La Kuchara

I had the bandera which consists of three typical Ecuadorian dishes. Ceviche de camarón, guatita, and seco de chivo. I don't understand how any restaurant can sell a dish that comes with shrimp and prepare it with frozen shrimp that comes pre cooked. Everyone knows that these types of shrimp don't do the job. Invest more time in getting fresh shrimp, peel and devein it. After all, we are paying customers.
Other than the ceviche, the other two dishes were good.

If you want to get a good time
Please DO NOT ORDER FRIED RED SNAPPER !! It has no flavor at all , smell awful seems like it was Old food .
We returned the plate and the cook send us back saying that we are wrong
SMH . That’s very disrespectful I don’t mind to pay for something tasteful and good BUT PAYING FOR SOMETHING ROTTEN Is not fair .

I hope the cook or the chef decide one day to take manners and behavior classes.
Thank you

We are 3 Canadian tourists who just had a fantastic meal at La Kuchara. We have never had Ecuadorian food before but I can ensure you it won't be the last time. Our waitress Anita was amazing and made the meal that much more enjoyable! Just a wonderful experience on all fronts.

The first time my family and I went to La Kuchara the food was good. We had encebollado de pescado, ceviche de camarón, bollo de pescado, caldo de bola de verde (which I recommend to stay away, it’s not their best), entraña, humita. The drinks they make are very delicious hands down no matter what day you go. Service must improve!! They have lots of servers on the floor but it takes forever to get the simplest of things like napkins, water which they don’t serve it unless it’s ask and when you do ask it takes a while to get it. Other than that it was good. Finding parking is a hassle

Update: This the second time the family and I came to the kuchara and we were very disappointed!!! The food was not edible. Our steaks were burnt, the encebollado did not taste the same, the fritada was dried and tasted like it leftover meat, my brother-in-law had to drown it in curtido so he can eat. VERY DISAPPOINTED!!!
Service again was horrible!! A restaurant with so many waiters on the floor shouldn’t have bad service. I showed our waitress the burnt steaks, she acted like she didn’t care and didn’t even offer an apology. WE WILL NOT RETURN!!!

Update:

Respondiendo al mensaje de la persona que contesto, si hay lugares donde lo hacen fresco y no contiene tanta harina que causa a la persona que lo coma dolor de cabeza. Y la comida demoró para ser servida que solo aumentó a la decepción. Tanto tiempo esperando para esa comida para 1) quedarse con hambre ya que mucho era incomible 2) para la pobre excusa de servicio al consumidor.
Se llamen un restaurante de comida ecuatoriana y el menú lo tienen pero la calidad de comida no. Hay mejores opciones en el area que está pobre excusa de disque comida ecuatoriana. Y ya el reporte fue hecho con el BBB.
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Their slogan is fresh food and as someone who frequents restaurants (especially Ecuadorian) to review and promote I can say their food is not fresh. The wrapping of the bollo showed signs of freezing and reheating and it tasted of pure flour. In addition it came with no curtido as the typical dish does. The bolon was still a bit raw as the green plantain tasted raw, the hen in both the soups was still bright pink (and the chef said it was normal), the salchipapa was disappointing as it had no salchicha just regular hot dogs and the fries were subpar, the cazuela seemed reheated as one part was nice and hot and the center was cold. We paid over $100 and left hungry because the food was just taken to go at that point.

As someone who always double check prices on the receipt I came across a discrepancy in my final charge which they did well by rectifying.

The business does not establish to consumer beforehand that they charge a 15% mandatory tip on parties of 4 or more. It is reflected on the receipt at the end. The service was fine and we informed the server they are supposed to inform customers prior whether in writing or verbally just as a fact. She went to the owner who came guns blazing. We informed her we had no problem paying it but as someone who works in the field we were informing them prior to it posing any issue in the future and she was very confrontational. We said it was fine but when another complaint gets put and someone is sent to inspect she shouldn’t be surprised as she had been informed.

The restaurant is nice and spacious but the food was utterly disappointing.

4.5/10 at best but due to the owners horrible customer service and attitude at the end brought it down to a 2/10.

$12 lunch! They took a little longer that I thought, but once my food arrived everything was delicious, the soup (chupe de pescado was amazing.

Thanks God...literally.... that this little piece of tasty elegance is an escape from a neighborhood of brick and concrete not updated since the 70s. Such a delight to see the quaint casual yet elegant decor. The deeeeeelishous authentic foods are served by kind and casual wait staff. Such a great escape.

So I might be a bit biased because I'm half Ecuadorian, but I have to leave a little love for this establishment. The other half is Puerto Rican, but my mother who is the Ecuadorian one, has been living in Puerto Rico longer than I have been alive, so I'm more in tune with my Puerto Rican side because of this. Nonetheless, I have Ecuadorian family and have grown up eating Ecuadorian cuisine. I rarely see and get to go to Ecuadorian restaurants so when I saw this spot my eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. I was only in the area because of my job and having to visit another one of our sites. One dish I always get at an Ecuadorian restaurant is, CALDO DE BOLA, because it reminds me of my godmother/aunt's food and loving to eat it growing up. I'm so mad I overlooked it on the menu. Mind you, I was looking for it too! But I ended up getting my favorite food of all time, POLLO GUISADO (they call it, Seco De Gallina). It was soooooooooo freaking good! For people who don't like cilantro because it tastes like soap, I feel bad for you. YUMMMMMMMM AF! Now I can't wait to visit this site again because I'm getting my CALDO DE BOLA next time. I went on a Tuesday during lunch hours so the service was attentive. The only issue I have is paying a lot for "cheap" food. Especially if i know how to make it and that it doesn't cost that much to make. For example, rice & beans should not cost no one's $9! The most I'd charge for that is $6. But I don't run a restaurant. And usually I'll spend $10 on lunch, I had to pay dinner prices. So it would be helpful if this place had lunch specials. Thank you Kuchara....