Comer en Lima
Eating out in Lima, where the cheapest good meal is the set lunch and three kinds of restaurant have names no dictionary will give you. One warning: in Peru el menú is the fixed-price lunch, not the list of dishes.
Dónde se come
el chifamnoun
the Chinese-Peruvian restaurant
From the Cantonese for eat rice. Every neighbourhood has one.
la polleríafnoun
the rotisserie chicken place
la cevicheríafnoun
the ceviche restaurant
Open at lunchtime, not at night. Peruvians will tell you ceviche after dark is a bad idea.
el menúmnoun
the set lunch
Not the list of dishes, which is la carta. El menú is soup, a main and a drink at a fixed price.
la cartafnoun
the list of dishes
el huariquemnoun
the hole-in-the-wall
Peruvian: a small, cheap, excellent place that looks like nothing from outside.
Pedir
¿Qué me recomienda?
What do you recommend?
el segundomnoun
the main course
La entrada is the starter, el segundo the main.
la guarniciónfnoun
the side
sin ají
no chilli
El ají is the sauce on every table. Sin ají if you would rather not.
para llevar
to take away
pedir delivery
to order in
English noun, Spanish verb: pedimos delivery. Universal in Lima.
la propinafnoun
the tip
Around ten per cent, and not expected at a menú.
Los platos
el cevichemnoun
raw fish cured in lime
el lomo saltadomnoun
stir-fried beef with chips
The clearest example of chifa influence on Peruvian home cooking.
el ají de gallinamnoun
shredded chicken in a mild chilli sauce
la causafnoun
layered potato dish
Careful: causa also means mate in Lima slang. Context always makes it clear.
el pollo a la brasamnoun
rotisserie chicken
la chicha moradafnoun
sweet purple-corn drink
el anticuchomnoun
grilled beef heart skewers
Street food, usually after dark.
la yapa
the little extra
The bit they add for free. Asking ¿y mi yapa? is friendly, not rude.
Pagar
La cuenta, por favor
The bill, please
¿Aceptan tarjeta?
Do you take cards?
Assume no at a huarique.
¿Te yapeo?
Shall I pay you by Yape?
Yape is Peru's phone payment app and has become a verb. Yapear is used constantly.
Vamos a medias
Let's split it
Yo invito
It's on me
Invitar means to pay, not just to invite.