Lima Day 9: Soup is Good Food

Viernes, 22 Agosto

They say that Breakfast is The Most Important Meal of the Day. I say, "Soup Is Always A Good Choice."

I took a walk in the morning and had a Caldo de Gallina.

To you and me, that would be Chicken Noodle Soup. Technically, Gallina is a Hen, but who knows? What I do know is that they are very civilized about Breakfast around here, and you can get real food in the morning.

I was meeting Alex for Lunch at 1:30. There's a one-hour time difference between Lima and Florida, so I dumbly looked at the time on my laptop and was standing on a street corner at 12:30, Lima time. Once I figured it out, I took a short walk to investigate the new supermarket that was, apparently, dropped from a helicopter between the last time I was here and now.

This place is nice and has a Buffer for $7.15 a kilo (about $3.25 per pound). Purely in the name of research, and because last night, Scott was extolling the virtues of eating all his Peruvian Meals in supermarkets, I went and tried it out.

That's some Cebiche and a Papa Rellena. The Cebiche was OK... it was made with Tilapia, unlike the Flounder that the better places here use. And the Papa Rellena was not nearly as good as the one at Per-Lizza. There was nothing *wrong* with the food, but in reality, I could name twenty places off the top of my head that had better choices. Perhaps not as cheap, but better.

So Alex picked me up at 1:30, and we headed to La Botica. La Botica used to be a drug store way back when. Now it's a bar and restaurant. I've been there many times, and I really love their Rocoto Relleno.

When we sat down, every table around us was eating Tacu Tacu with Asado de Tira (Short Ribs). I decided that 9 other Peruvians all couldn't be wrong, so I went for it. Alex ordered the Rocoto, and then a Grilled Chicken Breast.

The nine Peruvians were right... my dish was delicious. Alex was also glad that he took my recommendation on the Stuffed Pepper.

I wound up eating Dinner at around 9:00 pm. I walked over to Punto Azul, just two blocks from my apartment. In the past, Peruvians shied away from Cebicherias in the evening (apparently, because 100 years ago, they didn't have refrigerators and fish got old), but the last few years have seen some Cebicherias staying open at night. Punto Azul is in a tourist area, but there are some away from Gringolandia that are also open in the evenings.

Regardless, Punto Azul is one of my favorite places, and I am glad that they are open longer hours. I started with a Cebiche Mixto Punto Azul.

That's a mix of Fish and Seafood in a Sauce made from a base of the Rocoto Pepper. It's not all that spicy, and it gets its red from the Pepper. Delicious.

I followed that up with a Parihuela.

Yeah, another Seafood Soup. They do a good job on this. And yes, that's a Crab floating around in it.

After that, I hit a wall. Out too late and up too early too many days. I was in bed by 10:30 (on a Friday!) and slept until 7:00. Two days left... at least I will stay awake for them. Here's my steps.