LIMA DAY 11: Adios, Peru. For now.

Monday, August 21, 2017

Bertha and Lonnise pose with a photographic representation of
Sonia, a Flounder, Fredy and an unidentified woman

I was really busy Monday morning, so I just went next door to the Coffee Shop and asked them to give me my Latte to go, and I drank it in the apartment.

Bertha met us at Lunch time, and we took a taxi to Sonia Restaurant in Chorrillos. Sonia is arguably the first Cevicheria in Lima, and the patriarch, Fredy, is widely credited with inventing some dishes that are now served everywhere.

The place is on a side street, with no sign, except one hanging from an inside building. You have to knock on an anonymous garage door to get in.

Bertha and I have taste buds that could be twins. We split a Ceviche de Conchas Negras (Black Clams), Scallops Parmesan, and Some Grilled Octopus.

Lonnise saw one of her new favorite dishes on the menu: Chupa de Camarones (Shrimp Soup).

She did those Shrimps some serious justice.

On the way out, the girls saw that Fredy was hanging out, keeping an eye on the goings-on. He took a picture with Lonnise.

That's the REAL Fredy this time

Back at the apartment, Bertha went to the Bakery to get some stuff 'for her family' -- she says. I took the opportunity to get a Brownie.

Our flight was scheduled to leave just around midnight. We had our farewell Dinner at Tanta in the airport. In a development that no one should find shocking, Tanta is pretty great.

I had a Pastel de Choclo and a Tacu Tacu a lo Pobre.

The Pastel is a Corn-based thing containing two levels of Corn Bread/Corn Cake sandwiched around some Beef, Raisins, an Olive, and spices. Much, much better than it sounds.

My Main Course was a Rice and Beans patty topped with a flat, Breaded and Fried Steak. The 'a lo Pobre' part includes the Fried Egg and The Fried Plantain. I added some Hot Sauce.

Lonnise was super-full after a week of hanging out with me, so she just had a Ham and Cheese Sandwich.

That was pretty much it. Our plane boarded on time, and now... back home.

LIMA DAY 10: El Bolivariano (and More)

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Stuffed Pepper, anyone?

Sundays are rough for Coffee fans in Lima. Lots of the regular places are closed. Lonnise and I wandered around Miraflores for a bit. We finally gave up and took a taxi to La Bodega Verde, the place we discovered on Saturday. I was talking to the waitress, and she swore that they were open on Sunday mornings.

Sunday are a special Lunch day around here. Take the regular number of options, and double it. We went to EL Bolivariano in Pueblo Libre. They have a Sunday Buffet Brunch that's great, and we get the added advantage of being the only native English-speakers in the place.

They have everything, starting with Salads, the Ceviches, then various fried Seafood options, then Soups, then mini Stuffed Peppers (photo on the top of today's post), then a whole Roasted Pig, then a bunch of hot dishes, then all kinds of Desserts, including freshly-made Picarones. And they have Anticuchos (Beef Hearts on a Stick) on Demand.

I was pretty excited, so you get a very eclectic group of photos. The last picture is the Dessert tray for the regular menu, not the Buffet. And here's two videos, one of  the Picarones, and one of the Beef Hearts.

That should have been plenty for normal people, but we were not to be denied. Lonnise made a new friend in the afternoon.

Later that night, in the Casino, they insisted on givng us some Chicken & Potato Salad.

After they took all of our money, I decided that life was too short to pass on Dinner, so I talked Lonnise into coming with me to Antica Trattoria in Barranco.

She ordered a Ceasar Salad, thinking it was going to be small  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Me, I had a Pizza with Salmon and Shrimps.

I hear that the salad was good. Once she saw the Pizza, Lonnise offered to help me out. So she had one slice; I wasn't giving up the rest.

And then... that was it for the day.

LIMA DAY 9: Good Thing We Found Something to Eat

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Lonnise makes friends wherever she goes. Here she is with Julia and Maria, the Tamale Ladies

For Breakfast, we ventured away from the Coffee Shop next door and went to Cafe Rilke. This place is in a former house, and they have left the library just as it was, so we had our Pre-Breakfast in comfy chairs amidst a ton of books surrounding the room.

After that, we headed to the Mercado in Surquillo #1. We did some shopping, ordered some freshly-made Papaya Juice, hung out with the Tamale Ladies (see photo at the top of this post), some taking in the local color, and we had our actual Breakfast.

Lonnise had an Aji de Gallina (her favorite) from one of the women at the pop-up Food Court, and I had a Pork Sandwich.

She made me promise that we wouldn't eat for two more hours, so we stopped by the house to drop off our bootleg DVDs and other purchases. Then we headed off to Barranco and did some sightseeing.

As we were starting to leave Barranco, we stumbled upon -- you will NEVER believe this -- a Coffee Shop, the Bodega Verde.

It had been two hours and ten minutes since we ate anything, so in we went. It turns out that they don't just have Coffee -- there's a semi-full menu. Lonnise had a 'Hot Brownie' -- a Brownie with Ice Cream, and I had a regular old Brownie with a Coffee Milkshake.

I decided that I liked this place. I will go back; I would even make a special trip to Barranco to go there.

We decided that eight or nine meals would be our limit for the day, so we headed back home to rest up for Dinner.

Dinner was out in La Molina at Nanka. They serve organic Food, but they don't throw it in your face. We met Fernando there; he lives close by.

They started us with Bread while we decided on our Appetizers:

To start, Fernando had Vegetable Soup, Lonnise had a Vietnamese Roll, and I went all out and had a Tuna Steak.

The Main Course selections were Rice & Duck for two (me & Fernando) and Pork Belly for Lonnise.

The three of us polished off everything edible on the table, and still had room for Dessert. Fernando had (fancy) Rice Pudding, I had Chocolate Cake, and Lonnise had the Chocolate Cake and also had them throw in some Chocolate Ice Cream... double Chocolate.

That was it. We didn't explode in the Taxi back to our neighborhood, and I went and kept the blackjack dealers busy all night in the casino.