Ceviche Disappointment (updated)

 Most of the guidebooks recommend ceviche from one of the upscale restaurants in Miraflores or Barranco, but I was in the City Center, and AI recommended Cevichería Renzito.  From the street there's a narrow passage, barely wider than the hawker outside:


Then the door itself:


Inside was pretty small, 12 tables or so, mostly occupied:


Another gigantic plate of food!  I got the "mixto," so there was squid, fish, and shrimp in the "leche de tigre" (tiger's milk, the lime sauce that lightly "cooks" the seafood), as well as breaded/deep-fried fish, choclo (giant corn),  cancha (think corn nuts), plaintain chips, the omnipresent camote (sweet potato), and a jug of (very!) hot sauce.


But, you ask, how did it taste?  I want to say wonderful, but that would be a lie.  The leche de tigre completely overwhelmed the delicate seafood taste, to the extent that pretty much all you could taste was lime.  However, the various additions added a lot, both in terms of taste and especially texture.

So, a (minor) disappointment.  I dunno, maybe it would have been better at a more upscale restaurant, or on another day.

PS That yellowish drink is the iconic "Inca Kola," which Peruvians love and pretty much everyone else hates, saying it tastes like bubble gum.  Nope, it's a dead ringer for cream soda, which I like.


Update: I had octopus ceviche on my causa (see my post on Traditional Peruvian Food) and it was delicious!



Update: Last night I stumbled across a street cart selling ceviche:


This came with a huge pile of seafood fried rice, and the ceviche, with all the usual accompaniments, was excellent.  Despite my initial experience, you can now count me among the big ceviche fans!  Oh, and unbelievably, it was only $3.50!!


















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