LIMA DAYS 12 & 13: Still Moving Slow

Friday, December 22, 2017

Where do you put a Seafood Restaurant? Pacific Ocean; At the end of a dock!

Still not feeling 100%, I went to Cafe Rilke for Breakfast.

They are now used to selling me a Jumbo Decaf Latte - tipping an extra dollar or so doesn't hurt. Instead of Breakfast, I ordered a Ham Sandwich. It was as fresh and tasty as it looked.

That kept me for a while. I went to a casino in the afternoon to change some money (they give a better exchange rate than the guys on the street). Just my luck, they were pushing the Ice Cream Cart around.

Fernando is a member of the Club de Regatas of Lima - basically the hotsy-totsy Yacht Club. He doesn't have a yacht, but he does own one two racing sailboats and the club is pretty exclusive. And huge. And nice; I like it.

He picked me up and we headed over. The Seafood Restaurant, Amardelima, was fairly new and fairly good, he said. Good enough for me.

Seafood is mostly eaten (by Peruvians) in the daytime, so it was not very crowded for our meal. I'm not Peruvian, and Fernando is always down for Seafood. We started with a Pre-Appetizer: Four Scallops that were cut up, seasoned and tossed in Oil.

These were much better than they both looked and photographed. The waiter tried to explain what was going on here, but I couldn't really understand him very well.

For our Appetizers, we ordered Ajillo Oriental for me, and a Tiradito for Fernando.

 

 

My 'Oriental' Dish was Shrimps and Octopus and some Mushrooms that you would see in an Asian restaurant, stir-fried with a whole lot of Garlic. I can kind of still smell it two days later. For me, the more Garlic, the better. This was excellent. Fernando's dish was sliced raw Fish with very little Sauce/Dressing/Juice/Whatever... sort of a Ceviche with less Juice and the Fish sliced thin, rather than in chunks.

For our Main Courses, I took the waiter's recommendation and ordered the Arroz Negro a Lo Macho. Fernando went for the Lenguado Pachi Kay.

Saturday, December 23

Christmas Eve, eve. I'm trying to feel better. Doing my best. I promise.

When all else fails, go where they love you - Estacion 329. They tried to offer me my regular Breakfast, but I asked for another suggestion. They came out with this:

Yeah, Waffles! With Fruit! And Coffee! Not too shabby.

Full again, I went home, started packing one bag, and napped. I woke up and was a combination of hungry and full, and didn't feel like leaving the house.

The other day, I went to Maido and had a wonderful Asian-based meal. In doing some research for the blog post, I discovered that the Chef from Maido had opened a Sushi restaurant for the masses called Sushi Pop. It turns out that Sushi Pop was nearby, had gotten good reviews, and they delivered.

In what might be described as the stupidest thing I have done in a while, I went on line and ordered a 50-piece assortment of Makis. Ordering was a breeze, and when the girl called to confirm my order, see if I had any special requests, and check for any allergies, she made believe that my Spanish wasn't that bad - a great woman!

One hour and ten minutes later, there was the delivery guy with my Ho Ho Pop assortment.

 

 

Yeah, I needed 40 Sushi Rolls like I need a hole in my head. I fought the valiant fight and had one or two of each type, and walked away from the rest of them.

I headed out to San Miguel to see the new Star Wars movie. I had to get there early, because Fandango Peru did not like my US Credit Card. So I bought my ticket, picked my seat, and went across the street to the Blue Moon Casino to kill an hour.

Just my luck, it was Dinnertime. The cart was going around, and you know how I hate to break the servers' hearts.

Even though it looks like a Burrito or Soft Taco, it was a Hard Taco. Not sure how they did that. I was good, and certainly worth free.

By the time I got home from the movie, I was hungry, but it was after midnight, and I just went to sleep.

LIMA DAY 11: I Hit this Wall Every Trip

Thursday, December 21

When I finally got moving and left the apartment on Thursday, it turned out that our building was having its Christmas Party. It would have been terribly difficult for me to sneak by them without having some Hot Chocolate and Panettone.

 

 

Yeah, If you don't put Butter on your Fruitcake, you are considered a Philistine.

The other day, on the way home from Starbucks, I passed what appeared to be another Coffee Shop. Since I didn't need wi-fi, I wound up at Miss Cupcakes.

I wasn't emotionally prepared for Cupcakes so early, but then again I wasn't prepared for Fruit Cake with Butter, either. I am nothing if not flexible.

 

 

The folks at Miss Cupcakes are very nice. You should shop there. I had a Latte and four Mini Cupcakes for around $6. No Butter. Not cheap by Peruvian standards, but they were really good Cupcakes.

Then something happened.

All of a sudden, my ability to eat was gone. Even the idea seemed crazy. So, no Lunch. No Dinner.

Around 10 pm, I was at Casino New York, and they were serving Christmas Dinner.

 

 

Again, it would have been ungracious of me to decline a plate, so I took one and picked the protein off of it.

Oh, and the Pasta Salad. That was really good. Three Carbohydrates on one plate -- these guys have got it going!

So, I wound up losing money on an empty stomach. When I got home, I could have eaten something, but the limited options in my refrigerator weren't all that appealing.

LIMA DAY 9: You Can Relax, There Was Duck

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

You would think this is for the Holidays, but no! This is just from a random Supermarket

For Breakfast, I headed to Estacion 329, which is right next door to the 'other' apartment that I sometimes rent. They were not only happy to see me, but Andrea, the Barista, doesn't blink an eye and asks me if I want my regular Breakfast. A Coffee Shop! And Tragaluz couldn't get their act together enough to take our Dessert order before the kitchen closed. 😡

 

My Ham and Cheese Sandwich was - as ever - delicious, and Nico makes a mean Latte.

On the way back, I stopped at a Supermarket to pick up some stuff. Their Coffee Shop had a cute sign:

What could I do? I said "Good Morning, a Coffee Please" and saved a half a dollar!

Apparently, I didn't have Lunch today.

My friend Mel met me for Dinner. We went to Cala Restaurante, which is right on the water.

 

Here's a Google Maps photo for reference. We were seated on the upper terrace.

We started with Frozen Juices, Bread, and they gave us tiny Tuna Wantons to get our appetites going.

 

 

 

We shared our Dinners. For our Appetizers, we split a Tuna Ceviche and *something* with Scallops.

 

 

The Tuna Ceviche... if you like Tuna and you like Ceviche, there you go. Fresh and tasty. In the Scallop Dish, the big white things were Scallops, the little red balls were some sort of Caviar (the Manager tried to explain, but it was in fast Spanish and the waves were crashing), and the shredded stuff was some Horseradish-like Vegetable. It had a little kick, but not too much. The Ice in the middle -- well, it's a fancy Restaurant.

For our Main Courses, We split Rice with Duck and an order of Paiche

 

Their Rice and Duck is very, very good. Mel had only eaten Duck that had less attention paid to it than what happens in Cala's kitchen, so she was pretty impressed. The Paiche is a large Fish found in the jungles of the Amazon; it's a treat for me. The Fish was good and the thing on the side that looks like a Potato was really a Mashed-up and flavored Plantain Patty (there are plenty of Plantains in the Jungle). It was both surprising and good.

Here's a couple of Google images showing just how big the Paiche is:

 

Now you know. We both passed on Dessert, and that was it for the day.

LIMA DAY 8: A Well-Rounded Selection. And a Well-Rounded Writer

Monday, December 18, 2018

You're welcome to try some Pastel de Choclo. You just can't try MINE.

I really didn't get started until Lunch time, and I was hungry, so I didn't get very far.

About 100 steps from my apartment is a literal hole in the wall called My Chilindro.

I pass them all the time, and they are always crowded. Things sometimes get cooked here in Peru "Al Cilindro." Basically, cooking that way smokes them in a big old metal barrel. Here's some pictures I got from Google; they explain it a little better.

 

 

Anyway, they had a 12 Sol (just under $4) Lunch Special. I chose the Tequenos and then the Chancho Saltado con Tallarines (Stir-fried Pork with Noodles).

 

Later, I picked up my new glasses and on the way home, stopped at Chicharroneria Lurin for a Sandwich.

 

 

In the world of Peruvian Food, 'Chicharron' means a lot of different things. In this case, it refers to a Pork Sandwich with some Camote (Sweet Potato). I ordered some Chicha Morada (Purple Corn Juice) to go with it.

Alex and I had plans for Dinner. We met at Panchita, where everything is always wonderful.

We started with the Bread selection, and then shared Appetizers of Pastel de Choclo and Anticucho de Pulpo.

 

 

If this sounds slightly familiar, it is because, well, it is. The Pastel is ground and Seasoned Corn on top of a mix of Beef and Spices. And it is a million times better than I just described it. The Pulpo is Octopus on Stick that has been marinated and then Grilled. Alex has been eating this stuff his entire life and he likes Octopus as much as or more than I do. He could not get over how wonderful Panchita makes their Pulpo.

For our Main Courses, I had the Lomo Saltado con Tacu Tacu and Alex had Suprema de Pollo.

The Lomo Saltado is stir-fried Beef strips with Onions and Tomatoes, in this case served over a Rice and Bean Patty. Alex' Meal was a Grilled Chicken Breast (he is eating very gingerly lately).

Both of us were only able to eat half of our servings. We needed to save room for Dessert.

That's Queso Helado. We've covered this before. It looks like Ice Cream, but it kicks regular Ice Cream's butt up and down the street.


Alex and I debated whether to drive ourselves to the hospital for Food overdoses, but we chose to just go home instead.