I'm going to take a break from blogging about parades (three more parades to go), and what better way to take a break than to eat a fruit salad?
Yes, that is a fruit salad, not an ice cream sundae, although they both look pretty much the same in Ambato. Every fruit salad that Flor and I ever ordered in Ambato was topped with ice cream, whipped cream, or both.
I've forgotten exactly where this restaurant is, but if I had to guess, I would say on Calle Martinez, in between Cevallos and Vela, on the south side of the street. They have an ice cream counter at the front of the store. Most people just buy a cone there and leave. In the back they have these tables where it is really nice to rest and get out of the sun. If I'm wrong about the street address, I'm not off by much. It's within a block at most of where I say, so you will find it if you poke around.
Most Ecuadorian ice cream is more along the lines of what we would call sorbet or sherbet here in the United States instead of ice cream, so having a scoop of it on top of a fruit salad is not as bad as it seems. Of course, whipped cream is another matter... I have only found a few ice cream parlors in Ecuador that serve American-style cream-based ice cream. One is on Calle Portugal in Quito, east of Parque Carolina. And lately Baskin & Robbins franchises have been popping up in Ecuador, so you might find one of those if you live in a large enough city.
I like the Ecuadorian-style ice cream, so that's usually what I get.
If you like fruit salads like this, there is a small chain in Quito called Monserrat (there may be more words in the name, but I'm forgetting them, maybe "Frutería Monserrat"?), in the north of the city on and around Avenida America. One of them is near La Universidad Central. You sit in tiny seats, really made for children in elementary school, which is part of the schtick. In addition to fruit salads they also serve traditional Ecuadorian food. Their fruit salads seem to be their most popular item. I don't remember if Monserrat puts ice cream on their fruit salads. But they definitely top them with whipped cream.




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