Sunday Shopping & Lunch @ Hotel Colonel Restaurant

I was still on the mission of finding a proper hummingbird feeder.  I had bought a water bottle that was meant to hang in a bird cage last weekend and I did try to use it but without any results.  I had heard last night while at Joe's Secret Garden that a store over near the airport carried them.  I had not heard about Kywi Super Store and was told it was on the lines of a Home Depot.

The entrance into Kywi Super Store in the Mall

I found the real type of hummingbird feeder, a small rug for in front of the kitchen sink, and a floor mop - it was a good shopping trip.  The hummingbird feeder is already hung from the dining room balcony.  I had also bought a broom handle to 'hang' the feeder from.  I then used a coat hanger and bent it around the broom handle and made a 'perch' and have gotten birds already.... The hummingbirds are larger then any hummingbird I have seen in the States.  Their color is a blueish/black but I do love watching them.

The mall where the Kywi Super Store is located also has a Super Maxi grocery store, a toy store and many other type of mall stores.  I located a cookie store and had to bring home a small selection of cookies.

A store full of Christmas items.... I wish I had been able to bring our small tree over..

Now after all that shopping and walking around the mall, it was time for lunch.  Last Wednesday I had lunch at this restaurant with the ladies.  I wanted Ed to try it.  The owner, Mr. Don Colon, had owned a restaurant is Naples, Florida for years.  This restaurant has only been open 10 days and already a hit with the Gringos.  He knows what Americans like.  He goes to his butcher and has all his ground beef specially mixed with a little more fat than what is done locally.  That makes his hamburgers tastes much more American!

So, off in a taxi to Hotel Colonel on Maria Cueva y Simon Bolivar in the central part of the old town.  The hotel is beautifully restored and the restaurant sits right in the middle of the building.  There is a third floor glass roof to allow lots of filtered light in and soft American music is playing.  We were the only ones in the restaurant for some time.  Don spent some time with us and we shared stories of Naples and Tampa.  He remembers dining several times at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City.

We started off our lunch with a light chicken, potato, carrot soup.  Oh, by the time I remembered to take the picture my soup was half eaten - sorry. 

 

Now, Ed went for a shrimp dish that Don referred to as Scampi but it didn't remind me of Scampi.  Ed thought it was excellent and ate the whole dish.

 



I tried Don's Special Steak dish and it was some of the best steak I have had in Cuenca.  It was perfectly cooked and moist and tender... I could not have asked for better.  Don asked if I liked onions and added some grilled onions to the top of my steak.  The dish also included boiled then sauteed potatoes (they were soft and creamy) and grilled zucchini & carrots. 

 

What an enjoyable Sunday & topped off with a most enjoyable lunch.  Don, we will be back to visit you again. 

 

 

Peggy

 

 

I also learned there is a Rodeo coming to Cuenca.  That sounds like fun.  The couple we meet at Joe's Secret Garden from Libby, Montana is going to be a judge for the bull riding.  I think that Ed and I will have have to put on our jeans and head on over....