One afternoon, before a trip to Relax y Vida, a friend and I went to El Pez On in La Victoria.

We shared the Pescado Saltado and their Cebiche de Pescado. Both were delicious.

We waddled down to RyV, and when we left there, we were both fat and happy!

Sill on a fish kick, we hit up La Mar one Sunday afternoon. We got there at 12:30, which was smart. When we left at 2:00, there were easily two dozen people waiting to have lunch. Here's a classic cebiche and a cebiche Nikkei (with tuna):

A return visit to El Characato de Oro of me and two friends graced our table with a Chupe de Camarrones, a Ceviche de Pescado (northern style), Chocolo con Queso, Arroz con Mariscos, and of course, more Queso Helado. My amiga, who calls herself an Especialista en Camarrones, was especial-isticly pleased.

NOTE: All restaurants without location information are covered in the Lima restaurants sub-forum. I will get to the new places soon.

We had anticuchos in the street one night. They were absolutely fabulous. And cheap -- 14 sols for dinner for 2!

This woman is famous in Peruvian gastronomic circles. There was a 35 minute wait for our food... from a street vendor! The full report is in the restaurant section for Lima.

ATG Anticuchos
on the street corner of Enrique Palacios & 27 de Noviembre
Miraflores
Evenings from 7:00 pm
http://www.anticuchosdelatiagrima.com/

A friend of mine took me on a tourist trip to Callao, the port area near the airport. We walked around for a while than had lunch at La Rana Verde.

This lunch was notable for both the food (cebiche, scallops parm., and tequenos), as well as the beautiful ocean view from the restaurant. A full writeup is in the restaurant section.

La Rana Verde
Jr. General Valle, Parque Galvez s/n
(in the Club Universitario Regatas)
La Punta - Callao
429-5279 429-8453



The view:


The food:

RT, we have different taste in women but your food selection looks delicious. In my town we have a few Peruvian restaurants and I must say their food is much more interesting and unique than the rest of S. America.

I revisited La Carreta while I was in town. I like to try new places, buy they have a hell of a steak.

My friend and I both had the Lomo; his was straight up and mine was au poivre. The folks at the next table had the Parriada (mixed grill). I stole a shot while they were at the salad bar.



(Message edited by rtgooch on April 24, 2010)

One of my local buddies wanted to show off the food from the jungle, so he took me to El Pichito (full writeup is in the restaurant section).

El Pichito
Jr. General Vidal 803
Brena - 330-4732
http://www.elpichito.com/



We ate and drank things that you don't normally eat and drink, and most of them were pretty good. None of them were earth-shattering, but they will grill an entire fish for you for very little money... I may return just for that.

RT here. The last eatery I will add for this trip is ALF in Surquillo.

Alf Sandwiches
Av. Prolongacion Villaran 814
Surquillo



Alf is the kind of place that you hit at 4 or 5 in the morning, after a night at the clubs or some such activity. They don't open until something like 10 or 11 at night (or so I'm told), and they stay open until it gets light out in the morning.

They have sandwiches, and the rule seems to be: The Bigger, the Better.

We got there at 12:30, just as things were getting started. We shared two sandwiches: the Hamburger Brutal, and the Chorizo Brutal.

Brutal-izing a sandwich involves putting it on a large roll, doubling the meat, and adding a fried egg, bacon, cheese, and in some cases, ham. All the sandwiches are topped with your choice of sauces, and then potato sticks are piled on.



The price for the two sandwiches and beverages was 34.5 sols. There are also smaller, cheaper options. I'm not sure that I would put aside a night, thinking, "I'm going to Alf for dinner," but if it is late at night and you're hungry, you could do a lot, lot worse.

The three taxi drivers I asked about it knew exactly where the restaurant was, so if you just ask a driver to take you to "Alf in Surquillo", you shouldn't have all that much problem getting there and home.

RT, what were those "things that you don't normally eat and drink" from the jungle? And what is in the pictures?

RT here.

Things you don't normally eat or drink = vegetables, meats, and juices from fruits and berries unique to the area.

First picture (Clockwise from top): salad, some lamb-like meat (I couldn't really get a straight answer), sausage, juanes (rice balled up around some meat, maybe chicken, then wrapped in a banana leaf and baked), cut-up banana balled up and cooked somehow.

Second picture: filet of some local fish, peppers and tomatoes on top, wrapped in a leaf and baked. The long thing on top of the plate is a banana.

Third picture: Fried rice with 'food from the jungle'. I couldn't get him to be more specific.

Especially good, but not pictured, was the Aguajina, a thick, brown juice that was very sweet.

Oh, I was envisioning the likes of lizards, monkeys, and the blood of some unfamiliar species.

What you describe sounds edible. The banana in the second picture looks either sinister or appetizing, I'm not sure which.