It's one of those addresses that you pass around, or even wish you could keep to yourself. Ayahuma is undeniably one of them! Between Voltaire and the Père Lachaise cemetery, Maria Rodriguez and Javier Armijos ' restaurant has been serving up the precepts of bistronomic Ecuadorian cuisine for the past 4 years, with one foot in the past and one in the future.
The journey begins as soon as you enter this small 30-seat restaurant, with its banana-inducing colored wall and, above all, the kind and bonhomie welcome reserved for customers by the owner. Not surprising for a restaurant whose name evokes Aya-Huma, an Ecuadorian deity who celebrates joie de vivre!
As for Javier, he's brought back memories of his family's cuisine from the heights of the Andes, where he's originally from, and gives it a bistronomic twist. Let's face it: Ecuadorian restaurants are few and far between in Paris, and Ecuadorian bistronomic restaurants even less so!
So we can't recommend enough that you take the plunge at this resolutely sunny, friendly and very affordable restaurant, where quality and quantity are the order of the day. This approach is reminiscent of the restaurant Biondi, not surprisingly since Javier Armijos cut his teeth there as head chef for several years.
At lunchtime, Ayahuma unveils unbeatable menus, under €20 (!), featuring great classics of South American cuisine. But for even greater discoveries, it's best to take a look at the evening menu, which features meat, fish and seafood dishes, representative of the dual sea-mountain influence of Ecuadorian cuisine.
Corn, plantain, manioc, quinoa... the taste buds travel, as with this mote pillo (14€) based on pork chicharron, chorizo juice and semi-cooked egg; or these plantain corviche (14€) with octopus salpicon and quinoa cocolon. Two comforting starters that introduce us to specialties we're not familiar with - there's more to South American cuisine than empanadas!
Before moving on to the main courses, let yourself be carried away by the good advice of Maria, also in charge of the savvy beverages, who suggests a typical Ecuadorian specialty, canelazo (€10), a hot cinnamon drink that we could happily drink by the liter - but it's alcoholic, so drink in moderation.
Afterwards, it's hard to pass up a choice of fine meats, including a loin of free-range pork (22€) with a surprising crushed manioc and tostado corn, and a generous picanha of grilled Argentine beef (29€) with potato molo and mojo verde sauce. So many head-turning discoveries on our plates!
As for desserts, there's no deviation from originality (for Parisian palates) and tradition (for Ecuadorian palates), with a beautifully decorated brioche (10€) to dip into a colada morada, an Ecuadorian drink made with spices and red fruits, and figs with cane honey (10€), terribly candied. A real delight.
Location
Ayahuma
74 Rue Léon Frot
75011 Paris 11
Official website
www.ayahuma.fr
