Hornado Ecuatoriano
“Instead of rice, most of the dishes sit on a bed of hominy – which is a big and white variety of corn.”
“I would definitely come back here and try the arroz con pollo, which I saw after I placed my order.”
“Everything was bland compared to the pork but it was necessary to counteract the saltiness of the roast pork.”
Hornado Ecuatoriano
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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We were guided to this place by our Eduadorian friends from LI. They are on Roosevelt Ave with a pay lot a block away which was a convenience and kept the car safe. The Hornado and Fritata, two pork dishes were authentic and delicious. the meat was juicy and the skin crisp…made great eating. We had sweet plaintains and Tostones as sides…One thing that is disappointing…Cuy is a national dish in Ecuador and Peru and we couldnt find a restaurant that served it. We need to return to work off the menu and try everything! The area is loaded with ethnic restaurants and it could take forever to try them all….
Love this restaurant. Had plantain ball soup and shrimp sango here，both are well seasoned and in good size. The shrimp sango contains at least 15 jumbo shrimps！They also make great chili sauce and tostones. Great place for Ecuadorian food.
I am going to speak for all Filipinos when I say that we take our pork seriously. Pork is a huge part of our cuisine. So when I ordered the Hornado at Hornado Ecuatoriano, I was really surprised at how similar it was to the Filipino version lechon. Also, I found it to be better. It tasted fresh, tender, not dry and it needed no sauce (Mang Tomas or liver). And the skin? Crispy with a thin layer of fat. Just how I like it.
The Hornado came with two corn cakes, hominy, and salad. Everything was bland compared to the pork but it was necessary to counteract the saltiness of the roast pork. The hominy had an interesting texture to it. Like I said, it was completely bland but it was strong and I grew to like chewing the thick starch. I prefer it over white rice anyway. I liked the corn cakes and the plain lettuce and tomato slices were really refreshing. Our appetizer of potatoes, fries and steak came with a spicy sauce. The spicy sauce was amazing and I put some of it on my entree but it didn't need much of it, if any at all. It was nice to just concentrate on the roast pork.
I came to Hornado Ecuatoriano with a group of more than twenty. All of us found something we liked and the service was pretty good considering we had one waitress for all of us. She even explained what every dish was. Whether someone got seafood soup, breaded chicken, blood sausage or shrimp in garlic sauce, there were no leftovers. I devoured my plate.
The restaurant decor is nothing to rave about. It's very clean and it's a typical Jackson Heights restaurant (unknown but excellent and authentic). There were holiday decorations still up from Valentine's Day. There is a small bar available and they served some of our group hot shots which were sweet and toasty. What a perfect way to end dinner and send us off to our next destination Terraza 7 Train Cafe.
Hornado Ecuatoriano is a favorite of mine for ceviche. I usually order the shrimp ceviche, but on another occasion we opted for the mixto. The shocking dark color of this ceviche was due to the conch that floated around along with the shrimp. Despite its muddy appearance, we loved the limey liquid and every drop was consumed.
Tostones on the side helped soak up the last remnants from the bowl.
My parents pepped up with café con leche that they claimed to be exceptional. I opted instead for a glass of chicha, the taste of slight fermentation just does it for me.
Food rating: 3.5
Bf, another foodie friend, and I came here because of Yelp reviews about the pork (hornado). I was super excited!
We ordered the following:
1) Quimbolitos – We actually wanted the Humitas, but they didn't have any, so we were recommended the Quimbolitos by the waitress. This was good (but I personally wasn't too impressed). They are described as "light steamed corn cakes with a hint of sweetness often sold by street vendors". The sweetness was a few pieces of chocolate.
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2) Shrimp Ceviche – this was by far our favorite. All 3 of us agreed on this. MUST GET!
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The shrimp was also served with the following:
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3) Caldo de Bagre – Catfish Soup – I'm personally not a fan of any type of fish soup. Most fish soups I've had are too fishy. Anyway, bf really wanted this soup, so okay, I'll eat it. I must say it was really good; not fishy. It was also served with some lime on the side that I squeezed into the soup, which made it even better. YUM!
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4) Hornado – I actually wasn't too impressed with the pork. The pork was too salty and tasted like the restaurant had "heated" up the pork by frying it… but I can imagine the pork tasting pretty good if I went when the pork was freshly made.
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5) Bistec Encebollado – the flavors were really good. All of us noticed how tough the meat was. Bf and I usually get steak medium rare and the other foodie friend usually get his steak medium. I would say the steak was cooked more from medium well to well. Note to self – ask them to cook the steak medium.
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6) Naranjilla – I asked for it to be made with water instead of milk since I can't have milk as I have gotten older. Still very good. I could imagine it being REALLY GOOD with REAL MILK in it.
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The dining room was spacious & pretty clean.
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I would return for the Shrimp Ceviche, Catfish Soup, and Bistec Encebollado (but ask them to cook the steak medium).
Thanks for a fun first Ecuadorian experience!
Oh snap!
I walked in with my lady friend and got grilled…you know, like the "we know you're not from around here look?" I actually felt really uncomfortable, but what the heck, we stayed.
We ordered up different dishes (the churrasco and the carne frito,) yet, they were the same exact dish…umm huh?
The food was good, not the greatest, but good. I'm not sure I would be back, but it was an experience.
Any restaurant that features a sign with a happy looking pig with a napkin draped around its neck catches my eye.
Such was the case with Hornado Ecuatoriano and, thanks to Rachel A's review, I knew exactly what to order: the hornado!
I'm an Ecuadorian eater newbie and without the power of google, would not really know what some of the platos tipicos were. While Spanish was by far the dominant language here, our waitress knew enough English to make ordering easy. (Without resorting to our butchering the language of Cervantes!)
When you step in, you'll notice Valentine's Day decorations that are still hanging. It's like keeping Christmas decorations up all year: when december rolls around, you don't have to do any work!
There are a few mirrors around the dining room too, which made possible for me to catch a scantily clad female posterior advertised on Telemundo which was on the ol' TV. (From where we sat I could look out and see "Romanticos" Gentlemen's Club across the street).
Hornado is roast pig. That's all you need to know. But it helps to know about and consume with enthusiasm, the two sides that came with it: mote (hominy) and corn cakes. (I'll ignore the salad which I didn't bother with).
According to Wikipedia, mote is the main ingredient of many dishes in Cuenca, Ecuador. I do know that Cuenca is quite an attractive spot for North American expats so if I ever escape from it all to Ecuador, I now know what to eat.
Upon initial taste I thought this was a bit bland but I'm someone who eats oatmeal religiously…so I didn't mind at all. There wasn't much sweetness to the flavor but again, not a problem for me. I found that mixing it with a mashing of the corn cakes produced the ideal flavor combo.
(And for my sci-fi aware fans, I couldn't help but think of "The Mote in God's Eye", a Larry Niven 1974 novel. Not quite the same mote…)
Anyway, the arrival of the hornado demanded trumpet fanfare. I especially liked the inclusion of the roasted pig skin on my plate. Crispy with a little bit of fat, I was entering hog heaven. The rest of the was moist and juicy and stood on its own without requiring any sauce to liven things up.
For $13 I was satisfied and ready to return for more. At this rate, the equator of the earth won't be Ecuador but my expanding belly!
Decor – tacky.
Food – decent.
Location – convenient.
Service – mediocre.
I went on a Friday and was stuck between encebollado de pescado and ceviche de camaron. I guess this restaurant specializes in food from the countryside (sierra) because I was less than impressed by the ceviche. I ordered a side of rice (it doesn't come with anything, not even maiz tostado) which came cold. The aji (hot sauce) I ordered never came and the waitress was no where to be seen for five minutes so I went to the kitchen and ordered it myself. She then came out with the aji and maiz tostado. The ceviche itself was nothing special – the shrimp was overcooked to the point where I had difficulty cutting it with a knife. The sauce was bland, but I fixed it up with the delicious aji and lots of lime juice.
I suppose I would come back if I am ever craving a seco de pollo or a churrasco, but no more seafood for me from here.