LIMA DAY 2: Astrid y Gaston

Ducks were indeed harmed in the making of tonight's Dinner

Thursday, May 10, 2018

After no Dinner the night before, I was hungrier than usual in the morning. I headed off to 1972 Coffee for Breakfast. They have a larger Food selection than Estacion 329.

I had a Latte, A Pastel de Acelga, and a Chicken Salad Sandwich.

That was it until Dinner. I met Melosa in San Isidro, and we took a cab to Astrid y Gaston.

Somehow, Astrid y Gaston has slipped down to where it is now only the 33rd Best Restaurant in the World. Why? I can't tell, as far as I am concerned. Every bite that comes out of the kitchen is superb, the service is excellent, I have been coming here for ten years now and they treat me like royalty, and most important: This is a fancy restaurant that doesn't take anything but the Food seriously. People smile and laugh in this place.

Anyway, there's no place more famous in Peru (Machu Picchu comes a close second), and it is as big a treat for me as it is for a first-timer like Melosa.

My one complaint about Astrid y Gaston: The lighting. I just can't get pictures to look good here.

Our Bread came, and once we were settled in, Melosa looked at the menu and then said one of the sweetest things a woman can say to a man: "You do the ordering."

The Bread here is delicious. And the Spreads all have a backstory.

I kept it simple. We ordered the Cochinillo, which is a Main Course, as an Appetizer. And the Arroz con Pato para dos (Rice and Duck for two).

Cochinillo is Baby Pig. Or as defined by Wikipedia, A Suckling Pig ("A suckling pig is a piglet fed on its mother's milk"), so it is tender and delicious. And this one certainly was. We devoured the thing.

It was great, and if they sent us home then, we would have been happy. But then the Rice and Duck arrived.

 

We went from Happy to Ecstatic. This is a pretty fabulous dish. Those are chunks of boneless Duck Meat (breasts, I think), with two Fried Duck Eggs, baby Maduros, and for some reason, pieces of Avocado. All of it over some Rice that is good enough to be a meal all on its own merits. There was no conversation at the table for a while. 😊

I have ordered it for myself and not had an Appetizer, and it is way too much. It was way too much for us this night; we left about half of it over. We were done. Mel was overwhelmed; I was too, but lucky for me, I had the camera.

We laughed at the waiter's offer of Dessert and Coffee. They bring bite-sized treats with the check, and we only tasted a couple of those.

That was it for the day. My doorman did NOT get the leftovers tonight.