Mini Review: Cafe Mosaico, Quito, Ecuador

Working from the recommendations in our Moon Handbooks Ecuador guide, Judy and I went to Cafe Mosaico on our first real night in Quito last summer. As recommended, we tried to get there early, arriving with maybe 30 or 40 minutes of fading daylight left. We were lucky enough to get a table on the balcony, though it wasn't one of the few along the perimeter railing. Nonetheless, the views were phenomenal and if I could do it over I would have made certain I got there even earlier to really savor the sinking sun over a couple of hours rather than just catching its final fall.



I didn't have my act together in terms of properly operating my damn camera, so I only got a few decent pictures. The one below isn't one of them, but I'm including it anyway because you can still get some sense of the interesting ceiling this place had -- rows of empty wine bottles converted into simple, cool light fixtures. A very chill effect.



This one, too, is a bit blurry, but if you can make it out (or better still, click through to Flickr and check out a larger version of it), what you're seeing is view of the balcony tables from inside the restaurant.



I remember having a pretty good burger and some average red wine. It wasn't super cheap, but it wasn't a rip off, either. Especially when you factor in the setting. Our server was pleasant, too, so I'm not sure what these people are talking about, because it sounds like they had a very different experience than I did.



One thing that I can easily see becoming annoying is the stream of people moving out onto the balcony to get a look and take some pictures. We saw a few people hog the scenic viewpoint a bit longer than was polite, which then creates a traffic jam around the tables while folks are trying to eat. And you can probably bank on at least one photographer who thinks he's better than he is being a bit ostentatious and boorish about 'capturing his vision', nevermind if his ass is pressed uncomfortably against someone's shoulder for a few beats. So you should probably recalibrate your expectations regarding personal space before you head over here, otherwise you could be setting yourself up for a little frustration. But if you're prepared to take it in stride and soak in the setting, I would highly recommend a late afternoon / early evening visit here for the view.



Other links and notes:

*Frommer's has a brief write up on Cafe Mosaico you can check out.

* For some sunset photos, do check out the Cafe Mosaico web site

* Or check out the 68 photos currently on Flickr

UPDATE 8/10/08: I found a video clip I took during out meal at Cafe Mosaico and am embedding it below.