LIMA DAY 7: Astrid y Gaston - Yo Amo Pato (and more!)

Wednesday, May 13

Remember yesterday, when I had a full Lunch for 12 Soles, and I said that you couldn't get a bottle of Water at Astrid y Gaston for 12 Soles? Well, I was wrong -- you can't get a bottle of Water at Astrid y Gaston for 21 Soles.

But that was later in the day. After checking in at work, I took a stroll and had a Pan con Chicharron (Fried Pork Sandwich) and a Cafe Con Leche.

I love Pan con Chicharron Sandwiches.

For Lunch, I realized that it had been almost an entire day without Soup, so I had a Caldo de Gallina. Basically, Chicken Noodle Soup.

I love Caldo de Gallina Soup.

Sandra was meeting me for Dinner tonight. She won the Lottery and got to go with me to Astrid y Gaston . It's the most famous restaurant in the country, owned by the most famous Chef (he may be the next President), and one of the hardest to get into -- I made my reservation two months ago.

There are two ways that you can eat at Astrid y Gaston: The tasting menu (which I did with Ed the last time I was in town), or at the 'Bar' -- which has a real Menu. Our reservation was for the Bar this time.

We were all excited to be there (it was Sandra's first time, and it never gets old for me). We took a lot of pictures.

While we read the Menu, they brought out some Olives and Peanuts dusted with Curry.

Part of the Menu has Main Courses large enough for two people, so we decided to share everything at Dinner. We started with two Appetizers: Langostinos Saltado and Hummus.

The Langastinos were very good. They were in a slightly sweet Sauce, and instead of French Fries, they came with three Potato Croquettes. This was really good -- too bad there wasn't more of it.

The Hummus has now spoiled me for any other Hummus on the planet. It was delicious and creamy, but still had some whole Chickpeas in there. Just great. And plenty of it.

At the table next to us was a couple from Coconut Grove. They were only in Lima for two nights, and the concierge at their hotel managed to get them in -- they were celebrating their 50th Anniversary on this trip. We got to talking, and in a fit of insanity, I offered them some of our Hummus.

It wasn't just us. They were also thrilled beyond repair with the Hummus.

For our Main Course, we ordered the Half Duck and Rice (Arroz con Medio Pato).

As all loyal blog readers know, Yo Amo Pato -- I Love Duck. It's a good thing that Sandra is pretty, otherwise I wasn't sharing. It seems silly to keep on saying that Everything Was Delicious at Astrid y Gaston, but Everything Was Delicious at Astrid y Gaston.

Our neighbors split a large Steak, and gave us some. I thanked them and told them to get their eyes off of my Duck.

In reality, there was plenty of Duck for the two of us. We passed on Dessert (one day I will go there just for the Chocolate Bomb) and had some Coffee.

Surprisingly, the check was smaller than I anticipated. Granted, we didn't buy any booze there (we stopped for Drinks before Dinner), but still, the entire thing, including tax, mandated tip, and extra tip, only ran 316 Soles. That's $101 dollars to us gringos.

Yeah, well, I love Astrid y Gaston. Before we left, I took pictures of the kitchen that just prepares the food for the Bar. There were 17 or 18 people working there -- it was hard to count because they kept moving.

The Manager that I spoke with claims that there are four other kitchens, plus one that does prep work for all five. I've seen two of the others, and I can't imagine what goes on in the other two. But that's why I don't own the most famous restaurant in the country with arguably the best food in the world.

That's it for the day. Here's my steps.