Bolivian Restaurant Review: El Huerto Restaurante in Sucre Bolivia
by BoliviaBella.com
(Sucre, Bolivia)
Sucre's typical mondongo - gotta try it
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El Huerto, which means either "the orchard" or "the vegetable garden" in Spanish (depending on the context) is a large indoor/outdoor restaurant in Sucre, Bolivia that serves both typical Bolivian foods and some international foods.
It isn't located near the city center and it isn't easy to find on your own, so you'll most likely need a taxi to get there. It has a huge indoor seating area and two garden areas where you can enjoy lunch or dinner under big shady umbrellas. It's indoor style of decor was hard to put a finger on with large very contemporary art on the walls, a Persian rug and striped tablecloths that took me back to the eighties.
We chose to sit outdoors in the garden area. There are two garden levels. Sucre was surprisingly hot on the day we visited and our waiter set up a large umbrella that provided just the right amount of shade. Our order began with a big pitcher of cold lemonade, which was a bit on the too-sweet side, but considering how thirsty we were, we ended up finishing it off anyways. It's redeeming quality was that it was super frothy, blended I believe.
Lunch begins with a trip to the salad bar which featured a nice array of raw and cooked vegetables, prepared potato and pasta salads, salad dressings, bread and garnishings. The cooked quinoa was a nice addition and not something we see often in salad bars around Bolivia. They also had a delicious spreadable cheese that was light and fluffy, almost as if it had been whipped, that went really nicely with the salad and bread.
At the table our waiter brought us more buns and a bowl of very tasty llajua (hot sauce) hand-cut. What I mean by this is that many people use a blender to make llajua and llajua is actually a LOT more flavorful when the vegetables are cut and mixed by hand.
As we visited El Huerto on our last day in Sucre, we decided we just couldn't leave Sucre without trying the region's typical mondongo, pork cooked in a deep red hot sauce accompanied by mote (hominy) served in a mild yellow sauce. It was really REALLY delicious. We also ordered milanesa de pollo (chicken breast breaded and fried) If you're from Texas you'd call it "chicken fried chicken". Milanesa is usually rather thin but at El Huerto it is served thick and huge! The milanesa was accompanied by huge fat French fries golden brown outside and thick and fluffy inside, almost like ranch fries but without the skins. Delicious. It also included fried bananas - yum! Both plates were actually really big and either one could have easily been shared by two people. Both were delicious!
Our waiter was very attentive, patient and mild-mannered. No request was denied. The food was good and plentiful and well worth the Bs. 120 (about $17 dollars) for two people. The restaurant's decor left us a little perplexed. Not sure what's going on in the interior design department, but we weren't there to stare at the walls. The food is good. Really good. Our general perception is that food in Sucre is very mild-flavored. This was probably the most flavorful food we had during our entire trip.
We liked their giant menu too. And by this I mean literally a giant menu - almost 2 feet tall. The service is good. We liked our waiter, he was very sweet. It was a lovely, enjoyable lunch under the sun.
El Huerto Restaurante
Calle Ladislao Cabrera No. 86
Sucre, Bolivia
Fax: 591-4-642-9579
Phone: 591-4-645-1538
It isn't located near the city center and it isn't easy to find on your own, so you'll most likely need a taxi to get there. It has a huge indoor seating area and two garden areas where you can enjoy lunch or dinner under big shady umbrellas. It's indoor style of decor was hard to put a finger on with large very contemporary art on the walls, a Persian rug and striped tablecloths that took me back to the eighties.
We chose to sit outdoors in the garden area. There are two garden levels. Sucre was surprisingly hot on the day we visited and our waiter set up a large umbrella that provided just the right amount of shade. Our order began with a big pitcher of cold lemonade, which was a bit on the too-sweet side, but considering how thirsty we were, we ended up finishing it off anyways. It's redeeming quality was that it was super frothy, blended I believe.
Lunch begins with a trip to the salad bar which featured a nice array of raw and cooked vegetables, prepared potato and pasta salads, salad dressings, bread and garnishings. The cooked quinoa was a nice addition and not something we see often in salad bars around Bolivia. They also had a delicious spreadable cheese that was light and fluffy, almost as if it had been whipped, that went really nicely with the salad and bread.
At the table our waiter brought us more buns and a bowl of very tasty llajua (hot sauce) hand-cut. What I mean by this is that many people use a blender to make llajua and llajua is actually a LOT more flavorful when the vegetables are cut and mixed by hand.
As we visited El Huerto on our last day in Sucre, we decided we just couldn't leave Sucre without trying the region's typical mondongo, pork cooked in a deep red hot sauce accompanied by mote (hominy) served in a mild yellow sauce. It was really REALLY delicious. We also ordered milanesa de pollo (chicken breast breaded and fried) If you're from Texas you'd call it "chicken fried chicken". Milanesa is usually rather thin but at El Huerto it is served thick and huge! The milanesa was accompanied by huge fat French fries golden brown outside and thick and fluffy inside, almost like ranch fries but without the skins. Delicious. It also included fried bananas - yum! Both plates were actually really big and either one could have easily been shared by two people. Both were delicious!
Our waiter was very attentive, patient and mild-mannered. No request was denied. The food was good and plentiful and well worth the Bs. 120 (about $17 dollars) for two people. The restaurant's decor left us a little perplexed. Not sure what's going on in the interior design department, but we weren't there to stare at the walls. The food is good. Really good. Our general perception is that food in Sucre is very mild-flavored. This was probably the most flavorful food we had during our entire trip.
We liked their giant menu too. And by this I mean literally a giant menu - almost 2 feet tall. The service is good. We liked our waiter, he was very sweet. It was a lovely, enjoyable lunch under the sun.
El Huerto Restaurante
Calle Ladislao Cabrera No. 86
Sucre, Bolivia
Fax: 591-4-642-9579
Phone: 591-4-645-1538