Lima Day 4: Three Meals. No More; No Less

I managed to start the day without a Tamale Sandwich. Is that a good thing? You tell me.

I left the apartment at 11:00 and was out for the entire day. I had shopping, and friends to meet, and a Sauna to sit in, and friends to meet, and more shopping. And Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I tried to walk as much as I could. Not sure that helps, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

My first stop was La Botica. This restaurant/bar's building used to be a drug store (botica), so they kept the name, and I suppose, some of the fixtures. Although I guess the pharmacy didn't have a kitchen. Anyway, I ate there a couple of trips ago, and wanted to give it another shot.

I started with the Rocoto Relleno.

La Botica's version comes on top of some Potato (you can't see it, and some mix of Delicious Sauce and that Spanish Cheese That Doesn't Melt, cut into tiny cubes. It was as good as I remembered... I even used a couple of pieces of Bread to sop up the Sauce, and I really never eat Bread.

After that, I had the Huveras.

You can't really see what's going on here, either, but the fried stuff is some sort of Fish Eggs. The Onions and not spicy Red Pepper are in a Lime-based juice that also seeps into the Huveras. They're a lot better than they sound. I ate all of them, too.

And then, more walking and shopping. I really don't know my way around perfectly, but I use the Map App on my phone to get from place to place. If it isn't too far, I just walk.

After I left the Turkish Baths, I remembered that Alex had recommended a place in the area, FishIto Ceviche Factory.

When you sit down, they give you a small dish with Cancha (toasted corn kernels) and some Random Fried Stuff.

I ordered the Parihuela (Seafood Soup) and the Fried Fish Chunks (Chicharron de Pescado).

The Fish was fresh and really good. They use Yellow Potatoes for their Fries here, and they actually have taste to them, so I wound up eating half of them. There was nothing really wrong with the Soup, it's just that they raise the bar for Seafood Soup really, really high around here. This one was just about average, at best.

I took a Taxi to one of the Malls to meet Diego. I was early, so I did a bot of shopping and a lot of people watching. Well, I watched some of the people, at least.

Diego picked me up and we headed to his house, where he made me some old-school Coffee.

I usually don't drink full-strength Coffee, but Diego talked it up, and it was pretty good without any Milk or Sugar. We then went out and hung around with some of the gang, finally winding up at Pardo's Chicken.

Pardo's is a big chain here, and the people here just love it. To me, it's at best -- Chicken on the Grill, and it isn't even that great. But the people here know their food, and if they like it, there's got to be something to it. I just don't see it.

It was Diego, Luisa, me, two people who's name I now forget, and Diego's girlfriend, Andrea. She met up with us after we took this team photo.

They took drink orders. I had a Frozen Chicha Morada, which is their main go-to drink (Purple Corn Juice) mixed with ice in a blender.

It was mostly a glass of Purple Water with Sugar. Lots ofsugar.

For my food, I had the Grilled Chicken Breasts and I ordered a side stick of Anticuchos (Beef Hearts).

In a fit of reasonableness, I substituted the French Fries and Salad for Grilled Vegetables. They were delicious, but I could have lived without the rest of it. That didn't stop me from eating it, though.

Diego had the same as I, except he went for the Fries and Salad. I forgot to take his picture. The Girl Whose Name I Forget and The Guy Whose Name I Also Forget had a Quarter Chicken and a Large Dinner Salad, respectively. Luisa had Strawberry Cheesecake. I think she is smarter than the rest of us.

That was it for the day. I packed all that into eleven and a half hours. Good thing I walked.