Lima Catchup
"I like a film that makes the audience feel like they are in the middle of life as it is moving, and in a way, they are catching up. They are thrown into things." - Ira Sachs, filmmaker
I’m falling behind. To be expected when on vacation I guess. Isn’t that part of the purpose of vacation? So I’m going to catch up with a sort of short-shrift look at the eats of the last few days.
I do actually do things other than eat. Not many, but some. A visit to Lima’s Museo Oro del Perú y Armas del Mundo (“Gold Museum of Peru and Weapons of the World”) Jr. Alonso de Molina 1100, Santiago de Surco was a fascinating couple of hours. The “Gold Museum” part is the basement level - room after room of stone and metal artifacts from, primarily, Pre-Incan through Incan cultures. Not all gold - it’s interestingly divided into stone, copper, silver, and gold sections as you wander through. Upstairs, and, less interesting for me anyway, displays of donated and loaned weapons from around the world, arranged by type - swords, knives, pistols, rifles, etc. Entry fee for adults is about $11, though with my senior status, that was reduced to $8. It is a trifle pricier than that though, because Surco is a long way from where most people lodge and you can add around $8-9 total for the fares there and back.
One real plus for visitors that I don’t see in a lot of museums in Peru, the explanations for each section are in both Spanish and English. At the same time, a huge percentage of the individual items have nothing identifying them other than a collection number, and there’s no access to the museum’s listing of those numbers.
It was off one afternoon to Olé Restaurante, C. Pancho Fierro 109, in Miraflores for a cocktail. Specifically, one of Peru’s most famous cocktails, the El Capitán. There’s a whole circuit of places that offer this cocktail, and this place is one of them. One of the big draws here for visitors is that they make a whole show out of the making of the cocktail, and (for an added price), give you a numbered certificate (plus there’s a counter on the wall that they change to reflect that number). Now, while the certificate is only a little over the half millionth one served, that’s just a fraction of the number of them that they’ve made where someone doesn’t ask for the certificate - you know, regulars, repeats, or people who don’t want to spring for the upcharge (I don’t know the regular price, but with certificate it rang in at a hefty $16).
Despite my original plans, I just can’t resist hitting at least a couple of Nikkei spots while I’m here. I am purposely not returning to ones I’ve been to, no matter how much I may like them, and am trying new places. Shizen, Av. Los Conquistadores 999, San Isidro gets high ratings, and the menu looked quite interesting.
Now, it’s quite common in traditional Japanese restaurants for the staff to call out a “Welcome!” to guests as they enter - Irasshaimase! Here, the four folk who are behind the sushi counter (two pictured), gather together quickly and boom it out at the top of their lungs… though they seem to just be saying Irasshai! which I gather means the same thing but with a more casual intent.
The menu is extensive. And, like so many places, their creative nigiri are offered as two pieces of each. I asked if it was possible to get one each of the eleven on offer and my waiter said of course! Add to that that when I asked for gyoza as well, he suggested a half order, as it might be a bit much, and/or, I might want to try other things. Done!
Without exception, every piece was delicious, creative, and notedly different from any of the others. That’s what you want in a Nikkei sushi bar. Buenos Aires sushi bars that claim to be creative, please take note. It is pricey - individual pieces of sushi range from $4-8 - my eleven pieces, two gyozas, a bottle of water, and tip, topped out at $75!
An afternoon interlude, wandering over to nearby Parque Kennedy in Miraflores where, according to various folk on the ‘net, among the best picarones are to be found at Picarones Mary. They have a steady stream of customers buying as fast as they can make them. Most of the people sitting around are waiting for the next batch to be ready. It took about 15-20 minutes to get mine.
They were worth the wait. These are easily among the best I’ve had. And, she slipped me an extra one! About $2.75.
I’m going to end with this one. I’d heard about this place doing amazing things with Amazonian flavors and ingredients. And so I wandered my way up for lunch at Frina, Av Daniel Hernandez 293, San Isidro. On arrival, I started to have a little trepidation - I didn’t know it was the restaurant in a hotel, the DoubleTree by Hilton. Hotel restaurants… price… quality… and all that.
I guess I’m still, even twenty some years after getting out of the NYC restaurant scene, still surprised when restaurants are just simply not ready for service at their opening time. The few of us waiting for the opening bell were directed to the hotel lobby, where someone would come get us when they were actually ready to open. It wasn’t long after opening time, but still. And then, the staff didn’t even have most of the tables set, and spent probably the first ten minutes of the time we were there setting them and getting ready, while we sat with menus on our tables and no one attending to us.
The menu looked fascinating and I decided to just do a little tasting menu of four appetizers. I made sure to specify one at a time - I didn’t want a repeat of Song. And I left the order up to the kitchen.
For me, a minor, but still pet peeve thing in regard to the service. I’d ordered two cold and two hot dishes. Normally, one might think the cold ones would come first, but they sent out one of the hot ones first. I think it was because the table next to me ordered one of the same and it was simply easier on the kitchen to make two at once. And, this was my least favorite dish of the four - primarily because the octopus was rubbery and chewy - does no one here know how to cook octopus so that it’s tender? The flavors were great - it’s lightly glazed with miso, there’s a puree made from miso and arracacha, an Amazonian root vegetable and a sauce made from cocona…
Arracacha looks sort of like a white carrot and has a flavor and texture similar to yuca.
Cocona is a really cool fruit that tastes like a tomato and a lemon had a baby.
And then scattered slices and rounds of different Amazonian root vegetables. If only they’d gotten the texture of the octopus right, I was flossing pieces of it out of my teeth an hour later.
Luckily, it was all uphill from there. A beautiful tiradito of charela, a type of weakfish, in a creamy leche de tigre that I missed what it was flavored with, a Brazil nut salsa macha, with dots of avocado puree, and oils of camu camu and tangerine.
Camu Camu, a highly acidic berry from the Amazon.
And the surprising favorite of the lunch, and the dish I’d have figured they’d serve first, we have thin slices of beet wrapped around a smoked goat cheese and finely chopped macambo beans/nuts… a relative a cacao, sometimes called white cacao…
… and then, the reason I ordered it, if you know my style of cooking, the whole thing was served over a pool of tonnato sauce, Italian tuna sauce, with a touch of truffled olive oil.
And finally, if for nothing else, I’d seen Instagram photos of this dish, and just wanted to see it in person. It is a very cool presentation. It’s lightly crisped sweetbreads bathed in a tucupi sauce - made from pureed yuca root, and served with a sort of “textures of carrot” - dehydrated powder below, a mound of puree to the side, and lightly cooked carrot “flowers” or cones, with cardamom seeds.
All really delicious, beautiful presentations, once the table setting was done, great service, and I’d happily go back any time. Appetizers run from about $11-16 apiece. These four, plus water, a camu camu mocktail, and tip, and it was another $73…. Hey, vacation, right?
Probably just one more post for the last few places in Lima. I’m back home on Tuesday and will likely write it up on Wednesday morning.
Now… where to have lunch?
Thank you!
Very interesting post---and mouth-watering photography, as usual.