LIMA DAY 7: Octopus Cebiche

Friday, December 19

I was going to say that I did not eat a lot today, but my first sentence is going to be, "On the way to Breakfast, I had a...", so I am not sure it qualifies.

It was pretty much Lima is One Big Food Court in the daytime, and Dinner at night.

On the way to Breakfast, I had a Pastel de Acelga from a cart on the street. As far as I can figure, this ia a Spinach Pie. It's pretty great.

Thatr kept me going until I got to Surquillo Mercado #2, where I visited the Seafood Lady.

I told her that I wanted a Cebiche with Octopus and Scallops. She is nothing if not agreeable. First she started me out with a Chilcano.

That's a Soup made from a strong Fish Stock, with Fish and a little bit of Seafood inside, just for good measure. Then, the Cebiche was ready.

She couldn't resist, so there was a little bit of Fish in there with the Octopus and Scallops. Absolutely delicious. Not nearly as fancy as the expensive places, but just what I wanted, and all with a big smile... for nine bucks.

While wandering around, I realized it had been hours sine I went to the Empanada place, Per-Lizza. I popped over and had three of them with a Cafe con Leche.

If I ate everything every day that I said that I could eat every day, I would be one full hombre. But I could eat those every day.

A little bit later, I went to Pardo's Chicken (they are next door to my apartment building) and got an order of Anticuchos (Beef Hearts on a stick) and French Fries. I took them to the house to eat.

I don't know what I was thinking. I only had one stick of the Hearts, and about half the Fries. I tossed the rest.

Alex texted me. He was going to Dinner with some of his buddies, and did I want to join them? Of course. A little leater, he sent me the address. It was a Chinese Restaurant in town.

I don't know what it is with Peruvians and Chinese Food... it's just not that good here, but they love it. This place was no exception. And to top it off, it was a Buffet.

I had two plates of Food:

I had four kinds of Dumplings, a mixed Mushroom dish, some cut up Duck and Vegetables, some Bok Choy and something that I hope was CHicken.

It was every bit as good as the $12 Chinese Buffets that are all over the USA, but without most of the greasy, fried stuff. And it was just over $20. Anyway, we had a nice evening shooting the bull. They even spoke slowly enough that I could follow along with some of it.

After Dinner, I headed over to a local bar, where my friend Juanni and his band, A.D.N. had a show. They do classic Rock in English. Which is really cool, because Juanni does the singing, but he doesn't speak a word of English. He sounds just like Jim Morrison when he wants, though. And he does a mean Mick Jagger.

I didn't leave the bar until after 2:00, and then it was first time for blackjack. It was late when I got home. Here's my steps.