LIMA DAYS 2 & 3: I Forget to Eat, and The Search for A Comfy Chair

Anyone tries to tell you reading isn't good for you, send them to this book store

Saturday, March 10, 2018

I swear - I planned to eat today. Just didn't work out the way I wanted.

I went to 1972 Coffee in the morning. I really like the place, but it's just a little too far from the apartment to pop over on a work day.

It's big, they have decaf, they have comfortable chairs, and they have food. No matter how hard I try, I can't get them to open for me on Sundays.

I had a Latte and a Pastel de Acelga, which is kind of like a Spinach Pie, but Acelga isn't spinach; it's Spinach's cousin.

Then , the day got away from me. I napped, then I went out, fully planning to go somewhere for dinner. Next thing I know it is 1 am, and I am dead tired. I went home and had Todd's leftover Aji de Gallina from the night before.

Sunday, March 11

The problem here is that the people are so civilized. Many of them actually close their stores and take Sunday off. Good for them; sucky for me.

Lonnise and I had found a place in Barranco that opens on Sunday. It had an outdoor area, so I went there first. There's lots of healthy stuff, and some of it is locally-sourced... you know the kind of place. I ordered a Latte and Waffles.

The Waffles were beautiful and tasty. I had to ask for a magnifying glass to find them, though. So there was that, and the fact that they didn't have Decaf, and no real comfy chairs, and throw in that it is 'cool' place to go these days, so it was crowded with bicycle people and families, and it all added up to me eating my Waffles and leaving.

I started walking, and came across a place called Charlotte. I saw a few nice seats, so I went in.

 

They did have Decaf, but they didn't have any mugs that met my size criteria. They did have a breakfast buffet going on, which included Juice, so I went for that.

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn't the fanciest Buffet in the History of Buffets, but it was only $11 including Juice and Coffee. I didn't want to make yesterday's mistake again, so I had a bunch of Chicharron (Fried Pork Pieces), and couple of mini Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Some Lomo Saltado, and a half a Tamale. I ate a read a bit, but it still wasn't perfect, so I paid and left.

Next, I went to where I should have gone in the first place: Sofa Cafe. They have Sofas (and regular seating, but Sofas). And they have big mugs, and they have good food, and they were two doors down from Charlotte.😁

So I had another Latte (Decaf; large mug), and read for another hour. Delightful.

Later, in the apartment, I had some Grapes that I picked up at the Supermarket.

I only had a few; not the whole bag.

For Dinner, I went to El Bodegon. This is rapidly becoming another favorite of mine, and is part of Gaston Acurio's empire, so the food is good.

I started with Soup, then a Rocoto Relleno (Spicy Stuffed Pepper), and ended up with an Aeropuerto.

 

 

Other than I like Soup, I don't know why I ordered a piping hot Bowl of Soup in the Summer. The photo doesn't do it Justice, but the Soup had bits of Beef, Noodles, a Poached (I think) Egg floating around, and just a bite of Hot Pepper. Once it cooled off enough to taste, it was delicious.

This was my first Stuffed Pepper of the trip. Call me a slacker. Anyway, all Rocoto Rellenos are good, so I won't mention it here. This one was stuffed with Meat, a few Raisins, a little bit of Cheese, some sort of Nut (I could feel/taste it when I was chewing), and something else that I don't remember. It's in a bowl with some sliced Potatoes laces with cheese. Despite my efforts to not eat it all, I did exactly that.

The Aeropuerto is basically a Fried Rice dish on Steroids. They go more overboard here than in other places, but worth it. There's Rice loaded with all kinds of stuff (some Vegetables, a tiny bit of Sweet Plantain, Noodles and more), topped with a Breaded and Fried Steak Cutlet and a Fried Egg. I managed to eat half the Steak and a little of the Rice. I took the rest home with me.

That was it for the day. You may have noticed the lack of Duck and very limited Octopus this time. I intend to rectify that situation on Monday.