If I had a guiding principle when travelling, it would be that the best way to get to know a country is by its food and people, and there really is no better way to do this that with a foodie walking tour, hosted by a local. Enter… Food C’s Barranco Foodie Tour with the lovely Carla.
Carla is a Peruvian local, born and bred in the cosmopolitan capital Lima, and the way we stumbled across her and Food Cs felt like fate. Whilst perusing AirBnB for a well-located place to stay in Lima (we knew we wanted to stay in either Miraflores or Barranco), I came across Carla’s listing.
Her reviews were amazing, her modern apartment was lavishly furnished (and with hot water on demand – DELUXE after the prior three months…!) and it was perfectly located right near the promenade in Milaflores. A number of the AirBnB reviews mentioned Carla had started a fledgling foodie walking tour company, so our decision was soon locked in. Food tours are absolutely one of my favourite ways to explore a new city, so it was a total no-brainer.
Carla’s home was exactly what it was promoted as, and we were stoked to fall into the plush luxurious bed on our first night in Lima. But this blog post is all about the Barranco Foodie Walking Tour, so let’s cut to the chase.
We left Milaflores and following a quick Uber ride, Dave, Carla and I arrived in nearby Barranco, where we started the walking tour at Paseo Saenz Peña.
Carla explained the interesting history of the Barranco area, long considered Lima’s most romantic and bohemian district. It’s the home and playground of Peru’s leading artists, designers, photographers and musicians – all those creative people! In the 19th-century, the area was renowned as a fashionable beach resort for the Limeño aristocracy, and people used to travel from all over to spend the summers here.
As we wandered past the many grand old mansions and the Art Gallerie, Carla shared some titbits of the Barranco high-flying society types, and we were blown away by the spectacular ocean views – these homes were sure on prime real estate. Some of them were more like grand old dames past their heyday, but all were beautiful and regal in their own way. And the colours!
Barranco Architecture
Our first ‘foodie’ stop was La Juguria, Carla’s favourite juice bar. Here we tried two fruits for the first time in the form of fresh juices – Lucuma Juice and Chirimoya Juice. Both tasted amazing, although I preferred Chirimoya and could have drank it all day. So refreshing and unlike anything else I have ever tried.
The best fruit juice bar in Lima!
We sat down to wait for our juices and I clearly felt at home – as I would discover a couple of hours later, I ended up leaving my bag hanging over the back of my chair when we left! Luckily, the lovely La Jugueria staff popped it behind the counter until we returned – so as well as delicious juices, they’re also honest and have great customer service. Highly recommend.
Next stop was a stroll through part of El Malecón, a six-mile stretch of parks situated along the cliffs high above the Pacific Ocean. It’s a spectacular way to see the greenery of Lima as well as the impressive coastline and you certainly don’t feel like you’re in a bustling capital city.
The whole time we were in Lima the weather was slightly overcast but it didn’t rain once. Carla explained that this was pretty typical weather for Lima, and it rarely rains. Having said that, it was a comfortable walking temperature and the waves on the water make Lima a popular hotspot for surfers – who we could see clearly from our cliff-top view of El Malecón.
Following a ten minute walk through the neighbourhood and the Barranco main park, we came to a small local market where fresh fruits and vegetables were on display.
Barranco Main Park
The locals at the market were all incredibly friendly and greeted Carla warmly. One beautiful old lady didn’t even mind me getting some close-ups photos of her vibrant looking chilli pastes – red, green, and the famous Chilean Amarillo yellow chilli – check out the colours! We also saw the Chirimoya fruit, which we had enjoyed in our juices earlier.
Exploring the local markets – homemade chilli pastes!
And then… my favourite stop of the tour… a local cevicheria! Founded by a local, the cevicheria, called “Barra Mar”, had fresh seafood on offer that was 100% top notch! Visit their Facebook page Barra Mar for more information!
Barra Mar Cevicheria
To start with we sampled fried oysters in the famous Peruvian dressing of lime and chillies. The oysters were melt-in-your-mouth delicioso – YUM!
Oysters – ceviche style!
Next up was a traditional Peruvian dish called Pulpo al Olivo. This delicious dish can be served as either an appetizer or main dish, and traditionally is made with Botija olives, which grow in the southern part of Peru.
The octopus in our dish was tender and juicy and the olive flavoured mayonnaise-like sauce, with a fresh squeeze of lime, was a different but tantalizing flavour combination. I’d love to give making this recipe a go at home actually, it seemed really simple to replicate (possibly easier said than done?!).
Pulpo al Olivo
Coupl’a posers!
And now we get onto my favourite part – ceviche! The next dishes to come out were three types of ceviche with leche de tigre (literally translates as “tiger milk”). Leche de tigre is a Peruvian term for the citrus-based marinade that cures the seafood in a ceviche. Simple but amazing, this marinade usually contains lime juice, sliced onion, chiles, salt, and pepper — along with a bit of fish juice to give it its particular flavour!
Carla shared with us that in Peru, this invigorating ‘potion’ is usually served alongside ceviche in a small glass and is believed to be both a hangover cure as well as an aphrodisiac. Kind of like a Bloody Mary, I suppose! Each of the three flavours had a different taste and I loved every single sip of each of them – not to mention the fresh seafood they each contained!
Leche de Tigre x 3
Probably the highlight of Barra Mar, and even the tour, was our own private ceviche cooking demonstration with one of the chefs. We started with naming and identifying all of the ingredients for their house special ceviche – including the massive Peruvian corn kernels!
Freshly-made ceviche…
Our lovely chef then explained the process and ingredients to make fresh, tangy and the most amazingly refreshing ceviche – needless to say, I was in foodie heaven and Dave and I were pretty chuffed to be able to eat our beautifully presented dish at the end. Ceviche really has to be one of my all-time favourite dishes, and having it prepared fresh in front of you by a Peruvian has gotta take the cake! What a great inclusion on the tour Food C’s!
By the time we had finished the ceviche, our tummies were well on their way to being full, and as we knew we still had a couple more spots to go (and dishes to try!), we only had a small taste of the next dish – Arroz Chaufa ( a Chinese/Peruvian style rice) before the lovely staff packaged up the rest and we took it home with us for dinner. So really, you could say by doing the tour we not only got a filling and extensive lunch, but dinner as well!
Arroz Chauf
In the next photo I am posing at the entrance to Barra Mar – you can see some of the dishes we tried, and their prices, displayed on the blackboard. Delicious food, great staff, fun vibe – I highly recommend Barra Mar if you’re ever in Lima!
It was just after the above photo was taken that I realised I didn’t have my handbag, and the last time I remembered carrying it was way back at the juice shop at the start of the tour – talk about being distracted by all the good food! As a result of us having to walk back to the jugeria, we didn’t go to an old tavern for a drink (which is the usual route). Regardless, I was just over the moon to get my bag back – still cant believe it took me a couple of hours to realize!
After collecting my bag, we headed back along the water towards Puente de Los Suspiros, in English this translates to the “Bridge of Sighs”. You’ll find out why shortly…
Built in 1876 for the practical reason of spanning a small 30-foot or so gap in the gorge between two of Barranco’s coastal cliffs to connect Ayacucho Street with the Church of the Hermitage on the other side. Made fairly simply out of wood, the bridges was not particularly impressive looking, and it was destroyed in 1881 during the War of the Pacific. Luckily for us, it was rebuilt two years later. And there it stood for fifty or so years, running over the top of the stream that made its way to the ocean.
Puente de los Suspiros
By the mid-1950s, the stream had been converted into a stone pathway leading from the bridge to the beaches at the foot of the cliffs. Known as the Bajada de los Baños, this walkway was used by fisherman on their daily descent to the sea. As it so happens in trendy, gentrified areas however, the pathway soon became a meeting place for young lovers and artists alike. And that’s how the Puente de los Suspiros got its name – the Bridge of Sighs, after all the love-struck sighing that took place on the bridge as star-crossed lovers met and rendezvoused.
Bajada de los Baños
There were some local artists selling their wares along the Bajada, as well as a few cute little cafes and restaurants but it was not very busy at all. It took us 10 minutes or so to walk down to the end, where there was a spectacular view – again! – over the coast of Peru.
The ocean was so ferocious, and the way the cliffs dropped into the sea was so unlike what we get back home in WA. Beautiful.
Today, Barranco’s beaches are among the most popular within the worldwide surfing community, and a marina completed in 2008 provides state-of-the-art services for its yacht club. the waves on the water make Lima a popular hotspot for surfers – who we could see clearly from our cliff-top view on the Bajada de Baños.
After spending some time contemplating the old-time Barranco dwellers we walked back up the Bajada, crossed back over the Puente and walked through the beautifully manicured and green gardens en route to our final foodie stop.
Our last stop was the traditional creole Peruvian restaurant called Isolina. The décor was antique-looking, but incredible homey. The staff were lovely and friendly and knew Carla well, we had some ice-cold Pisco Sour’s on our table before we had barely stopped to take a breath – perfect!
Pisco Sours at Isolina
As always, Carla ordered for us, and we were once again blown away by the food. This food was much stodgier and heavier than the cevicheria, but of so delicious! Just the kind of food you would expect in a Peruvian home, cooked all day and served up banquet style in a warm dining room with all your family.
We started with seco de res with rice (cilantro beef stew), papa rellena (potato stuffed with a special slow-cooked meat, mixed with onions and raisins). The papa rellena were served with a tangy, tart, pickled and spicy red onion accompniement, I don’t know what else was in, but I loved it, and it complemented the rich food incredibly well. Not what would have been my first choice of meals, but wow, ere they amazing or what?! Delicious home-style cooking.
Now, according to Carla, dessert is normally at another venue, but as we’d lost a fair bit of time backtracking to collect my handbag, we had dessert at Isolina as well.
Rather than have a dessert each, Carla ordered a couple of desserts for us to share – we had arroz con leche (rice pudding with cinnamon), masamorra Morada (purple corn and bread pudding. I am not normally a fan of rice as a dessert but I have to admit, these were both great and although Carla barely touched them, Dave and I certainly finished them off – we all know being full doesn’t count when dessert is on offer!
We stayed and enjoy another Pisco Sour and chatted with Carla for a while longer before heading back to Miraflores. All in all, it did not feel like we were on a food walking tour, it felt like a friend was taking us to their favourite food and drink spots whilst we visited.
Carla went out of her way to show us a side of Barranco that I am confident we wouldn’t not have seen were it not for her and Food Cs. The combination of delicous food, historical facts and local knowledge make for a wonderful way to spend a day. Check out Food Cs if you do make it to Lima – it wil be worth worth your time and money. AND as I said earlier, we even took leftovers home and got dinner out of the tour as well!