Today I got to go to Amybeth's cafe, Marbella Café. The last time I was here with my friend Bob, it was just a glimmer of an idea. Over the past couple of years I have followed what she is doing via Facebook and her blog. It is wonderful to see her take on a monumental task like opening at restaurant and enjoying it so much. She is such an accomplished and creative cook. When she first came down to Peru, she did a course of study at Cordon Bleu Lima Peru where she studied pastry. She then created her blog to reach out to the expat community to make tasty American treats. Visiting at Thanksgiving one year she had dozens of pumpkin pies to make. I can't tell you how difficult it can be to get the ingredients you need to make the typical American cakes, pies, and cookies. Her next step is Marbella Cafe.
The food is a mix of Peruvian, American, and Vegetarian with a prix fixe menu for lunch. I truly enjoyed the food and I sampled quite a bit of it. I was ravenous when I was there. I ate not one or two but three entrees in the few hours I was there. While I am not a little guy, that is out of the ordinary for me. They were good and I pretty much devoured them. I had the cau cau de pollo, a quinoa salad with avocado and mango, and a triple sandwich. Please, just because I am admitting to my gluttonous habits, do not think the sandwich was a triple decker Dagwood (for those curious about the reference, click the link). A triple (tree-play) is a sandwich with three ingredients. I had avocado, tomato, and olive, and for a bit of protein chicken. So, I guess it was a cuarto but that doesn't roll off the tongue quite as well.
The quinoa salad was amazing with pieces of perfectly ripe creamy avocado, chunks of sweet velvety mango, mixed with nutty white quinoa, and dressed with a tangy lime vinaigrette. Cau cau is traditionally made with intestines (which many of you know to offal is awesome - I am all for Andrew Zimmer) but this version replaces the intestines with chicken. So good, especially using the house made hot sauce. What a great kick and addition to the lovely savory dish.
I forgot to take pictures of my dishes but above are a couple of other options on the menu. The top is a lentil quinoa burger with rice and salad. The veggie burger rivals anything I have enjoyed at home. The bottom is grilled chicken breast with veggies and salad.
Saturday we went back to the cafe to have lunch with Julie's parents and aunt. What a great meal! One of the reasons I wanted to spend months in Perú was to improve my Spanish. I had a great time butchering the language while speaking with Julie's parents. I knew them when they lived in the United States. It was good to see them and catch up. I need to spend more time with them since I have to be more deliberate with my language. I can't use English as much to fill in what my mind cannot in Spanish. I have to figure out ways to explain it until they get it and help me with the missing vocabulary.
So, one more Marbella cafe meal story. I think because the cafe staff had seen how much I had eaten the day before, my lunch portion seemed twice as large as the others. It was a beautifully grilled Tilapia, with rice, an American-style chili, and a salad. It also had one of my favorite things, fried plantains on top of the rice.
One of my other goals on this trip was to be more active and maybe shed a few pounds. If I keep eating like this, I may be more active but come home a few pounds heavier.
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