LIMA DAY 11: Sunday

Sunday, May 22

I slept in on Sunday, which for me means that I didn't get up until around 9:00. I walked to the News Cafe to get a Coffee and Empanada.

Later, I met up with Ed and we went off to Lunch. We headed to Puerto Norte -- this is the place that I tried to go to with Alex, but they were closed. They were open today.

They started us with the standard finger food -- toasted Corn and Plantain Chips while we decided what to order. I started out with a Parihuela (Seafood Soup), and Ed asked for a Causa de Camarones (Shrimp). Just one problem... they don't make Causa de Camarones.

After some further discussion (the waitress and Ed), they were happy to whip one up for him. It was Beautiful.

My Soup was every bit as delicious as Ed's dish was photogenic, just not as pretty. For example, this Soup had a whole Fish in it, but it was hiding under the Seaweed.

For our Main Course, I went with the Grilled Octopus, to nobody's surprise. Even more predictably, Ed had the Lomo Saltado.

My Octopus was as fabulous to eat as it was to look at. Ed picked at his Lomo, but he has been eating a lot lately, and was trying to slow down before going home.

Amazingly, we didn't eat anything the rest of the day. I had a small piece of Chocolate Cake in the Casino, and that was it until Ed headed to his hotel to pack for his flight in the morning.

I wasn't flying in the morning, so I met up with my friend Lucero for a while. We wound up at Marcelino Pizza y Vino, a restaurant on Pizza Alley, at around 1:30 in the morning. They were still open, so we had Dinner.

We shared some Fried Fish Chunks, and then Lucero had Fettucini Alfredo, and I had a Steak in Pepper Sauce.

When I say "we" had the Fish Chunks, I mean mostly me. Lucero did her Pasta justice, and I ate the Steak, a little of the Salad and very few of the Fries.

That was it. It was late, and I was tired.

LIMA DAY 10: Holes in The Walls

Saturday, May 21

I started off Saturday by walking around the corner to a hole-in-the-wall Coffee shop -- Coffee Time Espresso Bar. It's tiny, but every time I passed it, there were a couple of people sitting out front, drinking Coffee.

I ordered a Cappuccino and an Empanada.

This Empanada was filled with Aji de Gallina, which is Shredded Chicken in a slightly spicy Sauce. Empanadas in Peru are Baked, not Fried, so they are extra-wonderful.

Ed and I then went to the Food Festival at the Surquillo Mercado, where we each had a Rocoto Relleno. I also had a Causa stuffed with Crab Meat and Shrimp, and Ed had a Papa Rellena.

I was on my own for Dinner. In Peru, they do reality shows about different types of Foods. The winner of the Anticucho (Beef Hearts on a stick) shown won enough money ($30,000) to open his own hole-in-the-wall restaurant, Anticuchos Bran (you can read all about it in Spanish by CLICKING HERE).

Literally, a hole-in-the-wall. They raise the gate, and inside is a restaurant. No door or anything. Just a gate.

They have three things on the menu: Beef Hearts, Chicken, or Pork. On a stick. I got the classic Beef Hearts.

Ed and I were out gambling pretty late, so when I was hungry at 1:30 in the morning, I went to La Salsa Sangucheria, which would have to upgrade to have a wall with a hole. Think of a Fod Truck without wheels. Here's a couple of photos from their Facebook page.

But open they were, and I had a Pork Sandwich back at the apartment, and it was delicious.

That's it for the day.

LIMA DAY 9: Apparently, Duck with Rice is Different than Rice with Duck

Friday, May 20

For Breakfast, I walked over to Surquillo Mercado #2, and visited Rosa, the Seafood Lady.

She gave me grief for not coming by earlier in my trip. I wanted Conchas Negras (Black Clams) and she didn't have any, so I gave her grief about that.

We made up, and after a Bowl of Chilcano (Fish Stock Soup), she made me a Mixed Fish & Seafood Ceviche.

It was delicious and I was happy, so we forgave each other.

It turned out that the Soup and Ceviche was Pre-Breakfast, because, as I was walking back home, I stopped at a cart that did have Conchas Negras.

So the Conchas Negras Lady (I have no clue what her name is) whipped up a Bowl of them for me.

Somehow, I skipped Lunch after that. In the Casino, while I was waiting for Ed to show up they went around in a cart with Desserts. I had a Chocolate thingy.

We had reservations at Mayta Restaurant for Dinner. I had never been there, but I have wanted to for years, and Ed is pretty easy about letting me pick the place, so off we went. When I reserved on line, I got a 20% discount, so that was cool, too.

The menu is very fancy. And expensive. With the 20% discount, it's not expensive, but still pretty high. It didn't help that I ordered the second most expensive thing on the menu.

For our Appetizers, I had a Mixed Ceviche, and Ed Had Tuna Tataki.

(It was also pretty dark in the restaurant, so the photos may not be the best)

My Ceviche was fancy. Everything there is fancy. It had extra stuff in it... something was sweet, and there was other stuff I could not identify. But it was really good. I tasted some of Ed's Tuna. It was Fabulous, and it was on top of some sort of Avocado/Cole Slaw mix that was also Excellent.

For Dinner, I had the Duck with Rice. Ed had (surprise!!) a Lomo Saltado.

Usually, it is called "Rice with Duck" because there is more Rice than Duck. Not here. And it was fancy. It had an entire Thigh quarter, and a Breast that was pre-sliced. Usually, you get one or the other. To make it extra-fancy, you also get some Fois Gras (Duck Liver, which was much better than I feared), and also, a Fried Duck Egg. The whole thing was awesome -- the Meat fell off the bone, the Rice was really delicious, whatever they did to it, and the Duck Egg tasted like an Egg. Ed was pleased with his Lomo, and we walked back to the casino for the night full and happy.

LIMA DAY 8: Every Day is A Food Festival

Thursday, May 19

I worked in the morning (no Breakfast), and met Ed to do some shopping. Ed is even better than I am at shopping, so it went pretty well.

We hopped the Metropolitano and headed down to Chorrillos to Cevicheria El Marati. I found them just by happenstance a few trips back, and it's now one of my favorite places. Excellent food and service, huge portions, a large menu, and everything is extra fresh.

I had a Parihuela (Seafood Soup) as my Appetizer, and Ed started off with a Mixed Grill of Shrimp and Fish, with Vegetables.

Great. For our Main Courses, I ordered the Grilled Octopus, and Ed had Rice with Shrimp.

The Octopus is served over Vegetables, so it is healthy, and it comes with three Fried Causa Balls (mashed Yellow Potatoes), so it is Extra Delicious. Ed's dish was Excellent -- I tasted one iof his Shrimp and would have to agree.

We started our evening at the Atlantic City Casino, where I had a Cappuccino.

For Dinner, we met up with Dely and went to Panchita, which is officially My Favorite Restaurant in the World. When you go, tell the hostess that you DON'T want Junior to wait on you -- he's the worst. I swear, he disappeared twice to go out back and smoke a joint. He was gone forever, and was extra-dumb when he got back. Other than him, everything there is perfect.

They start you with Bread, and for our Appetizers, I had both the Sopa Criolla (doesn't photograph well, but is delicious) and the Pastel de Choclo. Dely and Ed each ordered an Anticucho of Chicken.

My soup had some sort of Noodles, Ground Beef, maybe some of that Spanish Cheese that Doesn't Melt, a little bit (very few) of  Vegetables and a ton of good flavor. The Pastel de Choclo is ground Corn, magically made extra-delicious over a layer of Meat. It's good everywhere, but it is great here. Ed and Dely's Anticuchos were chunks of white meat Chicken on a Stick, seasoned and Grilled. They're served with Papas Doradas (Golden Potatoes) and Kernels of Giant Mutant Corn.

All of those items were enough for anyone's Main Dishes. But not for us. Ed & I have excuses -- we're big guys. Dely weighs 100 pound soaking wet, and she pounds the food like a pro.

So our Main Courses show up. Ed has a Lomo Saltado, I one-up him with a Lomo Saltado over a Tacu Tacu (a RIce & Bean Patty), and Dely... she gets a Whole Freaking Chicken!

Yes, an entire Chicken. They claim it was a small Chicken, and they were right. But it was still a Whole Chicken. Ed had about half of his dish, I ate everything except half the Rice & beans, and Dely 'only' had about 1/4 of her Chicken, and took the rest home.

We passed on Dessert, and that was it for the day.