Cafe Colon Visited 1/17/2014 3.5 Forks

Cafe Colon Francisco de Orellana | Hotel Hilton Colón, Guayaquil, Ecuador

I wasn't sure if I was going to review this place since it's just the restaurant inside the Hilton but I figured what the heck, it was pretty decent.  This is a bit of a mis-mosh of a review since Allison and I ate there as a pool side snack, dinner and for breakfast.  Of all of those meals, breakfast on Sunday was the best - mostly because they have a huge unlimited vat of delicious, sour and tart ceviches.  I know, eating fish for breakfast sounds kind of gross but I really enjoyed their ceviche and couldn't get enough of it - it had a lot of acid and they give you tons of lime on the side for you to really amp up the acidity if you want.  I pretty much ate my weight in ceviche and enjoyed every minute of it.  The rest of the breakfast was actually pretty good with a variety of smoked fishes, fresh fruit, eggs, bacon and carving station.  You can really fill up for the day there.  I'm not sure how much it cost since it was included in our hotel package but I think I read somewhere that it was $25 - which is definitely steep but if you want good quality food and have a huge appetite, you can probably cram in 2 meals into one here. 

Dinner was a similar menu (although they do also have a non-buffet menu you can order from) but definitely leans more toward your standard hotel food with some Ecuadorian local dishes.  I had a local chicken stew with yellow rice and fried plantains.  There was a LOT of chicken in it which was nice but many pieces were over cooked and more on the dry side, even though the meat was served on the bone which usually lends to more moist meat.  The stew was a fantastic red tomato base that was paired well with the yellow rice.  What I love about the food in Ecuador was that everything was served with tons of avocado and it was no exception here.  The avocado was a great addition to the stew and added a nice creamy texture.   

All in all, given the lack of nearby walkable options, if you find yourself here for just the night before heading to the Galapagos Island, the hotel restaurant really isn't a terrible option - especially if you like ceviche.  

Photo Credit: Hilton.com