If you have a hankering for guinea pig, and don’t know quite where to satisfy that hunger, hop on a plane to Quito, Ecuador and pay a visit to the Wasi Cuy restaurant, which translates as House of Guinea Pig.

Guinea pig is a traditional Ecuadorean dish, though not one of which all Ecuadoreans seemed to be enamored, at least not based on the response we got when we tried to track some down several years ago in Guayaquil and the Galapagos Islands. “Only those crazy mountain people eat that,” we were told, and so we had to wait until we were in those mountains, visiting the Ecuadorean capitol.

The concierge at the hotel sent us off to Wasi Cuy, reputed to serve the best cuy in the city. If you click to enlarge the flier we were given, you’ll see cuy as it is traditionally served, in a single deep-fried portion. The animal may have been gutted, but its head—teeth and whiskers intact—was still attached, so it eyed us suspiciously throughout the meal.

I sadly report that the meat did indeed taste like chicken, so the experience did not introduce me to a new taste sensation. But it was an interesting restaurant, filled with paintings of happy, laughing guinea pigs wearing traditional Ecuadorian garb. They appeared ignorant of their fate as they watched us dispatching their unfortunate cousin.

Irene and I were there back in 2001, but according to this site, it appears to still be in business. So if you’re in the mood … now you know where to go!