El Rincon Quiteno – Holloway Road

If you are familiar with the colours of the Ecuadorian national flag then as you pass by this eatery on Holloway road, you will probably be well aware of likely cuisine within. The sign outside says open from 6.30am til 11pm but when we arrived at about 10 am on Saturday morning we were the only ones there. “Can we order some breakfast please?” I asked the lady, stood behind the counter. “OK, full English?” She says pointing to the board behind her. Sure enough a traditional English breakfast was on the list and a couple of other standard breakfast items. “Have you got a Latin American breakfast?” I asked. A chap pokes his head or from the kitchen “you want Ecuadorian food?” Two Ecuadorian breakfasts coming up! I went for the breakfast with pork belly and my friend had the beef option.

A decent cup of coffee turned up shortly after and we sat and waited, not quite knowing what to expect. The decor is simple and the place has a quite cosy feel with dark wood furniture and the walls lined with colourful paintings on wooden canvasses. There is also a spot on the wall for a photo of the Emirates stadium home to the local football team Arsenal. Indeed we were joined by some arsenal fans presumably preparing for a trip to Wembley. There were a steady stream of fans filtering past the windows filing up the local pubs.

Anyway, after a little along came the main event. On the plate was a mount of rice and beans with a fried egg, a corn fritter, a portion of plantain and a massive hunk of roasted belly pork.

The pork belly was absolutely fantastic, crisp layers of fat with deliciously tender pork meat seemed to get better with every bite. Plantain wasn't something I had tried before today and it tasted similar to banana, but not as sweet. The rice and beans were a little stodgy, but they worked well together with the other ingredients. The corn fritter I'm not so sure about. It lacked much of anything, not much flavour and a texture of wet cardboard, what it did add was yet another carbohydrate to the mix! This, all in all made for one heck of filling breakfast!

When it came to settling the bill I wasn't sure what the damage would be since we seemingly ordered ‘off menu’ but I was presently surprised when it came to £7 each, including the coffee.

The verdict
A meal that will truly set you up for the day. Belly pork may not be your first breakfast choice, but it really hits the spot.

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