national dish of Ecuador: El Encebollado de Victor has four locations, three of them in Queens. We recently had an excellent meal at the newest one, No. 5, which opened a few months ago at 79-09 Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights. The namesake coastal dish, encebollado–a rich soup of fish and cassava, topped with pickled onions–is a must here. It’s helpfully available in several sizes ($12-$18) and variations I haven’t seen elsewhere, topped not only with the standard tuna but also shrimp, octopus, and/or pescado curtido (pickled fish). We split the huge encebollado triple ($23; with tuna, shrimp, and pickled fish), which comes with white rice, hot sauce, and crunchy chulpi (toasted corn), and loved it. The fried seafood came recommended as well, and the camarones apanados ($22; breaded shrimp), with rice, tostones, and salad, were perfect. Everything tastes high-quality, the jugos make great accompaniments, and the staff is very friendly. We’ll definitely be back for more. For a food truck experience: Mini Picantería El Guayaquileño is the mobile spinoff of El Guayaquileño restaurant in Elmhurst (94-54 Corona Avenue), where the specialty is coastal cuisine from Guayaquil. There are two trucks actually; one in Elmhurst (Warren Street and 40th Road) and one in Jackson Heights (80th Street and Roosevelt Avenue). We’ve long been fans of the latter for its encebollado, vegetarian-friendly empanadas de verde (made with green plantain, with cheese inside), and bollo de pescado. The Afro-Ecuadorian tamal-like bollo ($17) is perhaps our sleeper favorite here: The dough is made of green plantain and peanut butter; the protein inside is fish (tuna/albacore). It’s all steamed in a banana leaf, and, yes, these flavors really work together! Eat it with the included white rice, topped with fresh lime and hot sauce. And definitely pay the restaurant a visit to enjoy a fuller menu. Honorable mention: The newer La Cocina con Sabor Ecuatoriano truck, on 82nd Street between 37th Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, looks promising, but we’ve yet to visit. For something quick + casual: Sabor Ecuatoriano Bakery (40-42 82nd Street) in Elmhurst fits the bill for quick, easy, and tasty. While the bakery has typical steam-table lunch and dinner options, plus weekend specials, we like coming here for the $4-$5 bakery snacks under the glass up front. The bolón de chicharrón, a ball of dense, mashed green plantain with fried pork, is very good, particularly paired with the vinegary curtido, and the tamal-like humita is sweet with corn. A link of chorizo with a soft white arepa turns this into a satisfying full lunch. For dessert, try a light and fluffy quimbolito, a sweet tamal with corn and raisins.
For piled-up street food:
Ecuadorian street vendors specializing in fritada (fried pork ribs) and hornado (slow-roasted pork) have long clustered around Warren Street and Junction Boulevard along Roosevelt Avenue (although we’ve seen them farther west too). La Esquina de la Caserita is one such family-owned cart on Warren Street, where a generous pile of nearly everything available–fritada, hornado, mote (hominy corn) and fava beans, llapingachos (cheesy potato cakes), white potatoes, chulpi–costs $15, and easily feeds two. An even larger portion of everything goes for $20. This cart accepts cash or Zelle, is open daily from about noon to 9:30pm, and offers a few $5 drinks too: tamarind, lemonade, coconut, and maracuya (passionfruit).
Honorable mention: Not a street cart, but pork specialist Lechon Hornado Ecuatoriano (76-18 Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights) is a good bet for this same food in a restaurant setting.
For a nice sit-down meal: Leticias (40-32 National Street) in Corona is the rare restaurant that appeals to both older generations of Ecuadorians seeking a taste of home and younger ones discovering (or rediscovering) the cuisine, who want an inviting atmosphere and great drinks to go along with it. The menu is big and beautiful, with a little bit of everything, and the high-quality food is presented thoughtfully. We enjoy the ceviche here (try the version with peanut sauce, jipijapa), the cute mini bolones, the encebollado, guatita (tripe stew), hornado Cuencano, and fritada (which is served on a delightful wooden pig-shaped platter). Interestingly, Leticias does taco preparations too, filled with traditional hornado, fried shrimp, tripa mishqui (pork intestines, a popular street food), and more. Creative cocktails incorporating Ecuadorian flavors–passionfruit, horchata, blackberry–and traditional canelazo, a warm drink with Ecuadorian aguardiente, make for fun pairings. Honorary mentions: Open since 1987, Barzola is popular among Ecuadorian old-timers, and has branches in both Jackson Heights and Astoria. We also want to shout out Sunnyside’s Floribella (45-12 43rd Ave.) and its intriguing mix of Italian and Ecuadorian cuisines, and Rincón Melania in LIC (35-19 Queens Blvd.), which similarly pairs good food with a nice environment. –LSR
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