Lima Day 6: A Momentous (Bad) Occasion

Tuesday, December 15

Well, it finally happened... I had a bad Meal here. I should have known better; everything about screamed out "RUN." But first, Breakfast:

After handling some phone calls for work, I took a walk down to San Antonio for Breakfast. They refer to themselves as a 'Pasteleria' (Bakery), but they are as close to a Diner as you're going to find around here. The menu has a truckload of things to eat, along with everything you would look for in a Bakery. There are seven of them scattered around Lima, and every one of them is always full.

As you see in the photo, I had a Meat Empanada, a Sandwich of Pan con Chicharron (Pork Sandwich), and a Large Cafe con Leche. Everything was wonderful; they toasted the Roll on the Sandwich, which isn't my favorite, but my bad for not asking.

Later, disaster. I was browsing Trip Advisor a while back, and I saw a very highly-ranked Cevicheria, Costa Azul. And it was right in my neighborhood. The website was in English, and they spent a lot of time (again, in English) telling us just how wonderful that they are. So I made a reservation.

When I arrived, all I could hear was English from the other tables. Usually, even in the tourist areas, half the tables are full of local people, if the place is any good. I should have ran, but I gave it a try.

The service was slow and inattentive. When they finally took my order, I just asked for a Leche de Tigre (basically, a mini-Ceviche that comes in a glass) and a Parihuela (the Seafood Soup that is my favorite).

First, the Leche de Tigre.

It looked OK, and it tasted, well, OK. But the Fish wasn't cut right, and it was a little, ummm, mushy. But it didn't kill me. Then the Soup came.

First, the Bowl was so small that they couldn't fit the Crab in there. Second, the Bowl was so small. This dish is a *meal* in every other restaurant in the country. Here, there couldn't have been 12 ounces of Soup in there.

The good news is: the Bowl was small. That's because the Soup was horrible. There was no flavor at all. Usually a Parihuela is full of good taste (click here for an English description that includes the words 'fragrant' and 'spicy' -- these guys did not read it), but this was like they opened a can of Tomato Soup, threw in a couple of Shrimps and Fish Chunks, put a Crab on the side, and brought it out.

Here's the deal: they advertise heavily in the tourist magazines, the place *looks* like a tourist would imagine an *authentic* Cevicheria would look like, and the place is clean. If I haven't been to Peru 6938397512 times, and known what I should have received when I placed my order, I would have been satisfied. And it was busy!!!! So how could it be bad? Trust me, it was. At least I got a good Photo Op of the Crab.

I'm not giving the link to the restaurant. If you want it, Google it yourself.

On the way home, I was tempted to stop somewhere else and have Lunch again, but 1) I'm fat enough these days, 2) It might have fixed the physical bad taste in my mouth, but not the emotional one, and 3) Viv would wring my neck. So I went home and napped and did some work for a couple of hours.

I had no plans for Tuesday night (I had to dial into a Board Meeting at 6:00), so it was a Blackjack Night.

After the call, I was finally hungry. Luckily, Punto Azul is literally on my corner (here's a picture that I just took from my window), and is open for Dinner.

...and, it is on the way to a casino. I popped in, and ordered what I guess you could call "Rich's Comfort Food."

Yes, that's some Grilled Octopus and an EXCELLENT Parihuela.

The Octopus was grilled perfectly (I can only imagine how those other guys would have butchered it), and the Soup was awesome. Under the Crab, there was a mix of a lot of fresh and tasty Seafood, and what felt like a whole school of Fish Filets. And the broth had some actual flavor... go figure.

That was it for the day. I got over the shock, and wound up letting Casino Fiesta pay for my Dinner.