LIMA DAY 8: La Picanteria and NOT a Greasy Mess

Saturday, December 20

My Breakfast consisted of two Papa Rellenas from a place on the street.

I had plans to meet my friend Jenny for Lunch. She's famous over here, so I can't take her to a dump.

For a couple of trips now, I had been wanting to try La Picanteria. It has a great reputation -- the Chef/Owner/Whatever is the son of the guy who runs Fiesta Gourmet, which is one of the best places around.

La pIcanteria is a Cebicheria, but is is one of the 'new' types - every thing is fancy, or fusion, or something. Whatever. It has a good rep, and it is popular.

So popular, that they don't take reservations and there was a 50-minute wait when I arrived at 1:30. Jenny showed up a few minutes later, and we decided to wait at the bar with a glass of Juice for each of us.

We finally got seated (I told her that we should get seated right away because she is on television and stuff, but she overruled me), and looked at the menu. It's a nice menu, except for the no prices on the menu part. I guess if you have to ask....

Anyway, we decided to share Lunch. We started with a Scallop Cebiche and a Parihuela. But first, here's me & Jenny.

Jenny just loves taking Blog Photos. But then again, she's a model.

The Scallops were huge, fresh and delicious. I could have eaten 1,000 of them and been done for the day. The Parihuela - Seafood Soup - was huge, and there was plenty to share. A bonus, as far as I'm concerned, was the arrival on Clams on the Parihuela scene - a welcome addition. This was a fantastic bowl of Soup.

For our third dish, we had what the Menu called a Jalea Norteno. What it was was a fried Filet with a tasty sauce and some Potatoes, Onions and maybe Yucca (I don't remember). It was also delicious.

Not only was it all delicious, it was all expensive. The three dishes, three Juices and a Bottle of Water came to just around $70. I would go back, but not every day.

We exchanged Christmas gifts, and she was on her way.

Later, at the apartment, I had some Frozen Grapes.

I didn't eat anything else until around midnight, when I walked down to Pizza Alley. I was going to get something at La Lucha, but the line looked like it would be an hour, so I walked 100 feet down the street to Republica. They have Sandwiches, they have Salcipapas, they have lots of Peruvian Stuff.

I wound up ordering the Salchipapas de Lomo. Normally, Salchipapas are French Fried topped with a Hot Dog, and if you are lucky, a Fried Egg. This was an Upscale Version, so it had Fries, Sauteed Beef (sort of like from a Cheesesteak), Cheese and TWO Fried Eggs.

In the photo, it looks like a Greasy Mess. In real life, it was just a Mess, and not that greasy. The Meat was good, the Egg was good, I could have lived without the Cheese, and I love the Peruvian Yellow Potato Fries. A fine meal.

Then I gambled some more. Here's my steps for the day.