Early Mother's Day at Ceviche by the Sea

I won't be home for Mother's Day, so Loretta and I decided to celebrate tonight.

I showed up at her house with a whole pineapple, and we used her new corer to cut it up. Delicious.

She had heard about my earlier trip to (and how much I liked) Ceviche by the Sea, and she was excited to try the Chupe de Camarones. I talked her into letting me do the ordering, so -- here's a surprise -- we had too much food.

We started with a bowl each of the Chupe de Camarones. This is a Shrimp and Vegetable soup that's just wonderful. The manager came by to check on us, and he agreed with me that the soup is enhanced by leaving out the habas (a large bean that's prevalent in Peru). I don't like the flavor that the beans give the soup.

Loretta had eaten the Chupe de Camarones at Astrid y Gaston (the top restaurant in all of Peru) and loved it, so this soup had a high standard to live up to. Even though she knew that there was a lot of food coming, she couldn't stop herself from finishing the entire bowl. This was my second try at this dish, and it was just as good as the first time.

I ordered an assortment of appetizers and then followed it up with one main dish for us to split. The first course contained two cold appetizers: A Ceviche of Shrimp and Calamar and a Trio of different Causas.

This shrimp and calamar ceviche was excellent. All the food here was excellent, but I will continue to point that out. I had about two thirds of this dish.

Causas are potato-based, and are used in Peruvian cooking as a food delivery device. The three we had tonight were topped with (from left to right): what we would call crab salad, shrimp (I think), and a small portion of Tuna Ceviche in an Oriental-flavored sauce which featured Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil. I had half of the first two and the entire Tuna Causa. Oh yeah... excellent.

The next course contained two hot appetizers: Anticuchos de Atun (Tuna brochettes) and Conchitas a la Parmeseana (Scallops Parmesan).

The Tuna dish was four (cooked) chunks of tuna with a chili marinade. Even though they were already cooked, the restaurant gives you a little flaming pot to heat them up with. You give me Tuna and Fire and I'm happy.

I ate three of the skewers; Loretta had one.

The Scallops Parmesan are a classic Peruvian dish. Scallops are wonderful. Butter is wonderful. Pisco adds a great flavor. Parmesan cheese rocks. Just add heat, and the sum is greater than the parts. I love Conchitas a la Parmesana. So does Loretta. I ate four; Loretta had one.

Here they are!

Here's a close-up because, well, it's my blog and I can.

As if we really needed another plate of food, it was time for our main Course.

I ordered the Cau-Cau de Choros y Conchas (Mussels and Scallops in a spicy, yellow pepper sauce).

"Let me at it," she says!

No, we didn't need to have this dish, but we would have missed out on something special if we did. This was, um, wonderful. It had eight large scallops and a bunch of mussels, as well as potatoes and peas, and probably something else in there, too. Loretta and I split half the dish, and we wrapped the rest up for her to have for dinner tomorrow.

We passed on coffee or dessert... we had nowhere to put it.

I think that Ceviche by the Sea has the best Peruvian food in Broward County, and mom and I both agreed that this was much, much better than the meal that we had last week at Mi Propedad Privada down in Miami.

The only down side to our meal was that the chef refused to go off the menu and make a Pescado Saltado (fish stir-fry) for us. I even appealed to the Manager, and he gave me a lot of reasons why the chef wouldn't do it. I didn't buy any of them, seeing as I have enjoyed that dish in some of Peru's finest restaurants, but we wound up getting the Cau-Cau instead, so all wasn't lost. Also, their menu says that they won't split checks. Not that we were planning on doing that tonight, but when you're dropping anywhere from $30 to $60 a person on food, I feel that the restaurant can take the extra minute or two to allow you to pay how you would like, especially here in South Florida where we have so many great dining options. But it's not my restaurant, and if that's their decision, then that's their decision. My decision is that I will go return to Ceviche by the Sea, and hope that they soften their occasional hard-line stances.