eating

El Pan de la Chola

| Emma Louise

El Pan de la Chola is a bakery and café all-in-one and it is one of my favourites.

 

I first visited about 6 months ago, but my friend Vanessa had never been, so I took this opportunity to introduce her to the wonders of the freshly baked bread here.

Jonathan Day, the owner, honed his baking skills whilst living in London after finding breads there that were not like those to be found in Lima. He brought his knowledge back with him to Peru, eventually opening El Pan de la Chola, home to amazing bread, coffee, extracts and sweet treats.

bread

His bread is made just using flour (ground on site), water and a starter. No yeast, just the natural starter to help it rise and it is left to do so for 24 hours.

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La Preferida

| Emma Louise

When I first moved to Peru, aside from one friend (an amazing girl I met on my flight home from Peru on my first trip), my boyfriend, and his family, I didn’t really know anyone. All my English friends existed on Skype & WhatsApp, plus being on a 5/6 hour time difference.

Pretty tricky.

Thank goodness I eventually met Vanessa. She is the sort of person that you just have to find if you move to a new country. We’ve not only become great friends, but also each others language teacher, therapist and food eating partner-in-crime!

This week we decided to catch up over lunch in La Preferida, an amazing hub for seafood dishes in Lima.

La Preferida

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Astrid & Gastón

| Emma Louise

Last week a friend of ours was playing with his band in Astrid & Gastón.

We’ve been lucky enough to have eaten there 3 times before (once in their previous location in Cantuarius), but we couldn’t  pass up another opportunity.

Astrid & Gastón is the brainchild of Gastón Acurio, the super famous Peruvian chef and businessman, and Astrid Gutsche, his wife, partner and a pastry chef in her own right. The restaurant is ranked at number 2 out of all of the restaurants in Latin America and is ranked at number 18 in the world. Peruvian restaurants are being ranked higher and higher on an international scale, which for me is a reflection of how good the cuisine is in Peru. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the cuisine has always been good, but over recent years it has been getting the recognition it surely deserves.

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Midweek Maki & Sake at Hanzo

| Emma Louise

I’ve never tried sake before.

Never.

But last night I did and it was a beautiful thing. It was like a warm, alcoholic, savoury herbal tea.

And after all those maki, it was just what the doctor ordered!

setting

Hanzo is a Peruvian Japanese Restaurant serving up a fusion of both cuisines. Their menu includes – among others – sashimi, sushi, main plates and desserts

But the maki are what I come for.

the meal

Aren’t they just beautiful.

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Sunday Lunch // Tanta

| Emma Louise

Sundays are days for relaxing.

Days for Skype-ing. For eating. For drinking. And then later, for lying in bed with Netflix.

I love Sundays. And I love Tanta.

Tanta sign
tanta entrance

 Tanta is one of Gaston Acurio’s restaurant chains, with a few branches within Lima and Peru, and then the rest dotted across the globe, even as far afield as Barcelona. For those who may not know, Gaston is an ambassador for Peruvian cuisine and has helped to promote it, alongside other chefs, all over the world. He has been a big influence in Peru gaining worldwide accolades for their incredible food scene, both in the restaurants and the raw ingredients that are produced here.

Tanta serves typical, traditional Peruvian (or Peruvian fusion) cuisine, but often in a modern way. However, just because Tanta was started by Gaston and is very fresh and modern, does not mean the restaurant is overly fancy or expensive. The dishes here are not tiny morsels in the middle of large plates, which is obviously perfect for me, and the prices are so reasonable (main dishes are between S/25 and S/50).

tanta inside

Due to the fact that it is summer in Lima, restaurants are normally fairly empty as everyone heads to the nearby beaches. However, arriving at 2pm, we found Tanta its normal, popular, busy self.

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