La Caleta De La Punta — Restaurant in Lima Metropolitan Area

To say that my experience was bad is an understatement. After spending about USD 50 (way more money in comparison with the competition) I left deeply disappointed and utterly ashamed with my girlfriend, whom I had promised a great meal by the sea.

This bad experience started the moment we sat down. My girlfriend was unlucky enough to find her silverware dirty (and I am not talking about a little spot on the silverware, but a huge peace of lettuce that was left bonded to the fork. I am not exaggerating). However, we decided to give it a pass; it was a busy day and although one mistake like this was not acceptable, it was understandable. So we decided to order.

We asked for a ceviche mixto (a local dish made of fish and other seafood) and a chicharron de calamar (fried squid). It is important to mention this was the exact same dishes I had ordered the last time I came (about a year or so ago). Then the waiter informed us two things: (1) that they work with the daily catch (aka fresh fish from the port); and (2) they did not have enough squid for the chicharron. He then recommended us to order a chicharron mixto (fried fish and squid) and that if we agreed to his recommendation, he would give us more squid than fish. He reluctantly accepted, so we ordered those dishes and some cold refreshments.

Here, our experience went sour. The dishes promptly arrived and I went ahead and took a bitte out of the ceviche. To my surprise the fish was partially frozen (remember I told you the guy had just said they work with the daily catch? ... well, I guess he just lied through his teeth). I could literally feel the ice crystals in the fish as if it was taken out of the freezer only minutes before getting served. I suffer of sensitive teeth so I could not avoid making a gesture of extreme discomfort to my girlfriend. I didn’t want her experience to be as bad as mine so I looked for all the unfrozen chunks of fish in the dish and set them aside so she wouldn’t accidentally eat them. Suddenly, our ceviche was reduced by half.

Nonetheless, my efforts were proven to be futile when the main course arrived (the chicharron). There were literally three (3) pieces of squid in it. It is important to mention that there is an abysmal difference between a chicharron of squid and one of fish (no one orders chicharron of fish if the squid is available, NO ONE, EVER!). Although, to be honest, the dish was not horrible; there was very little mayonnaise or lemon (a very important complement to this dish), but it could be eaten without great difficulty. However, to this point I was profoundly disappointed; they had lied to me, not once, but twice. I would rather had them told me the truth from the start and I would have ordered something else out of the menu. I ended making this mistake and left looking like a fool in front of my girlfriend (she later told me that she felt like someone was hitting her constantly in the belly… poor thing).

Was this all that happened? No. The cold refreshments we had ordered (a jar of chicha) was not cold, so I asked for some ice. They brought me the ice and when I saw it I immediately lost the appetite I had left. It was disgustingly dirty. There were pieces of God’s know what in it. It looked as if it had fallen through the floors of the restaurant (which, by the way, were also dirty).

So, why one star? Because this place charges you as a fine restaurant but serves you as if you were a cheapskate. It is probably the most expensive place in the whole block, and it advertises itself as if it has the best food in the whole beach (since it certainly does not have a great atmosphere, decoration, or view). Although that may have been true a couple of years ago. It is not true today. PLEASE, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, ANYWHERE ELSE. THE FOOD THEY SERVE YOU IS NOT WORTH THE PRICE THEY CHARGE YOU FOR IT.

Also, my girlfriend and I spent the whole night in the bathroom...

We stopped in on a very busy day, it is the Sommer months here and so there was a long line of people waiting to get in. We waited almost a half hour to be seated. The tables are much too close together - our neighbors kept on bumping into us and we couldn’t sit comfortably. We asked to put our order in immediately since we had had plenty of time to study the menu and it took the server five passes to finally stop and take our order. We asked for lemon juice for our chicha and never got it. The owners are extremely friendly, but also a little bit overboard with the schmooze. We just want to sit down and eat not have you tell us all the great things about yourself. Let the food and service in atmosphere speak for itself. The food was decent, I like that they don’t use any MSG and Source locally. We had the patacones with Honey, (it’s not honey. It’s like a sugar syrup ) and it’s the only time I’ve had bananas that were breaded, and deep-fried, but it was tasty in a different kind of way. The leche de Tigre was really refreshing as well. We also got the breaded fish, which was very fresh and cooked to perfection. My friend got the mixed chaufa with seafood and really enjoyed it. Plates are big here so you can share. We would probably go back at a less busy time and request to have a table with a little more space around it so we’re not bumping...

No está frente al mar, pero ni falta que hace, porque te ponen el mar en tu plato!!! Llegué en domingo, hice unos pocos minutos de fila y ahí llegó don Rodolfo, el dueño, que es un gran conversador. Me reto con su arroz con mariscos, que aclaro era más mariscos que arroz. Y debo decirles que el plato cumplió! Es el mejor arroz con mariscos que he probado en Perú. Ya puedes ver por aquí la foto... Los mariscos en su punto, una cocción en su punto y se pudo sentir la frescura de los mariscos. Los platos, nos aclararon, son abundantes, pero no en el concepto comida a granel. Los platos mejor pueden ser llamados: generosos! Es decir, servidos sin miseria y con una presentación exquisita. Probé el ceviche, 10 de 10, con unas atrevidas porciones de mango que bañadas en "leche de tigre" le dan un sabor extraordinario. Entre los comensales teníamos un grupo con deseos de comer carne, entonces nos atrevimos a pedir el tradicional lomo saltado. Estuvo delicioso. Otro platillo que pedimos, fue el pulpo a las brasas. Excelente. La carta de bebidas peruanas tiene un pisco sour mango que me sorprendió. La Chicha morada, bastante buena. Probé la "jalea de mariscos", no tiene que ver con el sentido de "jalea" en algunos países, sino con una suerte de mariscos y algas capeadas, servidos con yuca y otras cosas que lo hacen una fusión deliciosa. No fue mi favorito porque no disfruto las comidas fritas, pero para quienes gustan de algo frito, les va a encantar. Me sorprendió la velocidad con que fuimos atendidos, los platos estaban en nuestra mesa muy rápidamente. Al final comimos un postre, que no me acuerdo cómo se llama, pero eran unos plátanos "empanizados" que tenían que sumergirse en una salsa de higos con un toque ligero de picante que los hicieron bastante buenos. Sin duda es un lugar al que regresaré. Se me olvidaba, nos llevaron de cortesía un poco de maíz tostado que fue un buen arranque de la...