Food Highlights in Lima

The first thing we noticed in Lima was the traffic. Our bus was running 20 minutes late and so a 40 minute journey ended up taking us 2.5 hours!
When we finally arrived it was off to our hotel located in the Barranco district. Barranco is a district that is renowned for it’s bohemian vibe. We arrived and we were surrounded by huge old run down mansions. It was an interesting area, there were beautiful renovated mansions next to falling down ones covered in graffiti next to those which were starting to be renovated and done up. Streets covered in street art next to a cliff side walkway that multi-million dollar apartments and gardens were on. It really was a neighbourhood of contradictions.

We started our time in exploring the old town in central Lima. It was a visit to Bolivar square and the Plaza del Arms. In the plaza we saw numerous officers around ensuring the peace was kept outside the Presidential Palace. The fountain in the middle is filled with Pisco on the Day of Independence and everyone can come and drink Pisco out of the fountain. Our final stop in the old town was the San Francisco Church. The place is famous due to it’s catacombs that lie under the church. Sadly we weren’t able to take photos but you should be able to find images online if you want to see images. It was beautiful! Most structures were made from cedar wood that had come from Nicaragua and Panama. There were massive domes with complex patterns and a stunning library that I was in awe of. The library looked like the perfect place to explore! I wish libraries looked like that now. We saw inside the church where services are still performed today. There we frescos painted and some interestingly that never had the faces of them completed. Why this never occurred they are still not sure.
We also walked through part of the catacombs. There were bone graveyards everywhere. The air as expected was damp with an earthy smell. There are also numerous tunnels found under the church that are thought to go all the way to the Presidential Palace.

On our travels around Barranco we discovered a kiwi run restaurant; Kaipai Kai 390. They made there own pies!! This week it was mince and cheese. Yum!! The pie was much better than expected and like a good pie from home. The wraps were also sensational. We were sad when we returned the next night and found out they had sold out of all of the pies for the week! Our little piece of home was gone.

That evening was our final evening with our tour group. We were off to Tanta, one of the famous restaurants in Lima. The food was delicious! Lewis went for the Aji de Gallina, the chicken dish we had made Mancora with Eli, our current guide. I went for pot roast ravioli with a pisco cocktail. The deserts all looked amazing but we both passed due to the fact that we were so full from our main.

We were off to get dessert that I missed the night before and delicious sandwiches the next morning. We walked two blocks from our hotel and along the cliff-top walkway. 30 minutes later after walking through beautiful gardens and hearing the ocean from below we arrived at a beautiful park with two staircases down that lead to a stunning mall that had been built into the cliff. The mall is located in the Miraflores area, a lush, ritzy and nicer side of Lima. I opted for the Susprio a la Limena, a rich and decadent dessert made of Peruvian caramel and liqueur meringue that is from Lima. The caramel and cinnamon tasting meringue was extremely intense but perfect due to it’s small size. We also went to La Lucha, the famous sandwich shop in Lima. Lewis went for beef cooked in it’s own juices and chicken of the house. Both sandwiches were stuffed with meat and tasty. The meat was cooked to perfection and the sandwiches were simple with only a tasty bun, lettuce and tomato.

In Lima they have the largest water fountain circuit in the world. There are 13 fountains in the park with some of them being interactive. The park also had light and laser show which was pretty impressive. The other fountains were all beautiful and I loved every moment of it. It reminded me of the magic fountain in Barcelona and is worth a visit if you are in Lima.

Our time in Lima was brief but even though we had a small amount of time we still got to see quiet a bit. From the glitz Miraflores, bohemian Barranco and the historic central area. You can see why the food is famous. There are so many stunning restaurants and we only got a taste of the stunning food scene that is there. There is numerous different things to see and it really has the city feel that you can find in most Western cities. If they could control there traffic problems it would probably tick even more boxes. I would love to go back and explore this foodie mecca more.