Peruvian Lunch...in Lobitos, Peru
Today I felt like sitting outside for lunch, and enjoying a cold beer at the same time. This weekend in Lobitos, Peru is going to be crazy. Peru celebrates its independence this weekend, and let me tell you that Peruvians do not play when it comes to celebrating. The party is going to start on Friday night and will not end until Tuesday morning. With this in mind I decided to head out and have lunch at one of my favorite establishments. I figured that I wanted to fill up on good food before all the partying commenced. My restaurant of choice for today is El Ancla which means the anchor in English. Here in the north of Peru fishing is the biggest industry and is a major staple of the local restaurants. So let us get inside and fill our stomachs with happiness!
For the most part restaurants in Peru make their meals fresh to order. This is especially true in rural areas away from heavy tourism. I have heard people complain about the amount of time it takes to prepare their meal, but I have never heard a complaint about the taste or flavor. The food here is never frozen and is prepared for each individual meal, which is why it takes some time. It is not uncommon to sit at a table with four of your friends and have each of your meals brought out separately. This is because everything is fresh and they try to get it to the table as quickly as possible. I say we head inside and place our orders. I am hungry!
Here is the menu so you can decide what you want. I myself am in the mood for a fried fish platter (locally known as chicharron pescado). When looking at the menu remember that those prices are in soles (which is the Peruvian currency). 1 US dollar is equal to 3.25 Peruvian soles. This means that the food here is really good and inexpensive. Peru does not allow any genetically modified food into the country either...so everything is fresh and natural. In fact Peru and Ecuador are the only places in North, Central, or South America that GMO's are banned. The fish platter I am ordering is going to be fresh as well. No frozen fish here my friends.
So I placed our order so lets chill out and wait for the food. Check out the surroundings while we are waiting.
Look at this! A couple of my friends just showed up. How nice...now I have someone to share my meal with.
So my friends were in the mood for a ceviche which worked out perfectly. Our meals came out at the same time and they were fabulous. The meals were loaded with such flavor, that my pallet could barely believe such flavor existed. I say we take a moment of silence and enjoy the food. By the way those are not french fries with the fried fish, they are actually yuca which is a root and quite tasty. Also take a look at that ceviche and notice how big those corn kernels are...amazing. Que Rico!
I am so thankful for this meal and am glad to have shared it with friends.
Looks like this guy enjoyed his meal as well. He could not even wait to get home to take a nap! Another satisfied customer at El Ancla.
The food was superb and the company was enjoyable. What a great lunch! Just drove by the beach on the way home, and it looks like some fun surf out in the ocean. I am thinking about taking a short siesta, then heading over for a surf before dinner. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon and I will see you soon!