LIMA DAY 7, PART 2: Astrid y Gaston

Thursday, March 12

NOTE: You probably want to click on these photos to see them better. The dishes were small.

Astrid y Gaston Casa Moreya is the 19th best restaurant in the world, if you can believe the Internet. It is owned/run by Gaston Acurio, who is the man in the forefront of the worldwide explosion of Peruvian Food. And, if you can believe **me** on the Internet, a personal friend of mine.

Amongst the places in the castle that they call a restaurant are two main dining areas: The Bar and the Restaurant. To you and me, the 'Bar' would be perhaps the best restaurant we would ever have the privilege of buying food from. The menu is extensive, the food is top-notch, and the service is impeccable. I've eaten in the 'Bar' twice in the last year.

The other option is the 'Menu Degustacion' -- that's what we might call a Tasting Menu, but no, it's much more. Ed and I made reservations for the 13-table dining room two months ago.

When we arrive, the hostess sees me, drops what she's doing, and runs over to give me a hug and a kiss. Before they moved to the Castle, the restaurant was 200 feet from my apartment here, and we've known each other for years. Ed is suitably impressed while she checks us in.

Before going into the dining room, they seat us on the second floor terrace, overlooking a courtyard and one of (the at least three) kitchens, and give us Welcome Drinks and a first thing to eat. (Note: I am going to be vague on what we ate, not because I am keeping secrets, but because it was pretty overwhelming. I took pictures, but didn't take notes).

The Drink was a Cherry something or other, with a four-flavored Ginger Ale or something going on. It was pretty delicious. The sandwiches were something. They were pretty delicious.

I'm going to save everyone's time by saying EVERYTHING was pretty delicious. And also, we ate a lot of Flowers.

They then moved us into one of the three dining rooms. On the way, we stopped in another one of the kitchens for what turned out to be a good photo op.

We wound up eating what you see above. Here's a quick 7-second video of two dudes (TWO) working on something that was maybe three inches around. They used Tweezers.

Once seated, the courses arrived. Every appearance of food had a story. This first batch was things that resembled Desserts, but they were made of 'real' Food.

For example, the Cookies on the bottom of the assortment were Peanut-crusted Crawfish Sandwiches. The Merengue was an Olive stuffed with an Anchovy. And so on.

The next course was Apple Juice, served in a carved-out Ice Cube. You sipped with a straw.

The next two items was a Fried Ball of Pig's Feet, topped with Mustard and Flowers ("Just pick it up and eat it in one bite," the Waitress said) and a Tortilla covered in, er, stuff that needed a tweezer to place.

Then we had a cold something or other that was Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs.

We wrapped up the Appetizers with three more things... Avocado with stuff, Apple 'Ceviche', and Something Else.

Everything had a story -- we weren't paying very close attention other than to get an idea of what we were eating. They offered to explain in English, but we decided that we wouldn't understand any more in any language, so we stuck with Spanish.

OK, further along in the journey. Here's the next two items:

 Even though they explained it twice and I referred to the notes they gave us after, I have no clue about the first item, except it was good. The one in the white dish was some Smoked Fish with Onions. Trust me, it had a longer and more complicated explanation.

Next up, a Fried Egg on top of Mashed Potatoes.

Yes, a Fried Egg on Mashed Potatoes. But the best Fried Egg on Mashed Potatoes ever, yo. It was so fantastic, we needed to pose with the Egg.

 

Then it was time for the final three items before the eight Dessert items.

 

First off, Some Pork and Beef in a wonderful, delicious, unknown Sauce. The second item was Rabbit - both Meat and Liver. And last was some (I think it was Beef) Tongue. The Tongue was -- hands down -- both of our favorite dishes.

The Desserts came rapid fire...

OK, from the top:

• Fried Plantain with Cheese. In Foam
• Strawberry with Cream
• Combination Rice Pudding & Purple Corn Jelly - Awesome!
• Balls of **something** that were both delicious and full of Pop Rocks. Boom! Boom! Boom!
• Ice Cream with Almond Cake - Fabulous!
• A Multi-Layered Cake thingy and Flower Flavored Ice Cream. Yes, Flower Flavored. And Cotton Candy on the side.
• Some White thing covered in toasted Coconut and a piece of Wonderful Chocolate.
• Last,  the Bartender came out and made us a Emoliente (a Traditional Peruvian Drink). This was really two in the same glass - one hot and one cold. She poured them on either side of a Eucalyptus leaf, and they stayed separate when she removed the leaf. You can see the two different colors side-by-side in the photo.

Yes, that was it. No, it wasn't over... they gave us BOOKS with the story of everything that was served. Bound books; like in the library. This was a great three hours. I wouldn't do it all the time, but they change the menu every few months, so that wouldn't be a problem.

And all that they wanted for this was money -- suckers!

Later, while making our donations at the Golden Palace Casino, I had a Fruit Salad.

Here's my steps.