hey everyone! time for a massive field report from lima, peru by chica vegan. she visited several restaurants and sent us a whole vegan guide of the city. check it!

This was the first time I’ve been back to Peru after becoming vegan, and I found several interesting options all within the same neighborhood.

My first stop was Starbucks. I don’t drink coffee, but I was curious to see their menu and I needed to hog some Wi-Fi. Most famous chains “localize” their menu with ingredients available in the region, and I was happy with what I found!

Starbucks had just as many smoothies, juices, and non-coffee drinks as coffee! I noticed they even had “Algarrobina”, a very popular syrup in Peru, high in protein and vitamins. So I got an “Algarrobina Dark Chocolate Chip Soy Crème Frappuccino”. SERIOUSLY:

I just knew I was going to have a great day ahead of me!

The first restaurant I went to was Govinda, opened decades ago and recently relocated. I checked out the Menu first because I didn’t want to just go to an Indian place, or Thai, or any other non-Peruvian place I could find here in the States or anywhere else. I wanted Peruvian food. But they did have a mix of Peruvian and Indian plates, mostly vegetarian with a few vegan options.

I first ordered the “Anticuchos”, the famous kebabs (traditionally made with beef hearts… gross, I know but) with a great “aji” marinade. I had to try their version. These were seitan kebabs…

I have to admit I was not impressed. I was expecting maybe a mix of vegetables or potatoes with the seitan, not straight up flabs of seitan. The marinade was ok and not spicy at all (which it usually is…we even serve it with corn and potatoes to rinse off the palate from the spice!). So I don’t understand why they even bothered here. I wouldn’t order this again.

Next, I had the “Saltado”, another traditional Peruvian dish. Angelenos may have had it at the “Lomo Arigato” Food Truck. It’s a basic stir fry of lomo (beef), tomatoes, onions, and French fries (yeah, french fries!). I’ve cooked this myself many times at home. You can’t go wrong with this one. Some people do all veggies, but instead Govinda used soy meat.

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