Dining in Style

(written Saturday)

We visited our computer friend, Manuel, this week for some help with the trouble I’ve been having with Skype (turns out it’s a hardware problem, and more complicated to fix than I want to deal with). However, he hooked us up with lots of other good things. He loaded a bunch of old movies onto my computer, and Brad is thrilled to be able to watch a movie in the evenings. He set up an appointment with a car insurance agent and offered to translate if we had any trouble communicating. Pending the paperwork and payment, our new ride is now insured against just about anything that we or anyone else could possibly do to it (including, as we asked, getting stuck in a ditch or sliding down the side of a very large hill). And he gave us the phone number to the best restaurant in town, so we made reservations for Friday night to enjoy their “Cuencana fusion” fare.

Brad called to make the reservation early Friday afternoon, and all they had left was 6:30. I was wearing jeans with a cotton shirt and Brad had khakis and a polo on, so maybe I was a bit under dressed. We were running a bit late due to the ridiculous amount of traffic (or maybe just the horrible flow of traffic) in the city, so Brad dropped me off at the door while he went to park the car. I walked in, and I believe I was their first customer. They seated me at a table labeled “18:30 Brad,” and then they turned on the music (side note, Brad had to say “like Brad Pitt” for the lady on the phone to understand his name). To communicate my name, you have to say “like the English futbol team” (which I am not a fan of). We were seated right in front of the kitchen, so I enjoyed watching the chef prepare everything. He seemed to enjoy that I was watching, and would hold up food to show me what it was as he was preparing it. The menu is arranged so that you are supposed to order one dish (family style) for four people, or you can order half the dish. We ordered half a dish of fish prepared with a seafood sauce, and while we waited they brought out eight different bowls of sauces to be eaten with bread. Among them were the traditional aji or chili sauce, a marinated chili pepper, a marinated onion, one made with pineapple and another with apples, one made from eggplant (our favorite!) and another from herbs. Our dinner was off to a great start!

Then our food came. The chef brought it out himself on the large ceramic plate that he cooked it on and under a ceramic dome. He set it down, and then lifted the lid to unveil the bubbling goodness within. There was SO MUCH FOOD! There were two big portions of fish amongst a garlic cream sauce with calamari, shrimp, and oysters. It was such a rich dish to the eyes and tasting it was even more incredible. The waiter portioned out a small bit on each of our plates, then returned to the kitchen to get the rest of our meal. He brought out a fresh salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers all diced up and dressed with a citrus marinade, a plate of potato wedges topped in cheese, a cold salad of something in between orzo and couscous with herbs and cheese and tomatoes, the traditional corn that looks like un-popped popcorn, and a bowl of rice. We tried each of these, but concentrated mainly on the fish. Honestly, I think there was enough food for 4 people in front of us. However, we put forth a good effort toward the fish and managed to nearly clean the plate. The chef checked on us a few times throughout the course of the meal, and when he noticed that we had stopped eating, he came to offer us dessert.

Neither one of us really had room for any more food, but who can refuse dessert in a place that produced such an amazing dinner? We ordered the “chocolate temptation” and hoped that we would find a place to put it! While we waited, the live music began. When the plate came out, I was in awe. They had actually painted a picture of flowers on the plate with fruit preserves and chocolate sauce-- It was beautiful! In the middle of the plate, there was a chocolate brownie topped with 3 inches of mocha mousse topped with fresh passion fruit, and served next to a scoop of chocolate ice cream. I don’t think Brad and I said a word to each other, and before we knew it the whole dessert was gone!

And, by the way, you can use your $10 (and even a couple of $20s) at this place.