We spent two days in Cuenca at the beginning of September 2017. It was the first place we visited in Ecuador after a month in Perù. It is a nice city and we were happy to have decided to come here.
Hostels
Hostel Bella Vista: dormitory for $5 per person ($6 on the weekend), wifi, hot shower, kitchen. About 10/15 minutes walking distance from Parque Calderon.
Food
With only one exception, we had some good culinary experiences in Cuenca.
We had a good almuerzo (recommended) in the Mercado 10 De Agosto (first floor). The menus here include a soup and a second dish. Depending on what you ask as second dish the price of the menù can range between $1.5 and $2.5.
In the famous street Calle Larga we had a very good slice of pizza in a place called Pizza XL (address Calle Larga 9-36): a huge slice here costs only $1 and is one of the best pizza we found in south america so far.
We had a memorable jugo natural (fruits juice) at the market Feria Libre (also known as El Arenal). We chose the mix “coco y mora” (coco and blackberry) and we would have wanted to drink several liters of it ! We paid $0.5 per glass: as it happens in Bolivia and Perù, you get a small refill for free after you finish your glass.
The only bad experience was in a place in Calle Larga where we ate a falafel taco, which was the worst falafel of all my life (and costed me $3). Unfortunately I can’t remember the name of this place.
Into the Kiwi 