mmm-yoso!!!

Fools and Kings

One evening a few months back, I was looking for a place to grab an early dinner with the Missus. She wanted something different. I returned to the menu at Fools and Kings, a fairly eclectic collection of small plates....with dishes from some of our favorite places; Spain, Peru, and heck even North Africa. Over the next month or so we visited this quaint and rather discreet little eatery in Mission Hills.

Come to think of it; we've always had  a table on the little patio out front....I don't think we've stepped into the dining room!

The menu is a fairly tight one, not too many dishes, but the range, at least in geographic terms is vast. The menu is broken up into five sections; Salads, Bocaditos (appetizers), Crudo, Flat Breads, and A la Carte items. All items are meant to be shared.

Funny thing; I'm not much of a Sangria person, but I did enjoy the White Sangria, especially during the hot spell we had a few months back. While it edged toward the sweeter side; I think the lychee and cinnamon gave it a nice refreshing and "clean" taste.

On our three visits, we were basically the only people eating at Fools and Kings, of course it was early in the week and for dinner; like 430-5pm or so.

Each meal started with some Canchita, which always made us smile as it reminded us of our favorite little place in Miraflores.

Anyway, just like other posts of the same ilk. Here are our picks and pans.

Our favorite here is the Stuffed Piquillo Peppers ($10).

The peppers are stuffed with crab and goat cheese, a nice, rich combination....creamy, savory, sweet, milky, a tad of mild heat from the peppers. Served on a toasted and pressed, yeasty and light bread, it was very much a "Montedito". This was by far our favorite dish and we had it on every visit. The simply dressed greens added a nice bitterness and "green" flavor to temper things a bit. In fact, we thought the greens in most of the dishes were nice and simple.

We both also enjoyed the Lamb Sausage ($14).

This reminded us of Merguez, a bit more meatier, but it still had those nice spices that reminded us a bit of what we had during almost every meal in Tunisia.

The Missus enjoyed the Lentil and Burrata Salad ($8).

Of course, She loves puy lentils and corn...and Balsamic Vinegar. The burrata had a light milkiness, a mild acidity, and was very soft, but not runny. I actually enjoyed the yeasty bread, as I thought this salad was like something I make at home.

I really didn't care much for the Sauteed Wild Mushroom with Burrata ($10).

For some reason, I didn't care for the milky-acidity of the burrata, along with the texture of the cheese combined with the earth flavors of the mushrooms. It was a bit to much with the truffle oil; even for me a truffle oil lover. I mainly enjoyed the greens and the bread.

Sadly, our two "pans" were both of the Crudo we had.

We gladly waited the 20 minutes or so for the Cebiche ($14), you know how much the Missus loves Her cebiche. And this would have been pretty good; that leche de tigre was nice and bright in flavor, great acidity, I even asked for another spoon to eat my canchita in the leche de tigre.

The problem was that the fish was still partially frozen; we bit into ice crystals with every bite. It had also spent a bit too long in the leche de tigre. The camote, sweet potato had very little flavor was quite mushy.

On our next visit we tried the Tuna Carpaccio ($15). I dunno about combining Extra Virgin Olive Oil with Soy Sauce....like that Yellowtail with Olive Oil and Soy Sauce in in my previous post on Sushi Noguchi; I find the flavors really clash.

The fish was decent quality, but also on the mushy side....I believe they mix duck pate in with this? It was just a strange mish-mash of flavors and textures for us.

Overall the service was friendly and relaxed. Our dishes did take a while, but we were in no rush. Prices aren't bad....but this might sound a bit strange based on the wide geographic swath of the various dishes. But the menu just seems a bit limiting for us; there isn't that two or three dishes we want to return for. At least not for a while. Maybe when the weather turns warmer that White Sangria will call to me. Until then I might just "wander very far, Very far, over land and sea....." Yeah, go ahead and call me Nature Boy:

"And then one day
A magic day he passed my way
And while we spoke of many things
Fools and kings
This he said to me
The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return"

Fools and Kings
4015 Goldfinch St
San Diego, CA 92103
Hours:
Tues - Fri 430pm - 10pm
Sat - Sun  10am - 2pm, 430pm - 10pm

Eli's Peruvian Kitchen Revisited

After working on a recent Sunday; I decided to revisit Eli's Peruvian. It's not easy coordinating visits since they have limited hours only open from 11am to 5pm Wednesdays thru Satruday, and 10am to 4pm on Sundays. I'd arrived on Sunday, forgetting that the Sunday Breakfast menu was being served. So no cebiche for me this time around.

I ended up ordering the Adobo de Chancho Arequipeño which was a special on this day.

Adobo de Chancho Arequipeño is a hearty pork stew that originates from the Arequipa (duh) area of Peru. The stew is usually beer - vinegar based; with paprika to add smokiness. With garlic and onions to add pungency.

The pork in this dish was well seasoned and very tender. The stew had a nice tangy-salty-mildly sweet-earthy balance which I enjoyed. It was definitely hearty and the portion size was much larger than it looked. Tons of pork in the bowl.

The bread was a standard issue banh mi that was toasted but was already going flaccid.

I enjoy the chica morada at Eli's; for some reason, it doesn't strike me as being too sweet. It did a good job of cutting the richness of the stew.

I was asked my opinion of the adobo and said that it was quite good. They told me they're thinking about adding it as a regular item on the menu. I think it would do fine.

Seems like the food here is improving. And the service is always nice......even if the area is a bit on the shady side.

Eli's Peruvian Kitchen
4979 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours:
Thurs -Sat 11am - 5pm
Sunday     10am - 4pm

Eli's Signature Peruvian Kitchen

Sometime back in July; I was driving west on El Cajon Boulevard, when I noticed what looked like a Peruvian Restaurant had taken the place of the old Awash, then Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant. I truly love Peruvian cuisine and was somewhat excited. The only thing being.....I couldn't figure out when this place was open! And then one Saturday morning, I actually parked and walked on over to find the place was only open Wednesdays thru Saturdays, from noon to five. So coming here on a weekday was pretty much off the table.

When I finally had some time on a weekend, the calendar was ready to turn into the New Year. And the place had nicer sign; "Eli's Signature Peruvian Kitchen".

Entering the place from the rather gritty neighborhood takes you into a pretty nice dining area. Much larger than what the façade would indicate.

The very nice young man working here seated me and handed me a menu, which was fairly Spartan, five dishes and a special of the day. Though the five dishes were probably the most well known and popular Peruvian dishes.

I ordered a Chicha Morada to start. It was actually pretty good; less sweet than most that I've had in the states, the best I've had since we got back from Peru. With just the right touch of sweetness and cinnamon flavor.

I instantly homed in on the Seco con Frijoles ($14.95) because it featured two of my favorite things. Seco is a cilantro and garlic based braise, and my favorite version features lamb. The frijoles here were canary beans, a favorite of mine, which shines in the classic Peruvian dish Tacu Tacu.

In this case it was beef, which was very tender, but I do prefer cordero as it adds a nice gamey dimension to the dish. The sauce was on the mild side, I usually enjoy a more assertive minty-anise flavor, with maybe a bitter sweet touch of huacatay. Still, this wasn't bad at all. The beans were creamy, nicely seasoned and my favorite part of the dish. The salsa criolla had a mild vinegary-spicy kick that helped to cut through any richness. The rice looked dry but was fragrant and nicely done.

This meant a return trip. So the following weekend I returned.

This time I started with the classic Papa a la Huacaina ($6.95).

The potatoes were nicely boiled and tender. The sauce was much thicker than other versions I've had of this dish. It was also quite cheesy and had a mild spicy kick to it. I thought the sauce was a bit too thick for my liking. The versions of this dish I enjoy also usually had some acidic-pungent element (garlic/onions), that helped to cut through things which seemed missing here.

Thankfully, I ordered the Cebiche de Pescado ($15.95). The nice young man told me that the fish for today was sea bass and if I was ok with that.

Of course, the first thing I went for was a taste of the leche de tigre, the marinating liquid for the seafood in cebiche. This version was more tannic than sour/tangy, thus a bit more reserved. It did have a good amount of aji rocoto which gave it an interesting amount of spiciness, though it had me wishing for some spicy-fragrant-fruity aji limo. At first I thought the fish had been "cooking" too long in the leche de tigre, but it was very tender, without any off flavors. The camote was lacking in the sweet-cinnamon flavors that the Missus loves at her favorite places. This was a passable version of Cebiche Pescado.

This had me determined to finally try the lomo saltado, the dish that really got me interesting in Peruvian cuisine. So I returned the next day, a Sunday. I saw that Eli's actually opened at 10am on Sunday, so I returned at a bit past 11. So here's the deal on Sunday's. Eli's serves a version of breakfast from 10 to noon on Sundays.

Which was actually fine by me.

You see Lomito al Jugo ($7.95) is basically lomo saltado without the potatoes and rice. It seemed to be quite inexpensive, so I was surprised at the portion size when it arrived.

While the beef was as I expected this price point a bit on the chewy side; it had no metallic or off flavors. Unlike versions I've had recently, the sauce, and there was quite a bit of sauce wasn't too salty. It also had just the right amount of onions and tomato to make the dish interesting. Perhaps a bit too much black pepper, but I really enjoyed the sauce with the bread.

So, I remained determined to get that lomo saltado. Hence, the return visit the following weekend.

And the Lomo Saltado ($14.95).

Sadly, this was my least favorite dish at Eli's. Not enough sauce, so the rather chewy meat seemed even more dry. The potatoes were very soggy. There wasn't enough onions and tomatoes to add pungency and acid to the dish. This came across as rather bland. The rice was also on the dry and tough side. Bummer.

Still, while the food here won't make me forget about Peru, it's decent, straight-forward, middle of the road, classic fare. Plus the folks here are really nice. Things might take a while to get to you; but that's how Peru is as well. On one of my visits, I had a nice chat with three middle aged women from Peru. They come here every other week. They were rather surprised to see me in this rather out of the way place with limited hours. We had a fun discussion about Peruvian food. And the look on their faces when I started mentioning some of their favorite places in Lima as well.

While the limited hours may be a bit of a hindrance, it's probably for the better based on the neighborhood, I'll probably return when I can.

Eli's Signature Peruvian Kitchen
4979 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
Hours:
Wed - Sat Noon - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 3pm

Pisco Rotisserie & Cevicheria

If you've read this blog long enough; you know that I love the cuisine of Peru; which, in addition to unique indigenous foods includes an amazing mish mash of all those who came upon its shores, there's something about the food of Peru that really strikes a chord with me.

Funny thing, I recently had an email asking if I'd tried Pisco Rotisserie & Cevicheria, which opened a few months ago in Liberty Station. I replied that I had eaten there 3 times. I was then asked why I hadn't posted on the place yet. I answered that I wanted one more visit before I did a post. I think Pisco did that to me. Opened by Sami Ladecki in the former location of his namesake Sammy's Woodfired Pizza in Liberty Station. I was told that Pisco was designed as his love letter to Peruvian Cuisine, I was really excited to visit.

And my good buddy Candice was more than happy to humor me.

I liked the interior, colorful, yet understated, the service was very good, except when it came to understanding what the place was serving. When we asked about certain dishes, we got blank and confused looks....which happened on a couple of my visits. Good spirited tries......but no cigar.

The Pisco Sour was decent, certainly, not in the league of what we've had in Lima.

It was bit on the weak side. One of my acquaintances told me it tasted more like a margarita than a pisco sour.

The canchita was spot on; not too salty, nice and warm.

And it was just screaming for some cebiche.

Which is what came out first....the "Classico" of course.

While the portion size was fairly small for twelve bucks; the whitefish was nicely "cooked" by the leche de tigre. Very tender in texture, good balance, leche de tigre not too sour, I enjoyed the chocolo (peruvian corn), but lamented the small portion of camote (sweet potato), which wasn't flavored correctly and was too mushy for my taste.

We'd recently been back in Lima rather recently and had really enjoyed the "Leche de Tigre" styled dishes at places like El Veridico de Fidel, I was intrigued by what the Martini de Tigre ($14) was going to be like.

This was way too acidic, sour, and spicy to enjoy. The seafood was nicely prepared, but it was difficult enjoying the dish.

Up next was the Causitas with Crab ($15). This was a very nice version of the classic causita; the potatoes creamy, the crab sweet, without too much mayo.

The potatoes were very moist, not too heavy and the tobiko added a nice textural and slight briney flavor to the dish. the tomatoes added a bit of acid as well.

Of course I had to order what I consider to be, along with cebiche, the national dish of Peru; Lomo Saltado ($16 + $2 for an egg). Adding an egg was a no-brainer.

I love lomo saltado as you can see if you do a search on the blog. On our last trip to Peru, we were struck at how this dish has seemed to evolved into Lomo saltado con Tacu Tacu. Unfortunately, this dish made me rather sad. First off; the dinner fries just seemed out of place, being too large and dry. The beef was on the tough side and had a slight metallic flavor to it. The overall balance in flavor was off and this was just too salty to enjoy.

The Braised Lamb Shoulder ($25) was very interesting. This seemed to be a take on Seco de Cordero.

We didn't care for the texture of the lamb, which was shredded, making things seem a bit mushy. But they sure didn't hold back on the mildly minty-anise-bitter, yet sweet flavor of huacatay. It just went so well with lamb. I enjoyed the crisp fried kale and the sweet Cipollini onion, even though they seemed a bit out of place in this dish. Overall, a very nice entrée.

The visit was a mixed bag that showed some potential. After all, it was grand opening and all that.

So, a few weeks later, I decided to return for just a Pisco Sour and the Cebiche Classico. This time I sat at the bar and met a nice fellow named "Mike" who was from Peru. We had a ncie chat and I got my cebiche.

This version wasn't nearly as good as what I'd had on my previous visit. The leche de tigre was very sour; the fish tough, with a mild fishy taste. On a funny note; when I lamented the portion size of the camote, Mike told me, "in Lima, we most feed that to the dogs anyway"! Must be some lucky dogs. This wasn't very good....which you can just see.....

Still, I waited a couple of weeks and dropped by during Happy Hour. Since I'd enjoyed the causitas the last time; I ordered the "Grilled Octopus:.

A causita by any other name; the garlic infused mashed potatoes were excellent, as was the tender octopus. Not enough piquillo peppers to make much of an impact, though what seemed to be an aji rocoto based sauce was delicious as it did a very nice job of cutting any of the richness in the dish.

On my previous visit, "Mike" had recommended the Carne Empanada, so I ordered that as well. The creamy huacaina sauce proved to be a nice foil for the onions. The filling had a nice flavor, with a mild sweet-smokiness that I detected.

Unfortunately, the middle of the empanada was barely lukewarm.

Not a bad visit, but not great, I was left with mixed feelings.

And so my photos resided in limbo, just kind of hanging around waiting for me to post. Until that faithful email (thanks ST!). I was almost reluctant to return, but decided that enough time had past and I needed to get this post done. So, last week I returned. I again sat at the bar. The dining room was pretty quiet when I arrived, but quickly filled up.

I sat at the bar trying to decided on what to order. I went back to the first few times I had Peruvian food; back in the 90's, living in LA.....the gateway dish for me was Pollo ala Brasa, rotisserie chicken. It had been a while since I'd had a good version. So why not go with the Half Chicken ($17), which came with two sides. I went with the Choclo Garlic Rice and Canary Beans.

Three sauce were provided for the chicken, which came in handy since, while the skin of the chicken was nicely flavored, the meat was a bit dry and on the bland side. The garlic rice was mushy, very salty, and the cholco a bit too hard. The canary beans were very nice; perfectly prepped, excellent texture, slightly smokey....man, they would have killed it with some tacu tacu. That chimichurri sauce was quite heady; though it had me missing the aji verde that used to be served with the pollo a la brasa we used to eat way back when.

So, what to say about Pisco? I've got mixed feelings. I enjoy more restaurant choices, but have never been one to be "just happy to have it", if you know what I mean. I think the best explanation of the food at Pisco is what "Mike" told me that day at the bar when I mentioned that what I'd had at Pisco just wasn't quite "there", if you know what I mean. He told me, "look, I think Pisco is Peruvian food for those who never had Peruvian food. It's an introduction." Fair enough; I had my "gateway dish" all those years ago, but have grown and expanded my horizons. Hopefully, Pisco will too.

Pisco Rotisserie & Cevicheria
2401 Truxtun Rd
San Diego, CA 92106
Hours:
Sun - Thurs 5pm - 9pm
Fri - Sat 5pm - 10pm

 

Lima - Revisiting El Veridico de Fidel and Heading Home

I'm not sure why I take so long doing "last" posts on places we visit. Perhaps it's because I really didn't want our trip to end....or maybe I'm just too darn lazy? Go figure. Anyway, since I just posted on our last meal in Madrid, I figure I need to get Lima done as well.

The Missus's favorite eating spot on this trip was El Veridico de Fidel. She enjoyed Her meal so much, that before we left, we made reservations for dinner on our last evening in Lima here.

  In contrast to our previous visit, which was during an early lunch, the place was humming!

When we arrived; the really nice young lady....the only one who we noticed that spoke English saw us, waved, and immediately came over....dropping off our menus, canchita, and even aji limo! I guess She remembered we enjoyed things "picante"! Great service.

  As I mentioned earlier; our last visit was for a pretty early lunch. This time though.....we had no qualms about getting some beer and a pisco sour of course!

The Missus requested Her Pisco easy on the sugar and She really enjoyed it.

The Missus went straight for the Cebiche Lenguado; basically sole, and She really enjoyed the bracing, yet, not too sour leche de tigre.

The fish had been marinated well; it wasn't too "cooked" by the citrus and still had a nice tender, yet toothsome texture. Nice flavors all around. The Missus enjoyed a touch of the aji limo, which added a decent amount of fragrant heat to the dish.

Much had changed since our last trip to Lima all those years ago; I hadn't remembered seeing the interesting, creamy "leche de tigre" type dishes on menus before. Like a chilled, creamy, citrusy, savory cold soup. I had enjoyed the version eaten on my previous visit. So this time went with the version with chicharron de calamari. Basically, fried calamari....something I'd usually avoid in most restaurants.

Of course the Missus poached the camote (simmered sweet potato). The fried calamari was quite tender, the crunch of the batter and the texture of the squid really set a nice contrast to the refreshing; tongue coating, slightly tangy-sour leche de tigre. It was so refreshing and satisfying.

One of the "new dishes", that is, something I don't recall seeing during our first trip to Peru back in 2007 is Tacu Tacu con Lomo Saltado. Our Driver, Benjamin, introduced this dish to us on the way back from checking out the Nazca Lines. I saw that on the menu here and just had to try it.

First off, the beef was really tender and we loved the flavor of the peppers, nicely sweet. The flavor of the tacu tacu was quite mild and not very "beany" and the sauce could have had a bit more umami and saltiness for our taste. It was very filling and we were done after this dish.

We really enjoyed El Veridico de Fidel and will definitely return if/when we're back in Peru. Hopefully, it won't take another ten years!

El Veridico de Fidel
Calle Colon 246
Lima 18, Peru  

We took a very roundabout way back to our hotel. I think there was a football game going on that day; this group of folks seemed to be celebrating something.

Strangely, at least for us, our flight didn't depart Lima until 1255 am. Luckily, we were flying Business, so we were able to take advantage of the Sumaq Lounge at Jorge Chavez International Airport. Based on how crowded the lounge was at 10pm; I'm guessing there are quite a few flights that depart at that rather late time.

The spread at the lounge was ok, but good golly, after being to a couple of these, I'm amazed at the feeding frenzy. It seems that folks are so focused on getting what they assume to be their money's worth I guess? I mean, really, do you actually need to have six mini-hamburguesas? Well whatever....to each their own......

I got a fair Pisco Sour as my "goodbye to Peru" gift.....for now!

Thanks for reading!

Circling Back to Nazca Grill

A few nights ago, I got a late start on dinner. Like I've mentioned before; I usually like to have an early dinner. I slowly hit a couple of places, but each had a waiting list, or the parking lot was full. By this time, I'd pretty much lost any motivation to go out of my way. On the way home, I passed Nazca Grill. It had been nearly two years since my last visit and over six months since we got back from Peru. The place was empty, so I decided to stop and have some dinner.

The place is starting to look a bit faded and I noticed several dishes; specifically the Causa Limeña, possibly the item I thought they did best was no longer on the menu.

I just went for the simple Lomo Saltado ($13.95).

Good lord, what happened here? I'm used to the beef here being a bit more chewy, but this one had that semi-metallic taste, a bit off. There was but one slice of tomato, you need more to really give a nice tangy punch to lomo saltado. The papas fritas were just dumped to the side, not mixed with the stir fry like it should be. This dish looked nothing like what I'm used to having here. The sauce lacked any tanginess and had a bitter after taste. Sadly, this place has fallen even farther than Latin Chef.

Quite sad.

Nazca Grill
4310 Genesee Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Lima - Cevicheria Bam Bam

The recent sunny, post storm(s) weather had me thinking about Lima again. And then I realized; man, I better finish up those posts.

So what to do after having sanguches de chicharron for breakfast, then walking the pork off at Mercado de Surquillo? Well, if you're with the Missus, you'd understand that She'd be wanting more cebiche. There's a shop in the back of the Mercado that I'd heard about named Bam Bam. And upon finding the little shop; it became apparent that Gaston Acurio likes the place as well.

The place was just opening when we arrived and we had no problem getting seats at one of the tables. The woman who served us was nice and professional; though the chips and the canchita tasted like they were mass produced. Still, we weren't here for those items; we wanted some cebiche and perhaps tiradito....and heck this place is known for the conchas negras, so why not get the combination?

Which is precisely what we did. Not being super hungry, we decided on splitting this; just getting a taste of four different items.

The best by far was the conchas negras; the perfect texture, toothsome, but not tough, the bitterness of the clams muted, with the brininess just perfect, nice acidity, the onions adding just enough pungency. This was very, very good.

The cebiche classico was next.

A nice rendition, we still prefer the version at El Veridico de Fidel, but this was solid; balanced acidity in the leche de tigre, the fish perhaps a bit too stringy for my taste, but a nice even flavor. And of course; the Missus can never get enough choclo.

That scallop in the cebiche mixto was delicious and the texture of the squid was amazing.

But the leche de tigre here just wasn't enough and this came off as being strangely mutes in taste. I even think it could have used some salt....more acidity. But the textures of everything except the shrimp, was fantastic.

I found the fish did much better texture-wise in the tiradito, but found the aji amarilla based sauce to be too thin.

It seemed like the basic house leche de tigre with some aji amarilla paste in it. This could have used a bit more oomph.

While we preferred this to La Mar and Punto Azul, it lagged behind El Veridico de Fidel in our minds. I'd still eat here again in a heartbeat.....man the conchas negras...I've never had them taste so good and the texture so perfect.

Cevicheria Bam Bam y Sus Conchas Negras
Jr. Luis Varela y Orbegozo 213
Lima, Peru

In he mood for taking a nice long walk before our standard afternoon nap; we walked all the way from Surquillo back to Parque de Alfredo Salazar.

And while it turned out that we preferred the newish Courtyard by Marriott to our previous favorite place to stay in Miraflores, the JW Marriott, we still enjoyed the vibe around here.

From checking out Larcomar.....

To the views of the Pacific.

It's just that Miraflores "thing" I guess.....

Thanks for reading!

Sunday Sandwiches, the Lima Edition - Sanguches de Chicharron at Dona Paulina

Sunday morning in Miraflores is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the night before. It is rather sedate, calm....there's not much going on streetwise.

At this point in our lives; the Missus and I are far removed from "the party". You know; Mom sued to say "nothing good happens after midnight. At a certain point in your life you figure out that "nothing good happens after 10 pm." That's kind of where we're at in life. Though when it comes to Madrid and Spain as a whole; the clock is thrown out the window.

Still, it wasn't that early for us as we left our hotel; 830 am is kind of a late start when we're travelling.

Still, the streets are pretty quiet on a Sunday morning.

We headed off to our breakfast destination. We had some great discussions with our wonderful driver, Benjamin during our trip to see the Nazca Lines. One of the questions I asked was about a typical breakfast in Lima.....I was told that we must get a Sanguche de Chicharron, a pork sandwich for Sunday breakfast, it's a Lima tradition. I'd heard about the iconic pork sandwich; I knew about La Lucha which is quite well known, but Benjamin told me that Dona Paulina is where he takes his family for Sanguches de Chicharron. Which we happened to see the previous evening when we had dinner at Punto Azul.

The place looks like a typical neighborhood Coffee Shop.....

One that sells pork and lomo saltado sandwiches......anyone want a tamal for breakfast?

In spite of the street being fairly empty; Dona Paulina was doing some good business on this morning.

The Missus got an espresso; I an Americano......

And we decided to split an Sanguches de Chicharron....JR....as in a smaller sized sandwich. I'm glad we did.

The sandwich is served using what they call a "French Roll" here. It is yeasty and relatively light. The sandwich is served with a nice salsa criolla which I sometimes make at home. The acid and pungency from the onions helps to cut all the richness of the pork.

There were three different slices of pork in the sandwich; one had a bit of skin and fat which added a nice richness; there's one rather meaty cut, looks like shoulder which, while adding bulk was on the dry side. The fat and moisture from the other slices and the salsa ciolla evened things out.

Of course the Missus loved the slices of camote; sweet potato in the sandwich.

Dona Paulina
Calle Alcanfores 715
Lima, Peru

It was a good thing that we shared this sandwich as we planned to have an early lunch.

Lima - Punto Azul

How do you follow-up a day of flying over the Nazca Lines and a pretty hefty lunch? Well, with a nap of course. After a short respite we decided to head on back out....it was Saturday night after all. We weren't very hungry, but knew we had to have something to eat, but we weren't sure what. That question was soon answered as we passed Punto Azul.

Punto Azul had been on our list the last time we were in Miraflores. Unfortunately, the place was always packed so we never got in. So now, nearly ten years later we were back in front of Punto Azul and the place was only 2/3 full. So why not?

We were quickly seated. Our timing was "on" this evening as the place quickly filled up soon after, with folks waiting for tables.

The crowd seemed split about 50-50; half obvious tourists, the rest seemed to be Peruvian. So we weren't really sure how this meal was going to turn out.

The Missus started with a Pisco Sour, I had some drink with Prickly Pear that sounded pretty good, but ended up being more of a "chick drink".

We were quickly served plantain chips and passable Canchita; toasted corn.

Of course the Missus got the Ceviche Punto Azul; basically a classic cebiche. She also scarfed the camote (sweet potato), which She said needed more flavor and the choclo (the large kernel corn), which of course; She loves.

The fish in the ceviche was on the fibrous and chewy side, though it had been marinated for the perfect amount of time. The leche de tigre was on the mild side and we livened it up with some aji limo (minced red chili pepper).

I, of course, ordered the Tiradito; in this case named Tiraditos al Punto.

This was three classic versions of tiradito; classic, rocoto, and amarilla, and one rather odd version.....olive flavored. I thought this was a pretty good rendition of tiradito; nice creamy sauces, the fish, sliced well and while on the chewy side, was still decent. The Aji Rocoto sauce wasn't very hot, but was quite enjoyable. But it was that odd olive mayo sauce that I thought I wouldn't like....it turned out to be quite an addition. The flavoring wasn't too heavy handed, a nice mild olive flavor, it didn't seem overly rich from the mayo, and there was a touch of acid to help things alone. Well, here was another new one for me.....

The service was friendly, even though things got really busy. This was a nice, if not outstanding meal, and just enough for dinner.

Punto Azul
Calle San Martin 595
Lima, Peru

We took our getting back to the room. It was Saturday night in Miraflores and parts of the neighborhood was packed. We avoided the crowds, stopped by the convenience store across the hotel for some water and I even bought me a nightcap.

There's something great about travelling....every day, or evening is new and different. I wish I could do it more.

Peru - The Nazca Lines and Lunch at Restaurante El Batan (Chincha)

While the main objective to our trip to Peru and Chile was to travel to Easter Island and check that one of the Missus's bucket list; I thought I'd go for a two-fer and also do the Nazca Lines as well. I did some research and found a well regarded company named Nazca Flights. It wasn't cheap, but we got our own private driver for the over three hour drive to Pisco. His name was Benjamin and he was just a joy to deal with. He arrived punctually at 630am to pick us up.

We arrived at the newly inaugurated, but not yet opened Pisco International Airport. The cargo terminals and one small private terminal was opened. Still, the place was buzzing with excited folks.

Have you heard of the Nazca Lines? I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't heard of it. I recall of first reading about the lines in Erich von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods? Most folks I mentioned the lines to had never heard of them....except for the Japanese. No less than four Japanese Nationals and Ex-Pats mentioned the Nazca Lines, the most surprising was Taka-san at Taisho. When I mentioned we were going to Peru, he didn't mention Machu Picchu....nope it was the "Nazca Lines"!

When we arrived and checked in, we were handed this card with the various Geoglyphs we'd be flying over. Notice anything interesting?

Notice the languages? It's Spanish, English, and Japanese!

And when we got into the terminal area....guess what? It was nearly all middle aged Japanese; mostly women.....in Pisco!

The little terminal was rather charming....we saw the staff being briefed on various subjects and even being tested.

When it was our time to go; our boarding passes were checked and we were escorted onto the tarmac.

Our plane was a 12 seat Cessna, a bit larger than what we flew to Lana'i on a few years back.

The passengers? One British Gentleman, the Missus, Myself, and nine very excited middle aged Japanese women!

The Pilot was really good as I'll describe later on. Both pilots spoke Japanese!

The Missus and I found the whole situation to be quite amusing.

Getting to the lines was when things got even more interesting. There was one line in our packet that instructed us; "DO NOT EAT BREAKFAST THE DAY OF YOUR FLIGHT".

When arrived at the lines, the pilot would descend, then bank, first to his right, turn around and do the same to the left. The copilot would try to point things out; speaking in Japanese. You'd scan the ground below, wondering "what the heck am I supposed to see"?

Focusing in, you'd get a glance of something, a pattern......

And then you'd zero in....and oh my goodness.......

It's really something to see.....

Sometimes it was easier to look across the aisle when the pilot banked in the opposite direction and see things from that perspective.

This took me back to being that 10 year old bookworm, reading Chariots of the Gods under the blanket with a flashlight when I was supposed to be sleeping, dreaming that someday I'd see these myself.

The world never ceases to surprise and thrill us.

The woman sitting behind me was a hoot. The Missus told me that she had a very difficult time seeing the geoglyphs and basically gave up on taking photos. However, as we straightened after banking about 30 times, she stood up and gave the pilots a standing ovation!

Such enthusiasm is infectious and puts everyone in a good mood....though there were a few women who had to have seat....a bit green around the gills and all that.

This was a great experience. One that I'll never forget....and I don't think anyone else who was on that flight will either.

Our driver, Benjamin was such a great guy he displayed the perfect balance of professionalism and warmth that was just outstanding. He really made the difference on the rather long drive. We wanted to buy him lunch. We let him choose and we stopped right next to a gas station in Chincha.

The place was pretty busy and we ordered a bunch of standards, except one new twist on a favorite.

I got the Chicha Morada which was pretty good...not too sweet, with a hint of cinnamon.

Of course the Missus wanted some Cebiche de Lenguado. The leche de tigre was decent if a bit mild; but the fish was marinated a bit too long and had started getting mushy.

I ordered some Tiradito; the "tricolor", strips of corvine with three preparations; "clasica" with leche de tigre, aji amarilla, and aji rocoto sauces.

The fish was prepared well; though I found the sauces to be somewhat thin and watery for my taste.

The seafood on the Causa was quite good; cooked perfectly. The potatoes were bit on the dry side, though the flavors were nice.

The surprise dish was one that Benjamin ordered. He told us that this is the newest version of one of my favorite dishes; Lomo Saltado. This is the off the menu version that combines Lomo Saltado with the classic Peruvian beans and rice dish; Tacu Tacu. Meet the Tacu Tacu con Lomo Saltado.

This was very tasty....the beans and rice actually outshone the lomo saltado with the mild earthy-beany flavor combining with the slightly salty, soy based sauce. The acid of the tomatoes and the sweet-pungency of the onions just went to well with this. The Missus just loved that beans and rice!

This was a nice meal with great company.

Restaurante El Batan
Panamericana Sur Km. 197. 5
Chincha Alta, Peru

We got back to Miraflores making good time. We showered and managed to sneak in a short nap before heading out for the evening.

Thanks for reading!