LIMA DAYS 8 & 9: Peruvan Food, Italian Food, Sea Food. Food.

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Either I am Getting Old, or I'm getting full. Regardless, I am having less Meals, so I will combine these two days into one post.

Bertha and I met for Lunch at El Bodegon. It's one of our new favorites. We had been exchanging messages for months, and were looking forward to reliving our previous glory there.

The place is small and fills up fast, and they don't take reservations. I got there a little early and for a while, I *was* the line. But by noon, we were glad we planned ahead.

Bertha and I have similar taste in Food, so we often share. We started with the basics: a Ceviche.

Fresh, tasty, a little spicy... all you can ask for in a Ceviche.

Then... the next table ordered a Giant Mutant Corn with Cheese. We needed to have one. It's the size of two iPhones.

For our Main Courses, we re-created our previous magic and ordered the Aeropuerto and the Carapulcra con Sopa Seca.

 

Aeropuerto is an Asian-based Dish (a lot of the Chinese restaurants here offer it). In a nutshell, it is Fried Rice, but really busy Fried Rice. This version has Vegetables, hunks of Pork, tiny pieces of Sweet Plantain, and a Fried Egg. And if that wasn't enough, there's a Breaded and Fried Steak on top of the whole thing.

Carapulcra is a Stew with chunks of Pork and (they tell me) dehydrated potatoes, along with all kinds of other Spices. It's a dish that they made up in the Andes Mountains, back in the day. Sopa Seca (literally, Dry Soup) is Noodles. I am sure that they have special secret Sopa Seca seasoning for the Noodles, but they are Noodles. They go really well with the Carapulcra.

We were full after that, so we decided to work off the Lunch by walking out of the restaurant and into a taxi. I surprised Bertha by taking her to Calaca for Dessert (the place with the 'Mexican' stuffed Ice Cream Pops). It was a pleasant surprise.

 

 

I met Fernando for dinner at El Italiano. Fernando likes Lasagna.

He had car trouble, so I had some Garlic & Cheese Bread while I waited.

Once he got there, we ordered. Fernando had... SURPRISE! Lasagna. I ordered the Osso Buco with a side of Ravioli in Gargonzola Sauce.

 

 

The Osso Buco was much better than it photographed. And the Pasta: white on white on white. Trust me, it was Ravioli.

For Dessert, I had a piece of Cake topped with Fruit and Fernando had a Chocolate Thing.

 

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Well, it turns out that I *did* eat a lot these two days. But I already started the post and wrote the early stuff, so you get a long post today.

Today was Fishy Thursday.

For Lunch, I went to El Marati in Chorrillos. They haven't seen a Gringo there since I visited in December. It's on a side street in the middle of nowhere, at least tourism-wise.

They have a great Lunch Special for around $6. The place is always pretty busy, and the deal brings 'em in. I would have nothing to do with it. I go big, or stay home.

So I went big. I got their special Ceviche - It come in a two-foot tall Martini glass.

 

 

There's a lot of stuff in this glass. A full Ceviche, Fish on A Stick, Shrimps on A Stick, a small Leche de Tigre (Ceviche Juice), Giant Mutant Corn, Beans, Sweet Potatoes, and Fried Banana Chips.

As if that wasn't enough, I then asked the waiter what they had with Clams. He suggested the Grilled Clams and Scallops Platter.

 

Absolutely wonderful.

That's when I decided that I would never eat again. But what do you know, 10 pm rolls around and I am hungry. I was going to go to one place, but every table there was full of English speakers; I didn't need that.

Walking down Calle Alcanfores, a side street with a history of restaurants that don't get enough traffic to stay open, I saw another new-ish place, Cavalli. The guy in front told me it was a combination of Spanish and Peruvian. It looked a little fancier than I was hoping for, but I went in.

The place is pretty fancy, but the menu looked good and I ordered. The lighting was pretty low, so I did the best I could with my camera.

First, they brought me a free snack.

This was, as far as I could tell - a piece of Ham Quiche on top of toast. I am 100% certain that they called it something else, but it was a nice couple of bites.

I ordered three things. The first was Tuna Tartar.

Excellent. The flash wiped out some of the color of the Tuna. It was on a bed of Avocado, and really good.

Next up, one of my favorites: Scallops Parmesan.

These were cooked a little more than I preferred, but the Scallops were very good. I've said it before, the waters along the coast here are just made for Scallops.

And last - a real treat for me - Grilled Razor Clams.

I hardly ever see these at the store back home, and when I do, they are super expensive. These had a touch of butter and seemed/tasted like they were grilled on an open flame (the shells were a little charred). I would go back here, sit at the bar, and order these again. I would make them turn up the lights for a photo, however.

So that was it for Fishy Thursday. I waddled home and went to sleep.