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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

La Parada...the best 4 star meal in San Miguel?

La Parada, at Recreo #94, has a chef that is Cordon Bleu-trained and a native of Peru.  I can tell you now that's a great combination because this was one of the best meals I've had in San Miguel.

Alexandra Gutt worked in Naples, Florida and the Cayman Islands before coming to San Miguel. The menu she created is Peruvian with international accents. It's limited but the food is superb.

In fact, if I had my eyes closed I would have sworn I was sitting in a 4 star restaurant in downtown Chicago...it was that good.

La Parada’s most popular dishes include their Ceviches which are "cooked" with Leche de Tigre which is a marinade of lime, onion, chile, and garlic. I had the salmon with snow pods, seaweed and cucumber. I got the small portion (35 pesos) and it was the perfect tease.

Main Courses? Yes, there were two.

The Higaditos Asaltados -Chicken Livers are stir-fried with soy sauce, chile paste, and a chile cream sauce and served with fries and a side salad. Even if you don't love chicken livers like me you should get an order because they did not taste like liver.

The Ribs - Costilla de Cerdo were marinated in mirin and soy and served with garlic mashed potatoes and a Sautéed Salad which in my opinion was the best hot salad I've had. It was a combination of snow peas, green beans and corn stir fried and had the perfect crunch. The rib meat was fork tender and the sauce was slightly caramelized. Talk about melt in your mouth good. But then, I've always been a fan of caramelization. It's the epitome of stovetop alchemy.

When I ordered the Crema Helado for dessert, I expected ice cream but it came with a topping of caramelized crunchies and bananas and was so delicious I no longer had the "guilts" for ordering a dessert. See, doesn't take much for me to not feel guilty anymore about eating...especially dessert.


Of course, I could not have a Peruvian meal without a Pisco Sour. Made with their in-house fruit infused piscos, mine was an infusion of orange, tangerine, chicha morada, ginger, pineapple, pepper, lavender, grapes, and berries. Chicha Morada is a juice made of Jamaica, pineapple, orange, cloves, cinnamon, and apples.

This was no ordinary drink and I would make one at home but I'm sure it would be lacking without the in-house infused Piscos.

Last fall, Conde Nast Traveler named Lima the Culinary Capital of South America so it's only fitting that you should indulge in all the great foods of Peru in what they named as the Best City of the World...San Miguel de Allende.


Buen Apetito!