Astrid, Gaston and the American moustache hunt

Lima was definitely growing on us. The restaurant scene in Miraflores was really very impressive and we had yet to try the pinacle. Astrid y Gaston is recommended by everyone. It is number 35 on the top 100 restaurant list, fodors raves about it, it is in our lonely planet AND the hostal owner said we had to go there.

To guarantee a table you usually have to book 3 weeks in advance but there is a bar which you can sit in and order from the restaurant menu as long as you get there earlish. We desperately wanted to go so we arrived at 6:30pm, 30 minutes before it opened. People who know me will think this was me panicking but for a change the eagerness was mainly on the part of my fiancée.

To be honest there was no need for this early arrival, we could have got there at 8 and got a table on this particular evening but this did mean that we got talking to an American woman who also turned up before they let anyone in at 7.

She was a regular there and as well as telling us about her favourite dishes she also old us about a hole in the wall seafood restaurant we had to try for lunch. Apparently it was so good the locals don't like telling people about it. She gave us a street address and a name, el begote (or the moustache) before she left to catch a flight to the States while we got on with enjoying our meal.

Moving onto the food Astrid and Gaston is certainly a case of how many people can't be wrong. The whole experience was truly excellent. I started with scallops in a slighty sweet sauce covered in dried (or maybe fried) carrots and a foam while my fiancée had octopus in a frothy sauce, sadly the food envy for my scallops was too strong and I was forced to change halfway through!

For main course I ordered a piece of beef which had been stewed until perfectly tender, the whole main was really very good. My partner had a very nice rare tuna steak with a creamy sauce.

The highlight of the whole thing was dessert. I had an amazing chocolate covered giant marshmallow on a biscuit base with a raspberry coulis (there is a sweet in the uk which is similar although not as big) this was served with hot chocolate poured over the top (which melts the choccy coating and ends up as a sauce). My partner had a really interesting postre called "the tomato who wants to be a dessert" this was a pear and raviloi tart topped with a tomato puree and served with basil ice cream which she claimed was one if the best desserts for people without a sweet tooth she had ever tried.

I think it would have been sad to pass through Lima without getting a chance to eat here so despite the time we wasted standing around outside I think it was worth blowing our budget for. Although again by Uk standards the price was pretty average, with a main costing between 20 and 30 pounds.

The following lunch time we took advice from the American lady and went looking for "El Bigote". Because we had a street address and a name we didn't bother checking the Internet or even a map to see if the directions we had made sense. They didn't, so we spent an hour and a half trudging the streets looking for it.

Eventually we were too hungry to continue (I am not a pleasant person to be around while hungry and my fiancée is similar) so rather than have a massive fight we picked a touristy restaurant and ate some dodgy seafood.

My fiancée was not yet ready to admit defeat though, using the restaurants wifi she looked up where we should be (about 75m from where we were) and the actual name of the place "la rincon de el bigote" which has the address José Galvez 529 and after abandoning most of our first lunch we headed off to try it.

It is the most unassuming place you can imagine but the food there is definitely something they should be shouting about. We had the giant clam ceviche starter (you order as many as you think you can eat) which was great, and followed it with their mixed fried seafood. This was light and fluffy in amazing batter. Everything was cooked wonderfully.

It was definitely worth the effort I just wish we'd found it an hour earlier so I could have tried things like the pulpo al olivio (octopus in puréed olives).

It wasn't the cheapest meal out with each clam costing 1pound fifty and the mixed seafood costing 8 pounds (much more expensive than our first lunch in the tourist place) but it is definitely worth it.

Pictured below are the scallops, octopus, beef, tuna steaks, chocolate marshmallow ball and the tomato who thinks he is a dessert from Astrid y Gaston. The front of El Riñcon el Begote and the clams and mixed fried seafood.

Lima, fine food by the sea and the deadly sins!

So, it turns out Lima, in deepest darkest Peru has a beach! Who knew? Well I guess anyone who has looked at their map, however I hadn't really been paying attention. I think this was mainly because I saw Lima as just a stop on the way to Quito and the Galapagos rather than a destination in its own right.

This was wrong because we found Lima to be a pretty darn good destination city. We were staying in up market miraflores, which is a pretty affluent neighbourhood full of embassy's and sea food restaurants. This was pointed out by the owner of our hostal, Miraflores house, who from his substantial girth clearly loved a good meal. He spent a solid hour marking every type of food and restaurant on a map for us as it quickly became clear we probably hadn't scheduled enough time for Lima if we wanted to eat all of the cuisines that were on offer.

On the first night we decided to go for a Chinese as it was close to the hotel, I was expecting a chifa, which is a budget style of Peruvian Chinese we've eaten a lot, usually costing at most a couple of dollars for a dish which is enough for two. However Wa Lok was a more traditional Chinese (the sort of dishes you would find in London's china town) but the prices were (for Peru at least) sky high (12-15 pounds a main course) and a little disappointing (the salt and pepper squid certainly was) and we promised ourselves we would do better the next day.

It is important to learn from you mistakes so at lunch the following day we went for the very traditional option of Ceviche. This is mainly served at lunch time at restaurants near to the sea. We went for a restaurant called Punta del Sal seafood, which is a three story place on the waterfront overlooking the beach.

The Ceviche for 2 people that we got was around 55 Soles (15 pounds), don't be fooled by the labelling of it as "snacking" in some menus English translation, the actual Spanish is more literally translated as "for sharing" and if you order this a main course is probably not necessary (if you are still hungry order more food after you have finished). The ceviche there had 5 dishes, raw white fish served with the traditional sauce of chilli, lemon, red onion as well as a more unusual thick orange creamy sauce. There was octopus served with avacado and tomato covered in a wonderful olive oil dressing and some boiled vegetables. The final dish and centre piece was a crab, potato and avocado cake topped with a boiled egg.

All of it was amazing, if you like sea food I really can't recommend something like this enough.

Our evening meal was also fish based, with all of the dishes having a theme from the seven deadly sins and various virtues. Pescardo Capitales is also one of the few restaurants to offer ceviche at night, which was why, a few days earlier, we'd booked in online (It was also recommended by the excellent fodors which for us is now very much a badge of honor). One thing to mention is that the restaurant is right on the (slighty dodgy) edge of Miraflores, so rather than walk it may be an idea to get a taxi.

Having had excellent ceviche at lunch we decided to go for something a bit different now we were here. We started with the 'little sins' which were prawn wantons. The batter isn't quite the same as the uk (different flour i think) but it is pretty good none the less.

I followed this up with another sin (a deadly one but not sure which), a really very good swordfish steak while my fiancée enjoyed a virtuous (can't remember which one either) seafood linguine which she described as the best pasta she'd had in South America so far (although this may be considered damning with faint praise).

Price wise this was not exactly within our budget, with the main courses costing between 50 and 70 Soles (12-18 pounds) but as a splurge I would recommend it.

Pictured below are the lunchtime cerviche, the wantons, the pasta and the swordfish.