Lima was back to normal today... bustling, full of people, and all stores and restaurants open. Today's my last opportunity for a while, so I tried to make the most of it.
I was up and out early. I wanted to get my fill of Seafood in today (I had non-ocean generated Food plans for Dinner), so I walked down to Barranco to have Breakfast at La Pescaderia.
I got there, and the restaurant was gone. Not out of business; gone. The address wasn't there. I was pretty sure that I was at the right building, but no. Just no. They can't have shut down; they were always busy.
Undaunted, I turned around and walked one short block to La Espiga de Oro. I discovered them earlier this year when one of my Peruvian Facebook friends did a check-in there. They bill themselves as a Panaderia (Bakery), but they would be more like a Deli in the US. They have baked goods like Breads, Empanadas and Desserts, but they also have a kitchen, and you can get pretty much anything you want there. And they are cheap and the food is good.
It was Breakfast, so I stuck to the basics.
You're looking at a Ham & Cheese Empanada, a Chicken Empanada, a Pastel de Acelga and a Cafe con Leche.
Although the Total Empanada Quality Quotient (TEQQ*) is higher at Per-Lizza in Miraflores, the Ham & Cheese Empanada here was Outstanding. I purchased two more to go, just in case. The Pastel de Acelga was really good, too. I don't think that it is Spinach, exactly, but only because they have a different word for Spinach.
On the way home, I made another discovery.
Yes, the sign says that they are giving away Hamsters. A great place to visit just got better... Free Hamsters! Let me know if you need the hookup.
Back at the apartment, I packed, and put together my laundry to drop off at the laundromat. The laundromat is right next door to Punto Azul. This will be my third visit to Punto Azul this trip, and I'm not sure that's enough times. I've said before that there's no reason not to eat there every day, and (except for all the other great places), I stand by that. And I'm not alone in that opinion.
On the very same street as Punto Azul, you can find two other Cebicherias, Embarcadero 41 and El Pez On. Embarcadero is wildly popular (they've recently opened a Miami branch), and El Pez On comes well-recommended, too. Here's what the three restaurants looked like at 1:30 on a Friday. Punto Azul is the last of the three. The people speak!
Seeing as how this was my Last Lunch, I ordered two of my favorite dishes: Cebiche Punto Azul and Pulpo a la Parilla.
The Cebiche this time was all Fish. Sometimes, I get the Mixed Seafood option, but I kept it simple. And the Grilled Octopus was just perfect.
That was it for the daytime. I did some farewell walking around town, packed a little more and got ready for my Last Supper.
I was meeting Sandra for Dinner. We hadn't seen each other for over a year (she lives outside of Lima), and hadn't really gotten to spend any time together for even longer. She was home for the holidays, so our schedules worked out.
We had reservations at Panchita. I had been there earlier this trip, and I had forgotten how good the food is there, and I felt like I needed to throw some more of my money at my amigo, Gaston. And besides, Sandra hadn't had the opportunity. That was good enough for me.
They started us with the Bread, and we decided to split two Appetizers.
The Breads here are delicious; It's pretty much the only place (probably in the World) where I will just eat the Bread.
Our first Appetizer was a Pastel de Choclo. The Pastel de Choclo that I am used to having in Peru is Cake-like, with a layer of Ground Beef on top. Kind of like a Brownie with Icing. This one was more like the Pastel that I've had in a Chilean restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. A Bowl of the Corn mix on top of a base with the Meat mixture. It was also creamier than the cake version I am used to. Trust me, it was excellent. The waiter cut it into quarters for us. We each had a quarter and took the rest with us to go.
Our second Appetizer was Pappas Rellenas. This was a classic version of the classic dish. We each had one of them. Sandra is a small girl, but she put away her quarter of the Pastel and all of her Papa.
For our Main Courses, Sandra had an Anticucho (in this instance, what they call anything grilled on a stick) of Mollejas, which is some inner part of the Cow which I would prefer not to think about. I have been putting off ordering my final dish until I got back to Panchita, knowing that they have an excellent version... Arroz Con Pato (Rice with Duck).
Yo Amo Pato. I Love Duck. Just ask anyone. Fabulous.
We split an Antcucho of Vegetables as a Side Dish, not like we needed the extra food.
As I said, Sandra is tiny. She had very little of her Mollejas. I ate all of my Duck, but very little of the delicious Rice. I'm not tiny; I had no excuse. We polished off the Vegetables, no problema. We had them wrap up those leftovers, too.
For our Dessert, I ordered something else that I had been looking forward to during these two weeks: Queso Helado.
Strictly translated, Queso Helado is Frozen Cheese. But it's not. It's an Ice Cream-like Dessert that comes from the Peruvian town of Arequipa. It's a cross between Ices and Ice Cream (but not quite Sherbert). Its flavor is in the Coconut family, and it is topped with Cinnamon. It's really good. Really, really good. If they sold this on street corners in Lima, I would have it five times a day. Luckily, they don't. Amazingly, we had room to split the Dessert.
If it sounds like I was overstating the quality of the food at Panchita, well, I'm not. You could throw a dart at the menu and enjoy whatever they bring you. You're paying for the privilege, but hey, it's pretty fabulous.
That's the problem here in Lima... I was about to type that there's no reason not to eat at Panchita every day, except I've already given that title to Punto Azul. And there's probably twenty other places I feel that way about, too.
After Dinner, Sandra and I walked off our meal a bit and hung out until around midnight, when I put her in a taxi. She took the Mollejas and the Rice home with her.
I kept the Pastel de Choclo, and after finishing my packing and setting my alarms, I polished it off in bed.
That's it for this trip. There will be breakfast, my traditional farewell Ice Cream at the airport tomorrow, and whatever they give me on the airplane, but this was an Excellent Last Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Here's my steps.
*Total Empanada Quality Quotient (TEQQ) is a registered service mark of www.richsmeals.info
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