Yesterday’s venture, a hike north through San Isidro (the other kind of ritzy area), and on up to one of the markets just past it. And food, no doubt, food. And a reasonably respectable 8 km for the day.

First stop, the Bosque El Olivar. Now, a bosque is a forest, and I’d have to say that while there were plenty of trees, forest is a stretch. Still, a lovely park in San Isidro and I spent a bit of time wandering through it. Interestingly, there are actually private homes here and there in the park, perhaps implying that the park came later and was sort of built around existing structures.

And, just sort of appearing out of nowhere, coming down a block (intentionally heading towards it), there’s the pyramid of Huaca Huallamarca, another of Lima’s in-town archaeological sites (5 soles to enter, about $1.50). This one is even older than the Huaca Pucllana that I visited the other day, going back to about 200 BC. Based on what they’ve found, it was apparently primarily a burial ground, though not only that. The site is actually quite well organized for visitors with great explanations in both Spanish and English. No guides except by special arrangement, but they’re not really needed. And, while not the reason I visited the spot…

…it’s a pretty spectacular view of this general area of Lima from the top of the pyramid.

And, crossing into the neighborhood of Lince, another quite pretty little park, Parque Mariscal Castilla, a former president of Peru in the mid-1800s.

 

But time marches on, and I haven’t found breakfast yet. There was nowhere along my route of places on my list, and I didn’t come across anything open except a couple of cafes – and I already had my coffee back in the hotel. It’s time for a market, and next up, Mercado Risso No. 2, a.k.a. Mercado Lince. Yeah, yeah, photos of meats and vegetables and fruits… where’s my food? I’m looking specifically for…

…Tsunami, a stand that turns out to be the first spot on the left if you come in the front entrance (which I hadn’t, I’d come in one of the sides). There’s no signage, but ask around (or just come in the main entrance and go left), and, according to my various sources, they serve up the best conchas a la chalaca, scallops with an onion, corn, pepper, and lime marinade, in town. And it’s a toss up what’s prettier, the towering plate of scallops or the young man dishing them up. I could have gone for far more, but I was thinking about other spots later, and a quartet of scallops seemed a decent enough breakfast, especially at 1 sól apiece (about 35 cents).

From there, I just kind of wander around. I did have a destination in mind, the Natural History Museum, but it turned out to be closed because the docent staff didn’t show up to work and aren’t going to until next Monday. No reason given, they’re just not there.

My lunch reservation is still an hour and a half away, so I stop in at a forgettable chifa (Casa Oriental) for some dumplings, of the three types listed, they only have one, wontons, fried. But these don’t turn out to be dumplings, just deep-fried wonton skins, no filling. The waiter is mystified that I’d have thought they’d be filled with something – this is the way chifas serve them he asserts, it’s traditional. The fact that they’re listed under dumplings on the menu might have been part of it. I wonder if he’s accurate that this is what wontons have become in the chifa world of Lima, or if he just doesn’t know what he’s talking about? I eat one, it’s oily, the dipping sauce is way too sweet. I pay the 6 soles, a little under $2, which somehow seems a rip-off. I go back to wandering, and eventually make my way back a little south to…

…El Kapallaq, somewhere more or less on the border of San Isidro and Lince. It’s a very pretty place, and the staff are a delight. Not many guests – a few come in over the course of my lunch, but I gather it’s more of a dinner spot. I’m here for a specific dish, chicharrones de pulpo. Now, when I think chicharrones of seafood I’m thinking big crunchy, battered and/or breaded calamari or prawns or something of that sort. I’ve never seen that done with octopus, and I’m curious as to how it will work. I tell my waiter that a big platter of fried octopus sounds a bit heavy, and he says they can do a half portion, so I order that and a tiradito de sales, a tiradito, or sashimi style ceviche, “of salts”. He’s quick to assure me it’s not a salty dish, but that it’s delicately seasoned with a trio of different sea and volcanic salts. Sounds interesting. [Closed in 2019, the chef opened up “Dark Kitchen de Luis Cordero” offering home delivery shortly after]

The tiradito is delicious. The fish, robalo, is a type of sea bass. I’ve not seen it used in ceviche before, and it has a slightly meatier texture, not as delicate as many fish used in ceviche, but it works, and stands up really well to the interplay of the different salts, which really do make the dish quite interesting. I also like that the choclo, the giant corn, used, is a very sweet variety, and makes for a great contrast against the salt, lime, and chili.

And, on to the chicharrón. First off, not big, crunchy, breaded. Instead, tender as can be small octopus tentacles, in a light, crispy coating, probably something like just dredged in cornstarch or rice flour and then deep fried after having been pre-cooked. It’s then drizzled all over with a slightly sweet sherry and tarragon vinaigrette. I love it. If I have a criticism it’s that it’s a little disappointing that they’re using dried tarragon in the vinaigrette instead of fresh. And, while I’m happy as a clam eating this, I think if I ordered it as a main course and this was the only main course I was eating for the day, I’d be a little surprised that it comes with nothing, no vegetable, no rice, no… anything. I decline to consider some slivers of cucumber as a vegetable component to the dish. I can’t find my receipt, but memory says the tiradito was 44 soles, the half order of chicharrones was 26 soles, some tap water, and a tip, yeah, that sounds about right, I think I paid 80 soles, or just under $25.

Back to the hotel to relax and read for a bit poolside, then a mid-afternoon snack at Doña Paulina, known for some of the best tamales in the city. Apparently started out many years ago as a streetside cart selling homemade tamales, it’s now a mini-chain of three restaurants in the city. Damned good tamal, no question. With a lemonade and tip, 12 soles, or a bit under $4.

I’d decided on a nikkei style sushi spot that I’d heard fairly good things about, Toshi, here in Miraflores. I grabbed a seat at the sushi bar, asked the chef if he did omakase menus, which he did, and told him that I really only wanted to try sashimi and sushi, no cream cheese, but other than that, his choice. The whole service style seemed a bit flustered, the waiters seemed to have no idea what they were doing, the chef and his two assistants seemed a bit overwhelmed, yet there were no more than about 20 people in a place that seats close to 100. [Closed]

Timing was poor, with long gaps, and dinner took almost two and a half hours. And, while I’m not going to go through each individual dish, I ended up with 15 pieces of sashimi, 4 of sushi, no rolls, and inexplicably – well, probably because he was frantic at the sushi bar, for no apparent reason, two hot dishes that came out of the kitchen, that I really didn’t want. I’d said sashimi and sushi. Most of it was good, but none of it was exciting, and one of the two hot dishes was just weird and not really palatable. It was a strange trio of cubes of gyoza filling, with pork and prawns, and the texture of a dense meatloaf, sandwiched between slices of steamed eggplant, and covered with a gloopy sauce reminiscent of egg fu yung from 1965. At nearly 240 soles (about $76) with a cocktail and tip, this was my most expensive meal in Lima to date, and not worth half the price. Meh, pass.