Let me see. I started with a ceviche mixto, pictured above, as found somewhere in Lima's Historic District. I arrived early in the morning. Thankfully, my guesthouse allowed me to check in early, so I was able to nap a little bit since I was tired after the long flight. And after a couple of hours of sleep, I headed out. It was just late morning, and after a few hours of sight-seeing, it was time for lunch.
Lima has a great fine-dining scene. I also had lunch at a restaurant called Amore, in Miraflores. I had a fancy interesting juice, a tuna tartare, followed by the first of several arroz con pato, or rice with duck, a very typical Peruvian dish.
Perhaps it was a large meal, so I only had cake in a jar and tea for dinner.
Moving on to Puno, I tried some exotic dishes, such as the Sopa Punena, which is quinoa soup, popular in the Puno area, as well as roasted cuy, or guinea pig.
I also tried a coca infusion, as well as lasagna made with alpaca.
I spent a total of 4 nights in the Puno and Lake Titicaca area. This was where I had my first Pisco Sour. I tried the local trout ceviche, fresh from the lake. And of course, their version of an osso buco.
After Puno, I moved on to Arequipa, which had quite a restaurant scene. On my first night, I had a modest dinner of roast pork loin.
Arequipa was where I bumped into the restaurants of Gaston Acurio. I must say, his creations are wonderful. I had eaten in several of his restaurants across Peru, first in the Restaurant Chicha, in Arequipa. I treated myself to a pre-meal cocktail, a Negroni Arequipena. I also had a tongue salad, followed by ravioli with river lobster. As a final touch, they gave me a couple of macarons.
That was a large lunch, so again, I just had cake for dinner.
The next day, I went to another Gaston Acurio restaurant, the Trattoria del Monasterio, right by the famous Monastery of Santa Catalina. I had a carpaccio followed by the osso buco.
I flew from Arequipa to Piura, via Lima. And while in transit, I had lunch in Gaston Acurio's Tanta, in Lima Airport. The above is his take on Peruvian-Chinese cuisine, known as Quinoa Airport.
Northern Peruvian cuisine is different from that in the south. The above are some of the meals I had in Piura and Catacaos, consisting of ceviche, fried fish, and tacu tacu, which is a combination of beans and rice.
I would encounter arroz con pato again and again in the north, it is after all, typical in this area. I also tried some desserts. The photos above are all from Chiclayo.
I moved on to Trujillo, still trying variations of arroz con pato, though every now and then I would get something more European as a break.
On my final evening in Trujillo, I went to El Celler de Cler, a restaurant with a nice balcony overlooking a central road in the historic centre. I had a Pisco Sour, asparagus soup, a meat ceviche, and caramelised bananas.
As I wrapped up my trip, I eventually ended up in Lima again, where I continued exploring the city's restaurants. There's this seafood restaurant called Barra Maretazo, which has great fresh offerings. I had octopus, as well as spaghetti with squid ink. They gave me a little preview of their food in the beginning.
The above are just some more items I had while in Lima: another cake, and a local version of breakfast.
I haven't been to the Amazon, yet I was able to check out an Amazonian restaurant, Amaz, in Miraflores. Virtually everything they have in their menu are items I have no clue about, since they use Amazonian ingredients. I got an interesting cocktail, some interesting vegetable for a starter, and a very tasty slab of fish. I rounded it up with coffee.
Finally, it was time to go home. This was my breakfast in Lima Airport. After dropping off my bags, I headed to Gaston Acurio's Tanta to get a croissant, some sausages and eggs, and a hot chocolate.
I must say, this trip was very tasty!
