La Encebollada de Don Patricio

The original. Everything else is a reference point. Encebollado from a pot that reportedly never fully cools — darker, more complex, worth an early alarm.

Don Patricio has been ladling encebollado in Cumbayá since before most of the valley's current residents were born. His broth is darker and more complex than anything you'll find in a newer spot — the result of a stock that reportedly never fully cools, just gets replenished. The onions are pickled overnight, not for twenty minutes. The chifles are made in-house from plantains he sources himself. There are no menus, no options. You sit, you get what he makes. The place opens at 5:30am and runs until the pot is empty — sometimes by 10am, sometimes noon, never later. The cost is about $2.50 and it may be the best $2.50 you spend in Ecuador.