LIMA DAYS 10 & 11: Forgot to Eat on Friday; Banquet on Saturday

Even in Peru, It's All About the []_[]

Friday, December 21, 2018

You may have noticed that I had a lot to eat the last week and a half. Well, it caught up with me today.

I started by not having any Breakfast. For Lunch, I tried a new (to me) place: Mishinka. They're a restaurant that specializes in food from the Jungle areas of Peru. I'm not normally a big fan, but my trip last August with Melosa opened my eyes to a couple of good dishes.

And, they offer drinks in, shall we say, exotic glasses.

 

I passed on both of those, and after the Chifles with dip and the Camu-Camu Juice, I wound up ordering three things.

 

My three dishes were: Chicken Wings (they didn't call them that, but they were Chicken Wings), Skewers of Paiche, and Cecina, Sausage and Tacaho.

 

 

 

The Chicken Wings were excellent. Spicy, but with an great flavor. The Paiche (a HUGE fish that is only found in the Jungle) was a bit overcooked. I like that Fish, and would have been better served just ordering a Filet. I had high hopes for the Cecina (a dried & salted Beef dish) because I liked it when I was in the Jungle, but it really didn't weather the trip to the coast very well. The Sausage was ok, but it was Sausage, and I can't really get my arms and heart around Mashed Plantains.

Nothing was really bad, but nothing made me want to return there, except maybe the Chicken Wings.

That was it for the day. I went to a Casino at night, meaning to go eat something, but wound up going straight home and to bed.

Saturday, December 22, 2018

On the day before Christmas Eve eve, I started out at La Mora. It is rapidly becoming my go-to place for Breakfast. Good Food, Good service, and not quite comfy chairs, but comfortable seating. They would frown on me spending an hour there reading a book with just a cup of Coffee, but for Breakfast, it's quite the place. I had my usual, and for an extra 4 Soles, I added some Home Fried Potatoes.

 

 

Apparently, the weekend guy is the one that is the artist with the Lattes.

They also do a great Bakery business, and the pick-ups at the counter for the holiday were pretty brish while I was there.

 

I walked back towards the apartment, stopping at Kennedy Park to read and to take in the Christmas Festivities.

 

 

 

 

Kennedy Park is the home to a LOT of cats. There'[s a rescue group there that gets them neutered and tries to get them into real homes. The cats are used to people and kids, and are real friendly.

For Dinner, the plan was to meet up with Bertha, Deisi and Lucia at Wa Lok, a famous Chinese Restaurant in Lima. They're all in the group of people that brings the Christmas Party to the kids every year. We pre-ordered one of the Banquets (#9, in case you are keeping score), so we were real excited. In a last-minute roster change, Lucia couldn't make it, but I got to meet Erick, Deisi's fiance. I had heard about him, but he joined us for Dinner. This was my first chance to meet him in the flesh... he's a nice guy; she picked well.

Bertha and I were there first, so we went broke into the Lemonade, and plowed through the Meat and the Shrimp Dumplings with no thought of sharing.

 

Deisi and Erick arrived, and a round of Lychee Martinis followed.

 

 

 

I really like how they look in the last picture.

The... drumroll... the Banquet:

 

 

 

 

 

First of all, the table had one of those things that you can spin around, so you don't have to pass the food. Any meal with a spinning thing is immediately a party as far as I am concerned.

From the top, there was: Shrimps in Black Bean Sauce, House Special Fried Rice (Shrimps, Chicken and Pork), Duck in a sweet Sauce, Chicken in a different Sweet Sauce, and a mix of various Mushrooms and Vegetables.

All of it was good, but no better than the Classic Chinese Food you can get back home in one of the the better places. It is strange to me that Peruvians place such a high value on this type of (for me) standard Food. But then again, what we call 'Peruvian Food' is just 'Food' to them (shout out to Denise for that comment), so perhaps they look at it as something different, considering that they can have a Lomo Saltado or a Ceviche any time they want.

Don't get me wrong - we all ate and enjoyed it heartily, and there was a lot of negotiation between the women over the leftovers.

In what is turning out to be a separate Christmas Dinner tradition, we passed on Dessert at the restaurant (the Desserts appeared very, very basic), and walked two short blocks to La Santina. They serve a nice cup of Coffee and have a fairly decent Pastry assortment.

I had the Oreo Cheesecake, Bertha had the CocoLucima Cheesecake and Tea, Deisi had some other Cheesecake and a Milk Shake, and Erick had an Ice Cream Sundae. And the waiter humored us by taking some team photos.

 

 

 

That was it for the day. Everyone left in taxis, and I returned to the casino, where they -- in the true spirit of Christmas -- subsidized most of the cost of the Dinner 😎🙌

LIMA DAY 9: Meat. Lots of Meat. And Garry Eats Duck

You thought I was kidding when I said, "Lots of Meat."

Thursday, December 20, 2019

Garry was making a guest appearance in Lima, so I met up with him and we did some Christmas shopping (well, Garry shopped; I watched in awe) at Polvos Azules.

I was not without a purchase. Outside the Mercado, there was a Giant Mutant Corn stand.

I l.ove Giant Mutant Corns. They're like regular corns, except Giant.

For Lunch, Garry always lets me pick the restaurant, so I suggested that we go to Kañete. That's the place where I had the Duck Dumplings the pother day - they had a very interesting Menu.

We started with Scallops a la Chalaca.

 

I'm sure that a Peruvian Chef would shudder at this description, but these are sort of Mini-Scallop Ceviches. They chop up the Scallops, and add Onion, Hot Pepper, Corn, Diced Tomatoes and Lime Juice. They are usually made with Mussels, but the Scallops were an excellent Upgrade

For my Main Course, I had the Short Ribs.

The Meat was really, really tender. I'm not sure I'v e mentioned this, but the Food is very good here.

Garry ordered the Rice with Duck. I am guessing it was also delicious; all he offered me was a taste of the Rice.

 

I hit up the Cremolada stand outside the restaurant while we waited for our taxi. Garry passed, but the driver was 100% with the program.

Fernando and I met for Dinner at Baco y Vaca, an upscale Steak House in San Isidro. The Food there is excellent, but the service staff has way more attitude than I like.

Along with the Bread Basket, Fernando had the Carpaccio for his Appetizer. I had the Chanchito 8 Horas (Baby Pig slow-cooked for 8 hours).

 

 

My Pork was fork-tender, and I am guessing that Fernando liked his plate - neither of us said a word until the dishes were empty.

Fernando had a normal Steak for his Main Course.Apparently, I didn't take a picture.

I ordered the Mixed Grill. Aside from having four different cuts of Beef, it arrived on a Cow.

 

This is where the service issues came into play. The Steak was way overcooked, compared to what I asked for. The waited decided that the best course of action was to argue with me that grey meat was rare, and it wasn't until the Manager got involved that I had my order correctly prepared.

Once done correctly, it was wonderful.

I've eaten here once before, and it was the same story: Great Food; lousy service. There are enough upscale Steak Houses in Lima that I will not return here again.

We passed on Dessert. That was it for the day.