Puerto Mancora
Av. Javier Prado Este 6768
La Molina - 349-2677
Mon-Fri 11:00 am - 5:00 pm, Sat, sun, & Holidays 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
http://www.puertomancora.com/index.html

For those of us that visit Lima and stay in the Barranco/Miraflores/San Isidro ares, La Molina is just about the other end of South America. I found Puerto Mancora's website and the food looked good, so I sent a note to a local friend and suggested that we eat there the next time we got together. He goes with the flow, so he picks me up and we drive. And drive. And drive some more. I'm figuring, "who's actually going to go all the way here to get something to eat?"

Well, the people that live in La Molina, for one. And anyone who likes good food, for another.

We finally get there, and the street is all full of cars coming and going. The hostesses are taking names. They told us it would be a fifteen minute wait, and they were right on the money. The hostesses were beautiful, by the way. Both of us were in love.



Puerto Mancora is your standard Peruvian upscale Cebicheria – and that’s a good thing. The restaurant is large; there were probably more than 100 people eating when we got there. Their menu was wide and varied (you can see it on their website), with both the classic dishes and some stuff that they’ve created on their own. As is my custom, I ordered (and ate) too much food.

I started off with Leche en El Point, which I thought was Leche de Tigre, just with conchas negras instead of fish. But I was wrong – it was more like a mini cebiche, and at 9 Soles, a bargain way to add an extra dish. Then I had Tacu Tacu Del Diego, which was a grilled octopus over Tacu Tacu, and I finished up with Lenguado Relleno Del Cheff, a fish filet stuffed with shrimp, crabmeat and mushrooms, and covered with a creamy, cheesy sauce. It was a 10 Sol upcharge for lenguado in place of whatever fish they would have used. I like flounder, but I don’t think that it would have mattered what they used in this dish, due to the sauce and stuffing. So the upgrade wasn't really necessary. All three dishes were outstanding.

My amigo ordered a cebiche de pescado (the classic) and a simple grilled opctopus. They both looked wonderful to me. He had some issues with there being no beans accompanying the cebiche (he said that this was Northern-style restaurant, and the cebiches up North come with beans). Whatever, both of his plates were empty when he was finished.



We passed on dessert and spent a few more minutes ogling the hostesses. They were kind enough to let me take their pictures when we left – this way, I don’t need to stalk them!

The total cost for the five dishes plus drinks and an additional tip was 150 Soles. That’s high for your average cebicheria, but right in line for one of the upscale joints. For just under US$50, I thought it was money well-spent. We ate at 2:00, and I wasn’t hungry again until midnight.

I liked the place more than I think my friend did. He didn't dislike it (or even say anything directly), but I got the impression that he wouldn't go there on his own. Me -- I will return. Even if the hostesses have a day off.