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Welcome to my very first installment of Eating Local! When we aren’t traveling, we’re eating (and we like to eat A LOT). One of the best things about living in California, aside from the obvious near-perfect year-round weather, is the amazing variety of ethnic cuisines. So, if you aren’t able to travel, you can at least get a taste of different parts of the world close to home!
My Eating Local posts will focus on the East San Francisco Bay Area cities and towns that are close to my home-base, such as Walnut Creek, Concord, Livermore, Pleasanton, and a few others nearby. We live in a smaller town where foodie options aren’t really plentiful. And, we don’t like to trek out to the bigger cities all the time to get all the good foods! Luckily, we have a ton of places within our reach that are 20 to 40 minutes away (and sometimes less). One such place is a Peruvian restaurant located in Downtown Concord called Lima.
Cocktail Hour
Let’s start with the liquid appetizers!
Just as you’d find yourself pining for tequila at a Mexican restaurant, you might be equally as interested in a Peruvian spirit called Pisco. Pisco is a brandy made by distilling fermented grape juice, and hails from the countries of Peru and Chile. Before I even sat down at the table, I knew I wanted to try a Pisco Sour. No, they are not cheap. Yes, they are delicious! Mine came with a happy face, which seemed to ease the pain of the sticker shock.
Lima’s Pisco Sour is made with Pisco, fresh lime juice, pasteurized egg white, syrup, and a dash of bitters. It’s frothy on the front from the egg white, and sour on the back end thanks to the lime.
They also offer many other types of Pisco cocktails, as well as more traditional drinks with a Peruvian twist to them (think Manhattans and margaritas). Cocktails fall in the $10.00 to $13.00 range, but generally tend to average about $12.00. I’m finding that is kind of the new standard price for specialty cocktails at places in our area (chain restaurants exluded), so save up your money if you like to throw back a few!
Appetizers
We picked out two appetizer dishes to share for our group of four, and I must say, these two dishes quite possibly earned the top marks of best appetizers of last year from us.
Ceviche de Jalapeno
Living in California, we are very familiar with Mexican ceviche dishes. But, it was refreshing to see this dish prepared in a different style than what we are used to. If you’re unfamiliar with how ceviche is prepared, the acid (lime or lemon) in the dish actually “cooks” the fish versus applying any type of heat element.
With modern Peruvian ceviche (or cebiche), the marinade simply gives the fish a little kiss rather than allowing the fish to sit and cook all the way through. The fish comes out more raw in this method of preparation, which means that fish better be fresh!
On this little plate at Lima, you’ll find marinated fresh Corvina (similar to sea bass) in spicy jalapeno “tiger’s milk” with avocado, cilantro, and purple yam chips. Fear not, tiger’s milk is not actual milk from a tiger! (But I’m sure a vision just passed through your mind of a tiger being milked, didn’t it?) Tiger’s Milk is actually a marinade with a base of lime juice and a combination of various spices (maybe some garlic, salt, and pepper).
A hint of heat will linger on your palate from the jalapeno without being overly spicy (though being a spice lover, I could say the heat could be increased a tad). And if spice isn’t your thing, they have a few other ceviches to choose from. Lastly, the avocado adds a creamy element to the dish, with the yuca chip balancing it out for texture.
I could eat this dish over and over again!
Pulpo Anticuchero
Some might say you have to be bold to eat a dish like this. It’s not every day you have a whole octopus tentacle presented before you! And, if you’re going to serve octopus like this, it better be cooked to perfection. If it’s too chewy or tough, the dish can be ruined.
Lima’s grilled pulpo was absolute magic – easy to cut, well-seasoned, and was complimented perfectly by the botija olive aioli, potatoes, and Peruvian corn.
Entrees
Showing up with a group of people to a restaurant means you get to take pretty pictures of multiple dishes, even if you don’t taste them all!
Tallarin Saltado
My entree was the Tallarin Saltado, which loosely translates to noodle stir fry. Tallarin translates to noodles, and saltado translates to “jump,” which relates to the Chinese cooking technique of stir frying. I was fascinated to learn that Peruvian cuisine actually has a Chinese/Cantonese influence from immigrants that came to Peru in the 19th century. That fusion of Chinese and Peruvian cuisine is commonly known as chifa.
The Tallarin Saltado dish at Lima is prepared with noodles, onions, tomato, cilantro, oyster sauce and a tamari soy glaze. I added seafood to mine for some extra protein, but I actually would have been fine with just the veggies (or maybe just shrimp) since I’m not a huge fan of mixed seafood (especially calamari). It was quite flavorful and definitely had a distinct Asian flavor to it. Now knowing of the Chinese influence in Peru, that makes much more sense!
Seco de Cordero
My husband had the Seco de Cordero, which is a slow-braised lamb shank with Cusqueña beer (a Peruvian beer), cilantro, garlic, onions and aji amarillo (Peruvian yellow chile pepper). This dish is typically served with rice and canary beans, though my husband got a side of veggies instead to make it more low-carb friendly. You know the dish is a winner when the meat falls off the bone!
Adobo de Chancho
And here we have the Adobo de Chancho dish (pork adobo) with slow simmered pork shoulder in aji panca (Peruvian red pepper sauce), served with Peruvian rice, canary beans, and a mint salsa criolla (kind of like a pickled veggie slaw). While I can’t go into too much detail on this one since it was a friend’s dish that I didn’t try personally, I do know he loved this dish and ate every last bite.
Lomo Saltado
Lastly, for the entrees, we have the Lomo Saltado. This is another one of the Chinese-influced dishes, with “lomo” translating to loin (this dish is made with beef tenderloin), and saltado referring to stir fry. So, this is pretty much a chifa style Peruvian/Chinese beef stir fry with onions and tomatoes in a soy demi-glaze and some french fries tossed in there for good measure.
This was the only dish that was had that didn’t get stellar marks. This was also a friend’s dish, so I can’t attest to the taste personally. She did say that while the flavor was good, it did not not quite match up to the other dishes at the table that day.
I do feel like had we known of the Chinese-style influence in the dishes prior to ordering them, we would have been more prepared for the flavor combinations and cooking styles prior to making our selections. This is a really good lesson when it comes to trying new cuisines, that’s for darn sure!
Desserts
Did we really need three different kinds? No. Definitely not. But we’re gluttons who like to try a wide variety of everything.
My personal favorite were the crispy churros, served piping hot, stuffed with dulce de leche and dusted with cinnamon sugar. If you only ever one dessert at Lima, let it be these little morsels of heaven!
We also tried the lucuma cheesecake. Lucuma is a sweet Peruvian fruit with a caramel-like flavor. The cheesecake is served on a walnut crust with a chocolate drizzle and while I will say the flavors were quite interesting, it was a bit much for my tastebuds to eat more than a few bites! Definitely plan on sharing this one.
Last but not least was the suspiro de limeña (pictured in the glass cup), which is a traditional Peruvian dessert of dulce de leche custard topped with a meringue cloud. Definitely very sweet! But I did prefer this one over the lucuma cheesecake.
Pro Tips
Definitely come here for happy hour to get discounted cocktails! For example, a Pisco Sour will cost you $7.00 versus $12.00. Happy Hour runs Monday through Friday from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. They also have a selection of foods on the Happy Hour menu at discounted prices for those that are more budget-conscious.
I also recommend you plan a trip here in the Spring, Summer or Fall, when the weather is better and you can enjoy your meal out on the patio.
Overall Impressions
Lima’s food packs such a punch of flavor with every dish. The flavors and preparations are unique, and your tastebuds will thank you for each bite you dare to try.
Prices are a bit steep. In the Bay Area, and California in general, we are pretty used to paying high prices for a good meal. The quality and flavors here are so good, it’s definitely worth a splurge. And, you also get to be a little more adventurous and try a different type of cuisine you might not be used to eating.
This was our first experience with Peruvian food and thanks to Lima, it definitely will not be our last! If you’ve ever had Peruvian food, let us know what your favorite dish is in the comments below (and/or if you have any more recommendations for us in our area).
Lima
2151 Salvio Street, Suite I
Concord, CA 94520
http://www.limaconcord.com/
Can you guess what the next installment of Eating Local will be? It’s very unique! Stay tuned.
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