Lima 51 Cebiche Bar

During the day, I had some Watermelon and the last few pieces of the Pineapple that Loretta grew in her yard.

Gordon and I had plans for Saturday. They got changed around some, and we wound up at Lima 51 Cebiche Bar in Coral Springs for Dinner. Gordon hadn't had Peruvian food before, so it gave me a chance to show off.

He said that he was anxious to try Cebiche, so we started with their Big kahuna, the Cebiche Trilogy.

(Left to right) Rocoto Sauce, Cebiche Classic, Aji Amarillo

Right out of the box, this is enough for Dinner right here. This dis was three separate Cebiches, with the first being a 'classic' Cebiche... just fish chunks in a lime marinade. It was slightly spicy, and delicious. For the other two, we upgraded from just Fish to Mixed Seafood (Calamari, Shrimp, A Scallop or two, a couple of pieces of Octopus, and Fish). The Cebiches were in sauces made from Rocoto (the red one) and Aji Amarillo (the yellow one). Those are both Peruvian Peppers. On their own, they are not that spicy, but they give the Cebiches a slightly different flavor. All three we delicious, and I have eaten quite a few Cebiches in my day. The three Cebiches were served on a plate with Cancha (toasted Corn) Choclo (giant Peruvian Corn kernels) and Jalea, which is assorted pieces of fried Seafood. This dish was $32, but the Cebiches were full-sized and cost more than $12 each, so it was a fair price for this dish. And it was excellent.

Since my specialty is Ordering Too Much Food, we had plenty more coming. Our next appetizer was a Cuasa relleno de Pulpo (Octopus).

 

Causas are mashed yellow potatoes shaped (in this case, into patties) to sort of form a sandwich. The 'sandwich' was stuffed with chunks of Octopus, and the whole thing was topped with some Mayonnaise-type sauce, and the an Olive and piece of Egg. At this point, Lima 51 was two-for-two. This was very good as well.

We then got into the hot items. Our next appetizer was Anticuchos de Corazon.

I apologize for the crappy photos. My phone takes terrible pictures, and I usually forget to bring my camera with me. To those of us in the English-speaking world, Anticuchos de Corazon are Grilled Beef Hearts. Despite my many trips to Peru, it took me while to get with the idea of eating Beef Hearts. I'm glad that I finally did. These were a very good example.

Gordon was pretty open-minded in letting me do the ordering. I gave him the option of us getting something else instead of the Hearts, but was willing to give it a try. I think that they were his favorite dish of the evening.

After all this, we only ordered one main course. Another thing that impressed me with this restaurant was that -- when I asked the waitress about some Peruvian food items that weren't on the menu -- she told me that they could make anything I wanted; all I had to do was ask.

So I asked her to have the Chef make us Tacu Tacu with Lomo Saltado.

Tacu Tacu is a Rice and Bean patty that Peruvians use as a Food Delivery Device. I like the taste of it, and I get to say, "Tacu Tacu." For this dish, we chose the most classic of Peruvian dishes. A Lomo Saltado is a stir-fry mix of Steak, Onions, Tomatoes and spices, usually served over french-fried Potatoes along side a portion of White Rice. This dish came out of the kitchen while we sere still working on the Cebiches, so it wasn't as hot as I would have liked when we got around to eating it. Other than that, it was also very good, so Lima 51 was four-for-four.

We passed on dessert.

Gordon said that he liked everything and he would return. Here he is with the Tacu Tacu:

I will also return. The food was very good, the prices were on the high end of fair, the kitchen was willing to work with you on special requests, and it is not far from Loretta's house, so I now have another place to take her for Peruvian food. I would be more careful on the food timing next time, perhaps even holding back our orders for the main courses until we were close to done with the appetizers. We were there pretty early, so it wasn't crowded. Perhaps it won't be an issue when the restaurant is busier.

Later, when I got home, I had some more Watermelon.