Puerto Ayora, Galapagos, Ecuador

Finding a budget place to eat in Galapagos, especially if you’ve given up on cooking in hostels, was tough.

Still reeling from the price tags of the waterfront restaurants of Puerto Ayora, we stumbled across this eating place on a street called Charles Binford, 3 blocks inland.

Sharing the cramped eating space with a group of local cops and taxi drivers confirmed what our $5 lunch bill told us: This street, is the place to eat on a budget in downtown Puerto Ayora.

Budget place to eat in Puerto Ayora

Charles Binford Ave at night

We ate here for almost all of our meals.

Give the local’s favorite, encocado de pescado (fish in coconut curry) a try. For $6, it’s not cheap by the mainland standard, but compared to everything else in Puerto Ayora, it’s a steal.

And it’s delicious.

Then again, coconut milk makes everything delicious.

Of the many restaurants there, one stood out

Our favorite restaurant is this gem called K.F. Williams.

Remember the restaurant with an identity crisis in Cartagena? Well, we might’ve found one that tops that. Check this out: the owner has murals of himself painted on the walls of the restaurant.

Place to eat, Puerto Ayora, Galapagos

A mural at K.F. Williams of K.F. Williams' head

Not only that, when I asked for a menu, the girl pointed to the wall behind me.

William, William's portrait, and I

William, William's portrait, and I

He’s got the menu painted, PAINTED, on the wall of the restaurant, complete with prices. Not painted on a board that hung on a wall, but actually on the wall itself.

I imagine they probably don’t change the menu and the prices too often there.

And who do you think prepared encocado de pescado? Nobody but William himself. We recognized him right away (how could we not?). And of course we had to drag him out of his busy kitchen to take pictures.

Is it just us or is the whole thing just simply hilarious? Not to mention a great marketing stint? We can’t seem to get over it.