Memorable Meals

In any trip, I've always eaten food that I will remember for the rest of my life.

The linguini with fresh anchovies in Lucca, Italy. The prawns in Honfleur, France. The octopus in Porto, Portugal. The skillet chorizo hash, in Dominicalito, Costa Rica.

There are so many more. I can think of a particular city and inevitably, my memory recalls a great meal I had.

In Peru, there are so many great meals that I had that it would probably be easier and shorter to list the meals I did not care for. But I think I can narrow some of the best eats I had for each of the places we stayed in throughout our vacation.

In the 15 days we were in Peru, we stayed in five different locations. And here are the most memorable meals for each.

Ollantaytambo: on our first night, we let Kid 2 choose where we ate. She's the pickiest eater in the family and we wanted her to have a good dining experience, especially since we had been travelling for a day and a half.

She searched for restaurant recommendations and found the Sunshine Café. It was perfect for everyone. They had tacos, quesadillas, sandwiches, and more. I had a bacon wrap that was loaded with avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, and just the right amount of bacon, in a corn wrap. Served with pico de gallo, it was exactly what I needed.

And Kid 2 was happy with her selection.

Cusco: one of the first things we did in this former Incan capital was take a city walking tour. As we walked through one neighbourhood, our guide casually mentioned that there were some great restaurants in this area. At the end of the tour, he gave us a list of recommended restaurants that was so extensive that we had to sit down to go through it.

Eventually, we decided on a place called Jack's, which wasn't far from the central square. It was here that I tried alpaca meat, which was marinated in a flavourful sauce and grilled to perfection. It was served in a sandwich, with homemade bread, and came with the best fried potatoes I've ever tasted.

DW and the girls also had great meals, so much so that they wanted to come back for lunch the next day. We actually went to Jack's sister restaurant, & Jill's, for lunch the next day, and it didn't disappoint.

Now, while I said I'd only talk about one great meal from each place we stayed at, I feel I should also mention another place we visited twice, for dinner.

Nick's Food Co. is a Mexican restaurant that was a minute's walk from our hostel. It's small but welcoming and only accepts cash. The food is inexpensive but authentic. The tacos, burritos, and enchiladas are as good as you'll find anywhere, and they also made some kick-ass pisco sours, where they offered a two-for-one happy-hour deal (and as a sign read, they're always happy).

DW and I went on our first night, alone, as Kid 2 was feeling the effects of altitude sickness on top of heat exhaustion, while Kid 1 was tired. But because we raved about Nick's, they wanted to try it for dinner the next night.

Lima: we visited this city twice. We came to the capital city from Cusco, to visit with the kids before they returned to Canada, as they were only spending a week with us. Unfortunately, I fell sick on our first night and spent the entire next day in DW's and my hotel room whilst the girls roamed the city.

But I did get a chance to visit Lima on DW's and my last full day in Peru, before flying home. And I wasn't going to leave the capital city without trying ceviche.

There are a lot of great ceviche restaurants in Lima but some of the more notable ones are in Barranco, an upscale neighbourhood. We chose Canta Rana (singing frog).

Our Uber driver told us that Canta Rana was a great choice for ceviche (it was the destination that we had chosen for our ride) but warned that it could be busy and we might have to wait. He listed a few other places, nearby, that we should check out if there was a long wait.

It wasn't necessary. While a couple of larger parties were ahead of us, Canta Rana did have a table for two, right at the entrance, and were able to seat us right away. 

I ordered the mixed seafood ceviche, which contained squid, octopus, salmon, shrimp, and other fish. The dish was generous and delicious^*.

DW, who isn't as much of a seafood lover as me, went for a battered fish in a garlic sauce. She took her first bite and said it was pretty good, but with each mouthful she said it got better and better, and she was pleasantly surprised at how good her meal was.

Puerto Maldonado: this town, situated where the Rio Madre del Dios meets the Tambopata River, was a jumping spot for our five-day trek into the Amazon basin.

The town didn't seem to come to life until after 7, and DW and I were hungry but not starving. We found a recommended restaurant, Puzanga, where we split one meal: a plate of four slider burgers and fries.

Two sliders, each, were perfect. The beef was tasty and juicy, and the fries were amazing. We both washed everything down with a black lager that was malty and sweet, and paired perfectly with our meal.

It was really the best thing going for Puerto Maldonado.

Tambopata: the resort where we stayed, Chuncho Ecolodge, was basic but comfortable. It provided us with everything we needed to make our exploration of the Amazon basin enjoyable: a comfortable bed; rubber boots for muddy swampy sections of the jungle; and plenty of filtered water.

They also had a structured time for meals: breakfast at 7; lunch at 1; dinner at 7:30. And each meal was delicious.

But the best meal wasn't on the menu. One afternoon, our guide took us along a small creek off of the Tambopata River, from where he let us try to fish by using a bamboo stick with a line and hook attached to it. On the hook, our guide placed raw pork.

We were fishing for piranhas.

There's a technique to catching this fish. First, you stir up the water with the tip of the bamboo pole. You then drop the hook with the meat into the water, letting it sink low. Little piranhas keep to the surface while larger ones stay deep. As soon as you feel a tug, you steadily lift the pole upward.

I caught my first piranha after about two minutes. It was a silver piranha. A few minutes later, I caught a red-bellied piranha.

Each time, our guide took the fish off the hook and showed it to everyone, explaining the variety and its characteristics. While he was showing everyone the red-bellied piranha, I had inadvertently let my pole and line dip back in the water, and there was still some bait on the hook.

The next thing I knew, I felt another tug on the line  which caught me by surprise because I was paying attention to our guide's description of my second catch.

I lifted the pole and up came another silver piranha.

Everyone had a chance to try fishing, and we stayed for an hour or so. Someone caught a massive silver piranha and the hook got caught so firmly in its mouth that we had to euthanize the poor fish. But because it was so big, our guide said that we could keep it and grill it at dinner.

The lodge had already planned our evening meal but they grilled our piranha and served it as an appetizer. Because there were seven of us in our group, we passed the fish around the table, each taking a forkful and passing it on to the next person.

The fish made three rounds per person before it was gone.

It was the highlight meal of our time in the Amazon basin. Silver piranha is a white meat that is mild and flavourful. It's one of the best fish meals I've ever had.

So those are my most memorable meals of Peru. I'll remember them fondly every time I think of where we've been.

^* I didn't take a photo of my ceviche but did record some video, which I'll share in an upcoming YouTube release. Stay tuned.