About a month ago, I was at one of my book club meetings and my friend, Yvonne, mentioned to me that she had a fantastic restaurant recommendation that she considered one of her "hidden treasures". She said she had been enjoying La 73 for quite a while with friends and family. I asked her if she would not mind if I wrote an article for the ACAP magazine and shared La 73 and then the ball rolled into action. Next thing we knew we had four of us meeting at La 73 on a recent Wednesday afternoon.
Little did I realize when I arrived at La 73 that I had passed by this restaurant hundreds of times when I had been in Barranco. It is an unsuspecting restaurant located on El Sol Oeste 175 in Barranco. You probably notice the building for Canal 4 every time you drive down this street but maybe not the restaurant. The restaurant was named after the bus stop across the street thus the name La 73 Paradero (bus stop) Gourmet. The first thing I thought when I arrived at this restaurant was that it looked like a trendy corner bistro. Since it was such a beautiful, sunny day in December we sat outside in the patio. I noticed there are heaters in the patio area for the colder days and nights, but thankfully no need for one on this gorgeous day. There is also much more seating inside the restaurant as well. I took a peak inside the restaurant and it is spacious and simple. The walls are subway-tiled and there were many art posters and pop culture artwork throughout the restaurant.
Now, most importantly, the food.......when Elizabeth and I arrived, we spotted Yvonne and Heide sitting at a corner table in the patio area. They were enjoying some juice. Elizabeth and I decided to order Mojitos which were absolutely delicious. A perfect way to begin our dining experience. We started with an appetizer of the Won-Tons de Champignones which were absolutely delicious. I love anything with mushrooms so I was pleasantly surprised that they had ordered this to share. The dipping sauce had a tamarind-base and was the perfect compliment to the won-tons.
We all ordered different entrees. All of our entrees served were generous portions. Yvonne ordered the Tuna Tatake salad which consisted of mixed greens with lightly seared tuna, queso fresco and other vegetables. A light salad, but filling with a nice Asian flare. Elizabeth ordered the dish that I was most interested in from the specials posted on the chalkboard. She ordered the Carrillera Las Vinas which consisted of beef stewed in red wine for 4 hours. The meat was tender and succulent and almost melted in your mouth. It was accompanied by a puree of yellow potatoes and squash. I will definitely return and order this if they have it posted as a special again. Heide ordered the pasta with a sauce of aji amarillo and langostinos (shrimp). I decided to order the Lamb Burger since I had not had lamb in a very long time and Yvonne had recommended this. It arrived with some perfectly prepared crispy papa fritas accompanied with a honey-mustard sauce infused with rosemary. The sauce was perfect with the lamb and papa fritas. I was very pleased that the lamb burger was prepared medium-rare as I had requested. I had also ordered the Ensalada de Pulpo. The presentation of this salad was quite interesting. It was decoratively prepared and was presented in a small tight tower. You could see the thinly-shaved slices of pulpo (octopus), pieces of potatoes, tomatoes, avocado. It was very moist and full of flavor. The plate was decorated with sauces of aji and pulpo.
The four of us were not particularly hungry for dessert so we decided to order one and share it. Their house specialty dessert are the churros served with a hot chocolate sauce, but we opted for the volcano chocolate cake with the ginger icecream with 4 spoons. Oh my god, this was one of the best desserts I've had in a long time! It was plate-licking good. So good that I think if we had ordered two of these, we definitely would have finished both. The consensus at our table was that we ordered the perfect dessert. The ginger icecream was interesting and very tasty. It made me wish that I had kept my icecream maker so I could make some ginger icecream at home.
I casually observed other diners at this restaurant and everything that came out of the kitchen looked tasty and the presentation beautiful. I noticed many of the other diners ordering the platos de fondo from the specials listed on the chalkboard. Besides Elizabeth's extraordinary special mentioned above, three other specials were listed: Fidelisima: sudado de pescado con salchicha de huacho (fish with chorizo in a light broth), Noquis Tomatina: salteadas con tomate y conchas al olivo (gnocchi sauteed with tomato and scallops in olive oil) and the Caldo de Gallina: con papa amarillo, fideos y huevo (chicken soup with yellow potatoes, noodles and egg). If I had to describe the food served at La 73 I would have to say it is gourmet fusion (novo-Andean) with a twist on the Peruvian classics. It was like eating home-cooked food with a gourmet touch. I love that.
I definitely will return one day soon to try a few things that looked interesting on their menu. Some of the most popular dishes at La 73 are their Papa Rellena de Loma Saltado, Won-Tons de Champignones, Ensalada de Pulpo, Strudel de Carne, Tuna Tatake Salad, Carpaccios, Hamburguesa de Cordero (lamb burger) and Medallions de Lomo Quinoto con Queso Azul (that one sounds fantastic especially if you like blue cheese and quinoa is delicious). Their most popular desserts are the Churros Rellenos and the molten volcano chocolate cake with ginger icecream. The menu is not huge, but everything offered is top quality. You can choose from a nice array of dishes of beef, fish, pastas and salads. Wine, cocktails and soft drinks are offered as well as in interesting selection of infused lemonades. Prices are moderate.
I tried my best to get more information from the website that they had listed on their business card, but unfortunately there was no information listed except for their address and phone number. Barranco is a beautiful area of Lima and great for bike riding or walking near the beach and viewing the beach houses and historic houses located throughout this part of the city as well as some great boutiques for shopping. Why not stop off at La 73 for a bite one day? If you would like to visit La 73 Paradero Gourmet, it is located at Av. El Sol Oeste 175 in Barranco. There is available parking on the street. Their hours are Monday thru Thursday from 12 noon to midnight. Fridays and Saturdays they are open from 12 noon to 1:00 a.m. and Sundays from 12 noon until 10:00 p.m. You can reach them at 247-0780.
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