Lima Food Safari Day 1

We came to Lima for one reason and one reason only, to eat our faces off.

Today we embarked on the first day of our three-day eating safari.

I am not nearly articulate, knowledgable (or pretentious) enough to be a food blogger or even a pretend food blogger this post is going to more pictures than words.

It’s eleven pictures in all, which, if you are wondering, is essentially like writing an 11,000 word essay.

Breakfast: Pan De La Chola

10 AM: Arrive. Gasp. Claspse heart like religious people in cathedrals.

10:03 AM order pecan sticky bun, a crossoint, a freshly squeezed OJ and a cappuccino.

10:04 AM take obligatory bird’s eye view photograph of food displayed above an emminently instagramable woodgrain background.

Brittany: Are you taking a photograph of me taking a photograph of my coffee?

Me: Yes. Yes, that is what I am doing.

Pastries are Brittany’s jam. Everything was delicious…

And lasted about five minutes.

10:14 AM. We finished breakfast. Our lunch reservation isn’t until 1 PM. What should we do?

Oh, I know. Eat more.

Yay!!! Diabetes!!!

For second breakfast we ordered avocado toast + apple, spinach, ginger juicy thing. (Technically the juicy thing was called an “extracto”).

Also, I’m pretty sure in Spanish “extracto” means “juicy thing”

It’s official, the universe has reached peak avocado toast.

I used to think avocado toast was just a fad in the US but I now come to realize this fruit knows no international boundaries. It’s like Kudzu or Zebra Mussels.

For the record, it was excellent. And the extracto thing, holy fuck. It was even better. It was magic juice.

At the end of meal one, Brittany proclaims all she needs in life to make her happy is good pastry.

I really don’t think this is hyperbole. She loves pastries that much.

Lunch: Mercado

We arrive at Mercado at 1 a full two hours before most people in Lima seem to show up for lunch. Somehow didn’t have our reservation when we arrived. But it worked out better for us because they sat us at the bar which was more fun and we got to watch the chefs cook.

We started off with Pisco Sours, which are more or less the official cocktail of Peru.

Brittany got a strawberry Pisco Sour

Then came hard part. The menu was big. Too big. I got overwhelmed just looking at it.

Eventually we settled on scallops and ceviche.

Scallops with the collar in butter sauce. Unlike in the US when you order scallops and they give you like three, here they give you enough to make your stomach hurt.

Mercado’s Two Texture Ceviche in Tiger’s Milk

Both of them were sublime.

After tasting her first scallop, Brittany proclaims “this is the best thing I’ve put in my mouth all year.”

Again, I don’t think this was hyperbole.

Finally, dessert.

Arghhhh!!!!! More hard choices. I need a xanax.

Pumpkin and sweet potato picarones with fig honey and cinnamon ice cream

We settle on donuts and ice cream. Oh man. Do I love Lima.

Dinner: local joint around corner from Airbnb.

We had a big dinner planned at a burrito bar but unfortunately we under trained for our first day of Food Safari and neither of us could do another big meal. We split a beet and quinoa burger at a vegetarian place behind our Airbnb. It was fine. Kind of exactly what you’d expect from a beet burger at the vegetarian place behind your airbnb.

The end.