Lima Day 6: Who Are You, and What Have You Done with Rich?

I just spoke with my friend Shelley, and she said that I was eating some 'interesting' things this trip. Well, that came to a grinding halt at around 6:00 pm on Wednesday. It was good until then, though.

I was up early, so I took a walk over to the Mercado where my friend The Seafood Lady works. On the way, I stopped at a food cart and had a tiny Asado Sandwich, just to keep my strength up.

It was better than it looked here.


Much. much better is he treatment that I get from the Seafood Lady. We decided on a Chilcano (concentrated Fish Broth) first, followed up by Cebiche and some Fried Fish Chunks.

These were absolutely wonderful, and were sufficient to tide me over until Lunch.

In my travels the other day, I passed a Cebicheria that looked good, so I set out to find it at lunchtime. No luck, so I wound up at Surquillo Mercado #1 (right by my apartment). Outside the Mercado are some people selling stuff. One booth had a long line of customers, and they sell Conchas Negras, which are one of my favorites. So I lined up to chow down.

His cart is really clean and organized.

What the guy does is open the Conchas Negras (Black Clams) as he needs them, and then makes the Cebiche to order. Here he is opening a Clam:

And here's a video I took of him making my actual dish.

For those who don't want to sit through the video, here's the finished product:

It was wonderful. Conchas Negras is only available seasonally, and it is a favorite of many of my friends here locally. They have excellent taste.

One the way back from the Conchas Negras, I passed a Cebicheria (not the one I was looking for), that had a display case in front. The Stuffed Avocado caught my eye.

There's an Avacado on the bottom, topped with a mix of Vegetables (Corn, Peas, Carrots) and shredded Chicken Breast. This is a fairly common dish, it also gets topped with a Shrimp mix as well. It was delicious.

I passed a bakery on the way home. Passed, did not stop. Just passed. But I slowed up enough to grab a photo of some of their cakes.

For reference, 16 Soles is about $5.50.

I didn't eat again for a while. Then I turned insane.

I was meeting Fernando for Dinner, and was walking through town at around 5:00 pm. There's a fast food chain here called Bembos. They sell burgers and stuff. Sort of a local, more creative McDonalds.

Anyway, they had a sign in their window saying that the second Classic Burger was only 2 Soles. As if pulled by invisible cords, I entered, ordered, and ate. It was like my body was taken over by aliens. Aliens who eat crappy hamburgers.

Yeah, that's two Burgers with Lettuce and Tomato. No Cheese, no Mayo. I added Mustard and Aji (spicy sauce). There were also Potato Chunks and a Lucuma (a local Fruit)/Chocolate Slurpee-type thing. It was all pretty horrible, except the Potatoes (they are great here, in any form), but it didn't stop me from eating every bite.

So now I am full and disgusted, and I am off to meet Fernando. He picks me up, and we head to Restaurante Sin Reservas in Jesus Maria.

Sin Reservas is - for lack of a better term - a diner. It's neat, it's clean, it has a full menu of good food, but I'm not sure how to describe it any other way. I stumbled upon it a few trips back and liked it. I'm sure that there are a zillion places very similar throughout town, I just don't know them yet.

I started off with the Sopa Crioilla.

It's got a very tasty Broth, some Noodles floating around (not a lot), some chopped up Meat, Potatoes, and an Egg on top. I really like this. I have only had this dish here (it's a staple throughout Peru), so I have no idea if it is a good example, or if there are better out there. I was full from the Bembos disaster, but I managed to get all the Soup down.

Fernando started with the Rocoto Relleno.

He didn't just go to Bembos, so he finished his, too.

For my next course, I ordered the Rocoto Relleno. Here's mine.

Everything caught up with me all at once. I was full, and I was tired. I barely picked at my Pepper, mostly just eating the Meat stuffing.

Fernando still had no problem, digging into and finishing his Bistek a lo Probre.

I don't know what I *might* have done after Dinner, but what I did do was have Fernando drop me at my apartment. I was in bed by 10:30, and slept until 8:00 this morning. Hopefully, the Bad Food Demons are back dormant. I'm meeting Alex for Lunch today... I have a feeling that there could be some Octopus on the agenda.