Punto Azul
San Martin 595
Miraflores – 445-8078
Also four other locations around Lima (see below)
Open daily for lunch only
Last May, I rented an apartment about 150 feet from this restaurant. I saw that the restaurant enjoyed steady traffic, but I never got around to eating there. I just mentally filed the restaurant for future reference. It is in Miraflores, and hell, I’m in Miraflores 90% of the time, too.
Then, just yesterday, I was dropping my laundry off (it’s a good way to store clothes for my next trip) and realized that a) I was right next door to Punto Azul and b) it was lunchtime.
The second item was a no-brainer, as was evidenced by the crowd of people milling about in front of the restaurant. I finally got the attention of the hostess, told her I was eating alone, and received a ‘seating ticket’ and was told it would be 20 minutes for my table. It took 25 minutes to be seated, and there was still a wait for a table when I left at 2:00 pm.
As far as I can tell, there are three ‘levels’ of cebicherias in Lima – the street corner/Mercado types, the High End places (La Mar, La Red, Pescados Capitales, etc.), and the Mid-Priced options, like El Pez On and Punto Azul. Part of me wants to say that ‘you get what you pay for’ – especially in the high- vs. low-end places. You’re paying for a higher quality of fish, higher rents, quite possibly more hygienic installations, advertising, and the like. It’s a little more difficult to see the difference between the mid- and high-priced places, at least for me. In cases like this, I believe that you’re paying for reputation more than anything else. At Costanera, for example, the cebiche was delicious, but not more so than at El Pez On, and it probably cost 20 Soles less there. OK, the hostess wasn’t as pretty as the two at Puerto Mancora, but there’s plenty of pretty girls walking around Miraflores, so I didn’t mind.
That last paragraph is a lot of words to say that the food was excellent at Punto Azul, and I felt that I got a bargain in the process. I don’t think that I’m alone in that opinion – there was a 20 minute wait for a table on a Tuesday.
My problem in these places is that I always order too much, thinking I will just ‘sample;’, and then I wind up scarfing down everything that is not bolted down to the table. Along with my pitcher of chicha morada, I ordered Chicharron de Pescado & Calamar and Arroz con Mariscos. When I placed my order, the waiter said, “You know, the fish and calamari are plenty for any normal person.” I thanked him for sharing, and continued on my gluttonous path.
Both dishes were delicious. I ate some of the calamari and fish first, as they were piping hot, and didn’t hold the heat very long. The waiter was right; there was plenty. The other dish was equally good – I wound up picking out all the seafood and leaving over half the rice. And miracle of miracles – I was able to get a whole bucket of ice for my drink by just asking the one time! That usually takes an act of Congress all by itself.
The three dishes ran a total of either 43 or 46 Soles (another thing you’re not paying for at Punto Azul is a computerized receipt), I don’t remember which. The chicha was six Soles, and both the dishes fit into the 18-25 Sol price range of almost everything there. I’m used to paying 29 to 40 Soles for this quality food, so that’s a substantial savings, based on your percentage of Soles spent.
One of the waitresses must have pissed off the manager, because it was this poor girl’s job to walk around the restaurant with the dessert tray and offer it to every table. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but I didn’t see anyone order a dish from her. She has to go home all bummed out every day after hearing ‘no’ a thousand times, I suppose.
Usually, I don’t outright recommend a restaurant – I let the reader decide for himself. But I wholehearted recommend Punto Azul. The combination of location, food quality and price is unbeatable. Hell, even if it wasn’t, I would go back just to get another pitcher of ice.
(Message edited by rtgooch on January 21, 2009)
