Runa Tupari

Cotacachi · Imbabura

Near Cotacachi, a few kilometres from Lake Cuicocha, Runa Tupari is not a restaurant in the conventional sense. It is a Kichwa community house, open onto a garden cultivated by the village families.

One sits around a large raw wood table. The food arrives in waves — a golden quinoa soup with wild turmeric, then black corn tamales filled with fresh cheese, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed since dawn.

What moves you here is the obviousness of it. No staging, no menu: one eats what grows, what is in season, what was harvested this morning. The family's grandmother explains each dish in Kichwa, with a young woman translating into Spanish. One understands half the words, understands through the flavours.

Runa Tupari is an absolute favourite — not for its sophistication, but for its total authenticity and the warmth of those who receive you.