As Eric mentioned before, there is this delightful little Cafe ("Cafetin", actually) attached to our hotel. Upon checking in yesterday we had some time to peruse the menu and were immediately impressed with their offerings. We were worried that when we got to the second property that they might not offer the same food, or even have a cafe, but we were pleasantly surprised! You can sit in the beautiful courtyard and order tea, coffee or snacks, or enjoy the intimate but cheery cafe. We opted for the Cafetin both times.
Upon arrival yesterday we were offered Coca Tea. To me, it smells a bit like spinach, but tastes more like a fairly bland loose leaf tea. Coca Tea is offered at most hotels upon arrival here in Peru. It has a mild stimulant, similar to caffeine, and helps with altitude sickness. There are many other products made with Coca leaves as well, including a chew that it similar to tobacco. No worries though, the very, very small amount we had in our tea didn't really have any side effects for us. Though, Eric felt like it helped with his headache last night. I would imagine that the heat helps with sinus pressure as well, as it is soothing like any hot tea.
Our snackbox (small ham, cheese & butter sub sandwich, peanuts, and a small sweet cake) from the plane held us over so we could rest first, then eat second once we arrived. Our room is upstairs and is over the kitchen/dining area of our hotel. This means we have the most delicious smells wafting up to our room. Even as I type this, breakfast is being offered and it smells incredible. We had two meals in the Cafetin at our hotel yesterday - an early dinner (especially for South American standards), and dessert/tea before bed.
We split everything. The Veggie Mini Pizzas were a little smaller than we expected, but loaded with flavor. There was a very thin crust, topped with pesto and mozzarella and a small piece of tomato. The pesto was strong, but had overall great flavor. I mean, how can you go wrong with tomato, pesto, olive oil and the subtle flavors of almond? The tomatoes were great and flavorful, too - a nice little accompaniment to the rest of our meal. The apple chutney (at least, that's what I'm calling it) was incredible! The flavor reminded me of Thanksgiving. The apples were spiced with various seasonings, the cinnamon I'm sure of. There was a crunch that I originally thought was the apples, but realized after a few bites was onion. It gave such a nice balance to the flavor to have a slightly salty and savory onion flavor at the end. We weren't sure which item the chutney was meant to go with, so we just ate it with everything. And by itself.
I've waited to describe the Peruvian Stew, because it was by far the stand-out of our dinner. The closest thing I can compare it to is a really savory Shepherd's Pie, with gravy and all. They started with a bed of mashed potatoes and then covered it with bites of beef, and this really tasty gravy sauce. I know there were onions in it as well, and the menu mentioned prunes, which I'm assuming helped give it the sweet, savory flavor it had. It reminded me of comfort food, Peruvian style. Nothing was over-powering; it just all worked together so well!
After reading the dessert menu, we knew we'd need to come back and sample all the many offerings. But how would we choose with so many great sounded options - Peruvian Tres Leche cake, Banana & Carrot Cake, Chocolate Cake with Almonds, Apple Crumble, Ice Cream, etc. See what I mean? Fortunately for us, we didn't have to choose. There was a dessert special that included smaller, sample-sized options of their most popular desserts. We had the Banana & Carrot Cake, the Peruvian Tres Leche Cake, and the Apple Crumble. Perhaps the biggest star of the show was the raspberry sauce that was under our homemade vanilla ice cream - lick the plate good. It was our favorite, hands down. I also really enjoyed the Apple Crumble and Eric loved the Tres Leche cake (spongy, but reminded me a bit of cheesecake). Eric had Coca Tea and I had their local organic chocolate milk (with the option of having it cold or warm - I opted for frio - cold). The photo won't do it justice either, but this little piece of heaven was $4.00 total. It should have been $14.00 at least! Needless to say, we made happy plates (and happy tummies) all day yesterday. The ambiance couldn't have been more perfect either. There was Gilberto/Getz, Norah Jones, and Brazilian Samba playing overhead (reminded us of our Pandora station at home); there were two french ladies sitting beside us, having a beautiful conversation (does anything sound bad in french?); we had a fire at our backs and a great dessert partner beside each of us. All of this, along with the fantastic food options - it doesn't get any better!
We haven't tried any street food, but will at some point. We just haven't been able to pass up the great options right under our noses (literally), here at the hotel. While walking around yesterday, the smell of food was so good everywhere we went. What is surprising to me is that none of it reminds me of a greasy, fried food smell that you might expect (although Peru has it's share of artery-clogging fried foods). Most of it has local produce incorporated, and the smell is so savory! I realize I'm over-using that word, but it is the best descriptor I can think of.
Breakfast is calling to us now and we've already decided what we'll try for our next two meals. Stayed tuned for more food pictures... I hope it helps you experience a small part of Peruvian culture. We're loving every minute of it!
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