Reina de la Nube — Restaurant in New York

ECUADOR 🇪🇨 Eat the World NYC review: From the outside, with an awning that has long disintegrated away, the poetic and whimsical name of "Queen of the Cloud" might only be familiar to Ecuadorians and a few Peruvians with knowledge of the history. A sticker in the front window honors nuestra señora de la nube, a story that goes back to the 1600's when the Virgin Mary appeared in the sky above a prayer procession on its way from a village to Quito. At the site of this appearance, there is now a festival each year to celebrate the events.

Back down here on Earth, this little bakery and restaurant is popular with livery cab drivers and other Ecuadorians inspired by their weekday lunch specials, excellent prices, and quick service allowing them to get back in their cars and back to work. A shrine in the front has dolls to (I'm guessing) represent the Blessed Mother, and some patrons say a prayer and touch her dress on...

Small place but seating is available indoors. There is also a bakery section that sells breads and pastries. I ordered a Bandejita Criolla and Guatita (see picture below) with Tamarindo and Maracuya juice. Everything was great. The food is very tasty and this has been the only place so far that I have found that serves authentic Ecuadorian food unlike the many others. The fried pork was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside unlike most that are hard and dry like a rock. Big portions and reasonably priced....

Not so great place to eat. I went for the first time to try Ecuadorian food for breakfast with my friend, and the dish she asked had a good presentation, but the meat was too salty with too much seasoning. Also we asked for coffee with half and half, and it was cold and with more cream than coffee. I asked for a tamal that was reheated in the microwave and because of that too dry. The lady behind the counter had an attitude and the waitress was the same. Totally regret going here, not worth ever...