I was in New York City this weekend and my buddy took me to a place called
Lima Taste, which serves authentic Peruvian food.
Having grown up in a small town, my culinary experiences have not been very wide. My favorite food is pepperoni pizza, followed closely by buffalo wings.
A few years ago I started trying a lot of new foods. I mean, what if I never tried pepperoni pizza? I'd be missing out on my favorite dish. So if I try new stuff, I might find my next "favorite food".
This is what we had:
1. Ceviche de Pescado (Fish seasoned in lemon juice. With Peruvian seasoning)
2. Anticucho (Grilled cow heart*, skewered. With crispy potatoes & hot sauce)
3. Lomo Saltado (chunks of filet mignon, tomatoes, fried onions & French fries)
All of the above washed down with Peruvian pilsner beer. We went back to my buddy's place and had some pisco sours. Pisco is a Peruvian alcoholic drink made from grapes. Pisco sours use pisco, lime juice, sugar, ice and egg white. Very good stuff.
*: yes, I know "grilled cow heart" doesn't sound very appetizing but it was surprisingly good. Tasted like tender beef with less "beef flavor", kinda like filet mignon. Hey, I am from Pennsylvania and we eat scrapple. When you find out what is in scrapple, grilled cow heart doesn't sound so bad.
I have eaten ceviche before, but in Cuban restaurants. The Peruvian ceveche had heavier sauce but the raw fish had more flavor than the Cuban ceveche.
The lomo saltado was especially good. While french fries makes it sound like a McDonald's meal, it was incorporated into the dish very well and complemented the other components of the meal.
Thumbs up on everything. I would eat there again and highly recommend the place. Too bad there isn't a Peruvian place here in Philly!