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One of our favorite cafes in the El Vergel area of Cuenca is La Gata.
We classify it as traditional Ecuadorian comfort food, but with some modern twists that make their dishes stand out.
In fact, we'd go so far as to say this little cafe wouldn't be out of place if they set up shop in a hipster hotspot like Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Before we get into the food, some basics:
Address: Remigio Tamariz Crespo 2-100, Cuenca 010203, Ecuador.
La Gata is very conveniently located 3 doors up from RumiSol Yoga. It's an easy 15 minute walk from Calderón Park.
Traditional Ecuadorian food, but with some modern touches and attention to detail that can be difficult to find in many of Cuenca's cafes.
We consider La Gata's prices good value. Now, you can certainly find cheaper Ecuadorian cafes, but we're happy to pay a little extra for the quality.
For example, La Gata's signature breakfast (Desayuno La Gata) costs $6, and whilst you can find a similar breakfast of tigrillo with juice, coffee and fruit in other cafes for $3-$4. But, that is comparing apples with oranges - they are of different quality.
Yes! There is a little station out the front for your four legged friends.
The following images show La Gata's delicious menu. A modern touch on some of Ecuador's most traditional meals.
We generally get some sort of tigrillo and often order their flagship breakfast, the Desayuno La Gata. The tigrillo itself has more moisture than you normally find, which significantly changes the texture and can remove some of the dryness we've experienced with other tigrillos.
Tip: They put condensed milk (or a similar sweet product) on their fruit salad sides. This can make it too sweet, so perhaps ask without it if you just like your fruit natural.
Love bolones too? Make your own bolones de verde with this recipe from Michelle's mum.
The coffee is good, without being amazing. The cafe passado is very nice as they use Cafe 1200 from Yunguilla. They use a different coffee for their espresso-based coffees which doesn't seem to have the same balance.
If you're after a finely crafted espresso coffee, we recommend walking 10 mins towards Parque De La Madre where you'll find Sinfonía.
They are going for the young, hipster vibe with enough cat-goodness to put your spinster aunt to shame.
There's just enough seating to maintain an intimate setting, without having to wait long for a table.
We appreciate the small touches like fresh cut flowers and retro lights.
The servers are efficient and caring too.
It's a no brainer for those looking to treat themselves after a productive yoga session at close by RumiSol yoga. That's actually how we stumbled upon this cafe the first time.
We also recommend it for those that either love traditional Ecuadorian comfort foods like tigrillo and appreciate the modern twist, or perhaps those that aren't super comfortable with local Ecuadorian foods yet and want a gentle nudge with something 'safe'.
Let me introduce you to one of our cats. Her name is also Gata. Not exactly original I know, but we just started calling her that and I guess it stuck. We've also just adopted a dog called 'Poopy', but that's a whole other story...
