Destination Peru #10: My Gripe with Dinner Shows

When I traveled as a kid with my family, I never liked our tour groups. Although I like the convenience of having everything planned out, I never trust the food provided on these tours. They always have some sort of deal worked out with a less than stellar restaurants to gouge the customers. Just the same, I'm skeptical of asking taxi drivers for recommendations. It was like this when I went to Europe. We were in a Chinese tour group and only ate at Chinese restaurants. Don't ask me how I went through France without eating anything remotely French.

On my trip to Peru, we booked a tour that took care of lodging, transportation and several tours of famous sites. Luckily, they gave us freedom for our meals. One of the few dinners they did provide was at Tunupa. It is centrally located in the town square, and better yet, there was live entertainment. The show consisted of an Andean band playing some traditional instruments and dancers performing native dances.



While the performance was good, the food was not. Though Tunupa has a menu available, the provided dinner was a buffet. In general, I don't mind buffets. I realize that the food is not going to be outstanding so I judge it on a different scale. Even though the alpaca stew and spit-roasted pork were tasty, overall I didn't think it was memorable or spectacular. What bothered me most though, was that it was a buffet. Simply put, buffets and dinner shows do not mix. The dancers frequently blocked the main floor of the restaurant, resulting in diner stuck to one wall while waiting for the routine to finish. At least with wait service the diners are not quite as inconvenienced, assuming that the performances are timed well with each course. If you're going to start a restaurant with accompanying show, please plan ahead. Don't leave me standing with a chocolate hazelnut cake in one hand for four minutes.

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Destination Peru #9: Inka Grill Introduction to Cusco

Cusco Cathedral

After our brief tour in Lima, we ventured up into the Andes en route to Machu Picchu. The town of Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire at its peak, now its a major tourist stop. Around the main square, little shops and restaurants gave the scene the flavor of a quaint European village. The cathedral in the center of town had more bling than the last thirty gangsta rap videos I've seen. Gold and silver leafed altar pieces were stunning. I have to give it up to the Catholic Church, when they want to dazzle you, they do so in style.


That's a candle that's accumulated over ten years.



For lunch upon arrival, we went to Inka Grill, one of the restaurants on my Peru research list. The classy interior and experienced staff definitely took the restaurant out of the little town its in and placed it in a cosmopolitan city. Of course the prices also reflected that. During my trip, the exchange rate was roughly 3 soles per dollar. When my uncle went their before the Argentinian economy collapse, the exchange rate was one-to-one. At those prices, the country would not be any cheaper to visit than America.



They served us some chips with spicy, minty cilantro dip to start with, but they weren't that good. In fact, they had been sitting out and were no longer crispy. I couldn't tell if the potatoes tasted any different.


Aji de Gallina

I ordered the aji de gallina because of its popularity as a Peruvian dish. It's a shredded, poached chicken in a creamy sauce with nuts, parmesan cheese and mirasol peppers. As a dish, it's hearty, but beyond that, the flavor was simple. I can imagine people eating something like this on a day-to-day basis.


Alpaca Tournedos


Live alpaca for comparison

Of course I would've ordered the alpaca a lo tupac turin if my brother hadn't jumped on it first. This would be first of someone of the more exotic foods I'd be eating. Alpacas are so common in the Andes, although I suspect the people raising them tend to frequent tourist paths. They're dumb looking animals, but very docile and tame. Similar to llamas except they're not raised as pack animals since they're too small to carry anything. They're domesticated only for their wool. I bought several scarfs and sweaters made of alpaca and I'll admit that they are indeed soft and warm. Too bad their meat is not especially delicious. The tournedos were tender and slightly gamey, but nothing particularly memorable. I won't be disappointed if I can never eat alpaca again.


Inka Grill Sampler

My mom decided to go broad and order the Inka Grill Sampler, which consisted of tamales, potato empanadas, anticucho and papas rellenas. Everything on that plate that looks yellowish is potato. In my opinion, it was overwhelming, but the different styles of preparations with presumably different types of potatoes had radically different textures. Anticucho was a dish I had heard much about and was eager to try. It is a skewered beef heart. Sounds tasty...or maybe a little sadistic. Either way, it was indeed chewy and beefy. There was a slight taste of organ meat, but it was mostly just an overwhelming sensation of beef. Did I say overwhelming? I meant just right. How could you be overwhelmed by beef? That would be silly.

http://www.inkagrillcusco.com/

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Destination Peru #8: Chifas in Peru

Look familiar?

What about this one?

It's funny how Chinese restaurants look the same wherever you go. The same cheap furniture, tacky posters and paintings, and that ubiquitous bottle of soy sauce on every table. I suppose that you can say the same about any French or Japanese restaurant. But the frugality of Chinese decor will always be apparent. Chinese restaurants have taken a life of their own in Peru. Being such a diverse capital, Chinese have made their two million strong population felt in the Peruvian culinary scene. So much in fact that Chinese restaurants actually have a special name chifa, a transliteration of the Chinese 吃飯 meaning "to eat."


Sopa Wanton


Arroz Chaufa

Chifas are actually so common place in Lima that there's hardly a dining district without chopsticks and red walls. Wonton soup, or sopa wanton, often on the menu of even non-Chinese restaurants. As is arroz chaufa, fried rice. Just as Chinese food is in the States, the chifas in Peru serve a particular brand of cuisine distinct from its roots in the Orient. For one thing, sweet and sour seems to be big. A duck dish I ordered in Puno was peculiarly sliced and stir-fried instead of roasted whole. But given its uniqueness, I still found the food to be decent. The fried rice we had in Lima was particularly delicious. The chifas do have some strange habits such as serving jasmine tea with sugar (ack!).


Pato con ajo (Garlic duck)

We visited Chifa Parque Central in Lima and Chifa Nan Hua 南華 in Puno. Inca Kola has become a staple of chifas, much like the Belfast Apple Cider in Chinese restaurants in America. Still, I'd rather have my Chinese food with tea, but please, hold the sugar.

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New Food Friends

I just got back from a whirlwind dinner, meeting people with a myriad of specializations but with the single-focus of good food. FoodBuzz, as you seen on the banner on the left, hosted a dinner in Newport Beach for Southern California Featured Publishers. At first, I was apprehensive, not knowing what to expect, but by the end of the night I felt truly comfortable in excellent food company.

What makes you feel more welcome than someone recognizing your work? Fiona of Gourmet Pigs greeted me by name, recognizing my picture. Her review list is like my dream try list of places in LA. Hal of This Man's Kitchen remembered my churro post. Talking to him, I could see the charisma that makes him an actor. I got to hit up Ila of I Nom Things for her stash of shiso leaves.

Then there's the big-shot names I've only idolized from afar thus far. A woman in a sleek black dress came up to me an introduced herself as Sarah. Covering her eyes, I was startled to find the Sarah of The Delicious Life and Tastespotting. Talking to her, I could tell she had all the enthusiasm in person that she exudes on her blog. HC of LA & OC Foodventures and I talked about many of the great events coming up in LA and his extensive coverage of these events on his blog. I met Wandering Chopsticks who regaled me with stories of stalkers staking out her favorite joints or e-mailing asking to come over for dinner. Considering she hosts 80,000 hits a month, the crazies don't seem too far-fetched. I only got to speak to Bee of Rasa Malaysia briefly, but I could tell her personality was just as beautiful as the pictures on her site. Abby, who hosts meet-ups on Pleasure Palate told me of the budding food tourism industry in LA, something that I might want to look into in the future.

There were people with such specific focuses that it was inspiring just to see their dedication. Sitting next to me was Kathy of Panini Happy who drove all the way from San Diego to attend the dinner. I had an educational conversation with Matt the Rum Dood about some of his favorite drinks. His encyclopedia knowledge of rum completely floored me. Sarah of Go Eggless has specific dietary restrictions that inspired her to blog about places that suit her needs. It was fun trying to figure out why the restaurant's paella had aioli as an ingredient.

Although the crowd was foodcentric, it was good to see the other varied interests of the participants. Anyone can be a foodie. David of An Easy Recipe managed to quit his day job to pursue blogging full-time. He also writes about personal finance, travel and golf among other things. Seeing someone pursue his loves in life is always a great feeling and makes me optimistic for my own future. Nicole balances Art and Aioli an appreciation of the culinary and the visual arts.

Now I also have some blogs to consult when eating in the OC. Griffin of Griffin Eats OC and Daniel of Eat in OC gave me some recommendations right off the back, including some Peruvian places where I could find Inca Kola. And if you're looking for a Mexican restaurant in the OC, there isn't a better resource than Christian's Orange County Mexican Restaurants.

All this great company, did I mind that the food wasn't worth writing about? Nah, I gained much more than a full stomach. Although I will note that Blanca's lemon drop amuse-bouche was creative and unique. I hope to see all these people again. Check out their blogs.

Blog	URL	Name
An Easy Recipe	http://aneasyrecipe.com	David
Art and Aioli	http://artandaioli.blogspot.com/	Nicole
Eat in O.C	http://www.eatinoc.com/	Daniel
Griffin Eats OC	http://www.griffineatsoc.com	Griffin
I Nom Things	http://inomthings.blogspot.com/	Ila
LA and OC Foodventures	http://la-oc-foodie.blogspot.com/	Hiu Chung
Orange County Mexican Restaurants	http://ocmexfood.blogspot.com/	Christian
Pleasure Palate	http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/	Abby
Rasa Malaysia	http://www.rasamalaysia.com/	Bee
RumDood	http://www.rumdood.com/	Matt
The Delicious Life	http://thedeliciouslife.blogspot.com	Sarah
This Man's Kitchen	http://thismanskitchen.com	Hal
Wandering Chopsticks	http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com/
Go Eggless	http://goeggless.com	Sarah
Panini Happy	http://www.paninihappy.com	Kathy
Gourmet Pigs	http://gourmetpigs.blogspot.com	Fiona

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I Heard Lucques is the Best Restaurant in LA...

Lucques
8474 Melrose Ave
West Los Angeles, 90064
$124 for two entrees, two appetizers, wine, cocktail and tea

Taking a break from my Peruventures, I thought I would share my thoughts on my dinner at Lucques. Alas, I could not make the famous Sunday Supper reservations, but I was able to grab an 8:15 on Monday night. It seems every major publication in the area gave glowing reviews for Lucques including S. Irene Virbilla of the LA Times and Jonathan Gold of LA Weekly, not to mention being ranked as the best restaurant in LA by LA Magazine. That said, I'd have to add my own blog to that list of Lucques reviewers.


Bread offering with almonds and olives

The atmosphere was quaint, as you'd expect from a restaurant set in the converted cottage of silent movie star Harold Lloyd. Wooden rafters give way to brick siding and open out to a small patio. In LA, there's hardly ever a restaurant that doesn't take full advantage of the beautiful evening weather with outdoor seating. The space wasn't large, but it conveyed elegance in intimacy. A group of slightly inebriated women chatted in a corner with a tall bottle of red wine, a clumsy suitor chatted nervously with his date nearby and what looked like a sugar daddy was showering his little ward with gifts of wines and desserts. Whatever the social circumstances, Lucques seemed to provide an appropriate backdrop.


Market lettuces with green goddess dressing, ruby grapefruit, avocado

The restaurant features one of those constantly updating menus depending on the seasons and availability of ingredients. It's also one of those menus which I could blindly point at and still be completely satisfied. Supposedly, the cuisine is Mediterranean-inspired but channeled through a Californian focus. Elements of Greek, Spanish and Italian dotted the menu, but the most prominent feature was the variety of ingredients. Indeed, with the dishes I tasted, I could sense the deep appreciation that Chef Goin has for the foods she works with. She allows each flavor to trumpet its own horn, whether the sweetness of the grapefruit or the tartness of the citrus dressing of the salad. Her expertise is not only limited to produce, but the delightful lamb carpaccio also showed a great respect for meat. The crispy fried fingerling potatoes and the creamy scallion aioli paired so nicely with the tender lamb that each forkful blended with complexity. The flavors are good enough separately, but combined they were heavenly. It reminded me of the scene from Ratatoutille where Remy describes to his brother how combining notes can create whole new chords of aroma and flavor.

And that was just the appetizers.


Slow-roasted Veal

The two entrees I tried, the slow-roasted veal with potato gratin and the crispy pork belly with peaches were hearty. So hearty in fact, the food doesn't look that exquisite. There wasn't the excessively large plate with a dainty morsel in the center with a single chive resting on its side. No, this was the food you wanted to see when you're hungry. Unfortunately, I had filled up quite a bit on the bread and appetizers already and seeing my pork belly made me somewhat anxious. While I would gladly order pork belly again as an appetizer, having a full serving as an entree is just too much. The pork had contrasting textures of the crisp skin and the tender fat that made eating it so interesting. But it was that fat, combined with a sauce heavy on the butter, that was simply too much for me. It was actually one of those moments where I could feel my life shortening. But who wants to live a life without food like this?

That night I knew precisely why Lucques received all those accolades. It reached out to an LA that was hungry. Hungry not for large portions, but food you eat when you really want to enjoy your food. Sometimes we get so caught up in experimental cuisine, where it's often more of a test for your brain than your stomach, that it's easy to miss the food that just makes us say, "Yum!"

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Destination Peru #7: Lost Churros, Please Help

Most Delicious Churro of My Life

Admittedly, I am not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to Latin American food. Up till now, my churro experiences have been limited to the sugary snacks found at Disneyland for $5 or whatever they're selling for these days. Yes, they are good, but they got nothing on the churro in the above picture. The shape is quite unlike the star-shaped ones available here, though I did see a few of those as well. This one is designed for filling, a brillant idea to invigorate the snack.

My family and I were walking through the Plaza de Armas in downtown Lima taking the obligatory tourist pictures and buying trinkets in the markets when I saw a line gathered outside a small storefront. There were no tourists here, just hungry locals looking for a neighborhood favorite. Whatever it was, I had to have it.


Los Autenticos Churros Espanoles de la Virgen Del Carmen

Nothing more than a counter facing the street and a bench along the wall, the shop served one thing. The name says it all, Los Autenticos Churros Espanoles de la Virgen Del Carmen. Pure, unadulterated pastries of fried dough filled with a creamy custard. I think it may have been manjar blanco, a thickened milk cream similar in consistency to condensed milk. The churros were pulled out of the hopper, dusted in sugar and handed to me wrapped in paper. It may have been fried, but it tasted like it was baked in heaven. Light on the stomach and light on the conscience, I felt good having it as a snack.

Sadly, I don't know the exact location of this churro shack. If anyone has any information, please comment. All I know is that it's within several blocks of the main square of downtown Lima, down a side street.

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Destination Peru #6: Wet Your Whistle

I wanted to write an entry addressing the beverages in Peru. I mentioned the chicha morada, purple corn drink before, but there are many more worth mentioning. Also, the famous Pisco was also addressed previously.

The two drinks you'll find everywhere

The above picture shows the two most common drinks you'll find in Peru, much more popular than water. Actually Coke is also on that list, but we have Coke here don't we? Actually, more on that further down. Cusquena is by far the most popular beer in Peru by its sheer ubiquity. They seem to sponsor so much down there, including this remote wedding on a floating island in the middle of Lake Titicaca.


See the Cusquena gazebo?

For the non-drinkers, which seem to be very few, there's always the non-Coke standby Inca Kola. I've heard about Inca Kola during my research back in LA, but I was quite shocked to discover its florescent yellow coloration. My mom explained that it was likely due to the association of Incas with gold. I definitely racked up quite a few bottles of this during my trip. It tastes similar to bubblegum or cream soda. Apparently, it's also caffeinated. Pity I've never seen it before here, but I'll be sure to ask for it at my next Peruvian restaurant. In Peru, Inca Kola is closely associated with Chinese food. I'll explain more on that in the future.


Melon juice


Mixed fruit juice

Commonly, you'll see places serving jugos or juices from various regional fruit. I frequently saw banana, strawberry, papaya, pineapple, apple, orange, passionfruit and peach. The above melon juice is fresh squeezed from Astrid y Gaston. As with all the juices, it was sweet and refreshing. Also, they're all rather puply, usually not strained. While I usually like mine pulp free, it makes the drink healthier. I'm sure there's fiber or something in it. The mixed fruit juice is from a little restaurant in Agua Calientes that I will soon review. I tasted predominantely banana, pineapple and orange. Again, it's nothing unique besides the quality of the ingredients.



This was a Guarana soda my brother bought at the supermarket. I told him to try it because I'm in love with the Guarana Antarctica from Brazil. Sadly, the Peruvian counterpart seemed too artificial for my tastes. Asked to describe it, I would say that the soda tastes something like cream soda with a slice of apple. Please try it at your next churraschuria. Apparently, the guarana berry has two to three times the caffine of a coffee bean. Something to keep in mind next time I'm pounding these sodas at Fogo de Chao.

Something I notice when drinking Coke and Sprite in Peru. The sweetness is different. I have a feeling that the sweetener is more likely cane sugar than high fructose corn syrup. I've had sodas I've known to be cane sugar before, and the flavor is definitely superior. But I've heard conflicting information about HF corn syrup. On one hand, the body is supposed to find it indistinguishable from regular sucrose, common table sugar. But I've also heard people decrying HF corn syrup for being worse than transfats, cholesterol, salt or whatever our society is waging war on these days. Can anyone confirm or deny that for me?

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