(Approximate reading time: 7 minutes)
Yes, I really love and appreciate the Peruvian kitchen with all its spices, rare flavors and diversity. How often should I repeat that? Until all of my friends read and understood my blog with all my explications:
However, you can eat even in the expensive Peruvian capital of Lima relatively cheap and you will still receive a good quantity and sufficient quality. That’s the case for every middle-class restaurant and especially every low-class diner. You get what you pay for. So what about dining at the upper class restaurants? Is it really worth to try high priced Peruvian food? Does a man like me with a quadruple stomach like a cow gets satisfied with a small gourmet portions? I made the self-experiment in the Barranco Bay area and had a charming companion.
The first good thing about the bay of Barranco is, that it is very difficult to reach. That means at the same time, it is quite safe and no plebs is trying to annoy and molest at night. You need definitely a car/taxi to reach this place over the highway, there are no public transports or opportunities to walk to:
Anyway, I had the opportunity to wait for 20 minutes at the bay, because I was waiting for my plus one. And it was probably the first time since I’m in Peru, that I was not too late (!) and even earlier than agreed (!!!) at the meeting point. I was quite surprised, that I saw a clear sky at night. That doesn’t happen often during the winter months in a coastal city like Lima. What surprised me even more was the fact, that the crescent was parted vertically.
Hmmm, not sure if I am the problem this time. But I could swear, that the crescent is divided horizontally in the northern hemisphere!? Maybe I never paid that much attention before to the cold shining moon. Anyway, it’s for me one of the last days in Lima and I was enjoying the rush of the marine water at the surge:
When Rosse – the lady I was having an appointment with – finally arrived, we entered the high quality restaurant La Trastienda and were very professionally welcomed and escorted to our reserved table. The restaurant was almost empty at 8:30pm and they arranged for us a table at the seaside. Not a big deal if half of the restaurant is empty. But still a better place than between kitchen and toilet.
My biggest fear visiting a gourmet restaurant is always to remain hungry after dining tiny little portions. As a member of the Gluttony-Hall of Fame I know what demolishing impressive quantities really means. Once I visited an All-You-Can-Eat restaurant and had to pay twice. So, I was like always concerned, that the suggested quantity of the plates won’t be enough for the black hole in my stomach.
Rosse and me ordered first fruity cocktails to get into the right eating mood. Hell, already the cocktails tasted like an intensive adventure. From that moment on, I didn’t want to drink anything different again in my life. Maybe it was the best one I tried so far. And the most expensive in South America for me so far as well. Ordering a $9 cocktail might not seem much, but for Peruvian proportions it’s quite a price for a cocktail.
My cocktail was simply called Barranquito as the name of the beach:
Pisco is the traditional Peruvian liquor made of grapes. Since ever there a rivalry between Chile and Peru who invented Pisco. If you want to annoy a Peruvian you can always compliment the nice Chilean culinary things like Pisco and Ceviche. I’m pretty sure, that you’d be admired more after that statement. Viruta de Roble (Oak chips) and Hierba Luisa (Lemon Beebrush) gave it a spicy taste, passion fruit and granadilla made it fruity tasty.
Accompanied by these two excellent cocktails, we ordered Anticucho. As I wrote before in a different article on my blog, Anticucho might not be Average Joe’s first choice, if you tell him what they really are. For me they are a delicious snack and perfect as a starter. And these ones were as well the best ones I have ever eaten in Peru. Usually, Anticucho have a juicy and smoky taste if you chew the soft meat. This one was a savory and aromatic masterpiece in combination with the French Fries and cooked corn it came with. Although the usual spits are taller and it comes with three units per kind, it was worth ordering them.
Unfortunately, I can’t find my main dish on the online menu they have. But I’m pretty sure, that a picture’s worth more than 1,000 words. Please be inspired from the spicy sea food experience I made:
I need to sadly admit, that the photo quality of some shots isn’t the best due to the sparsely illumination over the table. But what you can see here is HQ-food. Isn’t wan’t much in fact and my quantity prejudices were unfortunately confirmed by what was on the plate. But I could also swear, that the better quality of the food in combination with the spices filled my stomach at least a little bit. Satisfied it was one way or the other. Not only with the food, but also with the nice companion I had:
How to end an elegant dinner? With a sweet temptation in the form of a dessert. Next to generic options that probably every menu would offer, we decided to pick a plate with a mix of various Peruvian desserts:
Might be quite a thing now to explain every little piece in detail of the Sweet degustation. Maybe the following picture could help me out here:
Five little and sweet portions to make everyone happy and satisfied. Although I’m actually a fan of hearty desserts as the French kitchen with its cheese desserts has to offer, this one was worth the order as well. The only thing, I maybe didn’t really like was Crema Volteada on the right side. A strongly tangy tasting dessert, which can be maybe compared with the Argentinean Flan. Not really my highlight, but the other four rectified successfully.
I can recommend everyone interested in good and tasty food to visit La Trastienda. It’s Peruvian food in completeness and worth the money!
One cocktail isn’t enough of course. That’s why Rosse and me walked a few meters to another bar called ‘Qincha Bar Resto Arte’. A nice place as well and I ordered a fruity cocktail, which was served with decorative blueberries and mint on top:
Of course I ate both decorations!
www.traphil.com 