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We’re back in the big city after our Amazon adventure, with a couple of days until our flight to the US – only a couple of 
days to sample a few of the restaurants on our must-eat-at list. There is also the issue of the pesos burning a hole in Emma’s pocket, so we head to the Indian Market. We’re not prepared for its vastness, with aisle upon aisle of souvenirs. Where to look first? How to choose? How to bargain? Emma takes her time and assembles a perfect selection of gifts – including a miniature blow gun which is bound to impress her brothers.
With shopping out of the way, we can focus on food. We’ve already eaten
at one of Gaston Acurio’s restaurants, the fabulous Casa Moreyra. We find our way to Madam Tusan, his dramatic chifa (Chinese/Peruvian fusion) outpost. We are not disappointed.
We’ve been saving another of his restaurants – La Mar – for our last 
lunch. We’re curious. We’ve walked by it several times and noted security guards outside the plain grey cement walls opening patrons’ limos. Inside, the restaurant is informal and anything but plain – turquoise, orange, exotic flowers and a bamboo ceiling letting in light and air. (It almost never rains in Lima.) Big blackboards list the days dishes in colored chalk. Our waiter brings us a pail of potato chips in many colors and a selection of yummy dips while we try to choose.
Mark orders tuna ceviche.
Emma and I share a ‘boatload’ of causas – little rolls of various potato purees topped with a variety of seafoods – the deep fried shrimp are amazing.
Mark opts for shrimp in a velvety/spicy sauce
Emma can’t resist seafood pasta
But I am the real winner – with tender stuffed and broiled squid
Bartenders stay busy behind a counter covered in seafood – Acurio trucks go up and down the Pacific coast several times a week to pick up the catch from their customized supply chain of artisanal fisherman – identified on the signs by each fish. Most of the fish are totally foreign to us. It’s an amazing display. So sad we won’t have a chance to sample more of them!
And our last dinner in Lima? We’ve been saving that night for Rafael’s – Raphael Osterling’s delightful 
Italian/Peruvian fusion restaurant.
Fusion – What a great idea! Chinese, indigenous, French, Italian, Spanish, Jewish, Japanese = MARVELOUS!
Thank you. Lima!
Thank you Sharon for a pleasant but brief trip to a place I now have pasted in my memory.
Earl
Glad you enjoyed it. Next stop – Venice!