Mi Lindo: Ecuadorian cuisine in Doral
MIAbites loves when new contributors offer to write about wonderful local and favorite restaurants, so please welcome Maria Acevedo, who also blogs as FoodLvr , and joins us by sharing her personal visit for lunch to Mi Lindo Equador in Doral.
A few months ago my sister and I were in the Doral area running some errands. As it was lunch time we were trying to decide where to eat as this can be pretty difficult in the Doral area. Having been to a small little Ecuadorian restaurant before and craving some home cook meals like we did when we lived in our country of Ecuador, we decided on MI LINDO ECUADOR.
This Ecuadorian restaurant is inside a shopping center on 25th street NW and 87th Avenue. Currently the location is being obstructed by ongoing construction but the restaurant is open for business. The restaurant is small and if I am not mistaken, it is family owned. We went on a Saturday around 11:30 so we didn't have issues getting seated; however, the place does get busy come noon and be ready to wait to be seated. It’s weird that even though we don't know anyone there, somehow, food is what is bringing us together. It's a sense of pride.
In my opinion, service can improve, the ladies are not the friendliest. On this particular day our order took a while to get to our table as they were pretty busy.
Finally our food started leaving the kitchen. Our first dish was a BOLON.
A BOLON as you can see in the picture above is a giant (ok, I am exaggerating somewhat) ball of green plantain that has been boiled, it is then mashed up with chicharron or pork rinds (not your store bought that comes in a bag) but the real thing, and cheese rolled up into a ball. It is then fried to give it a crunch. It is delicious, this is the only thing that my 18 year old son will actually eat from this restaurant.
My sister ordered her favorite dish called CALDO DE BOLA.
CALDO DE BOLA is a delicious soup that the main ingredient is a ball made from green plantain that has been boiled and mashed up with cheese, chicharron and sometimes you may find raisins, which are not my favorite, but still are traditional in many family recipes. The soup also has beef, yuca and corn on a cob. I urge you try it if you are ever in this restaurant, any other Ecuadorian restaurant or who knows, you may be find yourself in Ecuador in your future travels.
I on the other hand ordered one of my two favorite dishes and that is GUATITA.
GUATITA is a dish that is made out of beef tripe (stomach lining) that has been thoroughly cleansed and cooked for many hours to make it soft as tripe can be very tough if not cooked properly. The cooked cut tripe is then mixed with a peanut butter sauce (peanut butter dissolved in milk) and poured over rice and garnished with green onions or chives. This restaurant accompanied the dish with a side of sweet plantains; however, when my mom used to make it at home, she would make a simple salad of lettuce and tomatoes as the side.
There are so many dishes to taste at Mi Lindo Ecuador. If you want to have a dish that offers you three tastings in one order a dish called BANDERA. BANDERA is a dish that brings Guatita, shrimp ceviche and goat stew laid vertically on the plate.
Other traditional specialties include; SANGO- a heavy soup made from green plantain purée and shrimp gumbo served with a side of white rice and a fried plantain, and CALDO DE SALCHICHA- homemade blood sausage soup. Not for the faint of heart. But if you have the acquired taste buds...it's delicious!
I invite you to taste the wonderful culinary world of Ecuador. There are not that many genuine Ecuadorian Restaurants in the Miami area; therefore, I find this small restaurant that is family owned, accessible, although, a little expensive for its location and service.
8726 NW 26 ST Unit#18
Miami, Florida
305 718 8577