We had friends here a few weeks ago, and lots of eating and drinking was involved!

We were able to show off some of our favourite restaurants in Lima, and have them experience some of the reasons why Lima is considered a “foodie” destination.

In no particular order, here were our food experiences of that week.

First day; drinks and tapas at Cosme.

Pisco Sours and dined on tiradito (thin slice fish, think sashimi) in the traditional ceviche lime juice, and pulpo sellado (octopus – I didn’t have any, not a big fan of octopus, but our friends were swooning over the fabulous taste!)

Onto La Esquina (the corner, it’s on a corner!)

My favourite tapa place (so far) in the city.  It would be our locale if it was just a few minutes closer (15 minutes to walk to – not far, but when we’re done with walking it would be nice if it was just a bit closer).  The menu is always good; pork belly, bruschetta with lomo (little meat), mushrooms.  Plus of course the wine.  Having tapas in a Spanish wine shop – how could it be bad (it isn’t!)  Right now this is our favourite wine spot. Is it possible to bring back a few bottles home?  I hope so!

Day two; lunch at a “closed door” restaurant called Sonia.

we were recommended to this place by one of my tour guides.  It was excellent! It’s called a closed door because essentially the restaurant door isn’t open, you need to know it’s there, though the big fishing boat out front is the clue there’s a restaurant there.  I was told it was started by the fisherman’s wife (Sonia) and it’s grown from there.  We were there for lunch so of course, we had ceviche (ceviche is traditionally only served at lunch), along with Pisco Sours.  There was a small quartet (2 guitars, 1 sax and 1 fellow sitting on the square drum box ‘Cajon’ – very popular instrument here).  Good thing we did a walking tour after lunch – needed to walk off some of that meal.

Day three; Matria for dinner.

I had the daily fish in red curry sauce – delicious.  Everybody’s meal was fabulous (though I can’t remember what anybody else had, as I was concentrating so hard on my dinner!)  Dessert – chocolate cake (think lava cake with a very warm gooey center with hazelnut ice cream.  Good thing we walked home!

Day four; food walking tour (can you see where this is going – lots of eating!)

Barranco Bites was the tour we did (though I’ve also done their Miraflores walking tour and their Bikes and Bite tour and have enjoyed them all!)  The Barranco tour started out with Causas (my favourite little appetizer – cold mashed potatoes topped with a little bit of seafood.  I originally chatted about it here.  Onto a taste of Inca Cola; sweet, as in bubblegum sweet.  Really not very good at all (for me!)
A walk along the art murals that Barranco is known for and we end up at a little place overlooking the ocean for a bit of Anticucho (heart – sounds a bit off-putting, but it is good – though I would say in small doses!) I finally ate a bit of Chifa (Chinese fusion) food (I’m not a big fan of Chinese food), this dish was lots of veggies, a few pieces of different meat, all on a big scorching hot platter.  Last stop Barranco Beer Company for some handcrafted beer.  Thank goodness we just had a few nibbles for dinner that night.

Day five; Astrid y Gaston – our friend’s anniversary and we celebrate here.

One of the top restaurants in the world and yes I can see why.  The setting, the ambiance, the food.  It all was top notch.  We all decided to do the tasting menu (much easier to make a decision than to figure out the a la carte menu).  15 course!!!  Now each course literally wasn’t much more than a mouth full or two.  But we were all groaning by the time desserts came around.  To say we were in a food coma was an understatement.  But the food was wonderful (‘cuy’ or guinea pig in a small chocolate disc taco like – sounds weird, incredibly tasty!)  Scallops on the shell with some sort of frozen powder poured over the top (I found out it was something to do with apples) – melt in your mouth.  Surprisingly the least favourite for me was the desserts, though they redeemed themselves by offering a giant chocolate box, which whipped open several layers and the drawers were all handmade.  I took all 3 of my chocolates home with me!  A small bit of heaven the next day.  And the restaurant gave us a little celebratory cake for the anniversary couple – very nice!

Day six; La Mar, last day with our friend’s here.

Another excellent top rated cevecheria; we had ceviche, tiradito, yucca frita (fried yucca – it’s done very well here!), more Pisco Sours.  All in all, it was a brilliant food trip with friends!!
And because John and I are a bit of gluttons for punishment, two more restaurants to bookend this food week extravagance; Jeronimo; little tapas, (fish tacos, beef tacos, tuna tartar in cones) with lovely Pisco Sours.  We went here with a friend from work to help celebrate her birthday.  IK Resturante with more friends; lovely atmosphere, great food, and wine.  The best was the little extra dessert – our waiter brought to the table a bowl of rocks with 4 chocolate rocks right on top.  The chocolate rocks looked exactly like the real rocks, which were delicious by the way!
Needless to say, we’re about dined out or at least rich food out.  Eating in on soups and pasta; feels pretty good!
Hasta pronto
Lynn