A Peruvian Dinner in Dubrovnik

 

Friday, July 1 - Trip Day 2

We were surprised to hear that our Grand Villa Argentina Hotel had a Peruvian restaurant.  One that had an excellent reputation.  So we decided to give it a try and made reservations for our first night of arrival.

Our table was outside on the original villa's terrace, which looked out to Lokrum Island across the channel (west), to Old Town Dubrovnik to the right (north) and to the airport and Montenegro to the left (south).  It was a great window on the mini world that was the waterfront around Dubrovnik - sailboats, kayaks, cruise ships and speedboats all criss-crossed by as we enjoyed our meal over a few hours.

Restaurant Victoria's terrace with the small boat harbor and Dubrovnik's walled old town

Feeling relaxed now that we've arrived and all the travel arrangements have worked out.

Uzdravlje!  To good health here in Croatia!

We enjoyed talking with our waiters, and they were interested in us.  All had relatives in the states, mostly in Chicago (of course!) and they wanted to talk about that with us.

They told us the story of the Peruvian restaurant - about 5 or 6 years ago, the hotel wanted to distinguish itself from the other 4 properties that run.  So they hired a chef from Peru - and the restaurant has been very popular.  They serve a fusion of Peruvian and Croatian dishes. 

Our waiters suggests our sparkling wine tonight - a blush sparkling rose as an alternative to Prosecco - and it was a great choice!.

They served a house appetizer of plantain chips, quinoa chips and baba ganoush - an excellent and different combination of flavors and textures.  We also had fresh baked olive bread, served with salted and basil butter.

Quinoa and plantain chips and baba ganoush

House made olive bread with specialty butters

Tuna ceviche

Baked Scallops

We ordered tasty starters - baked scallops and tuna ceviche.  Great choices.  Moving on to our main course, Michael had sea bass and I had Lomo Salato - a Peruvian dish with marinated strips of steak, onions and tomatoes served over a bed of risotto.  It was fun to sample each other's selections, but we ultimately really liked what we each had ordered.

Lomo Salato

Guarding my meal agains unexpected snitches

Our food was deliciously flavored and plentiful.  We were really too full for desert, but asked if they recommended an after dinner drink.  They immediately recommended a local digestivo called travarica.  It's a locally made flavored grappa with  herbs.  It was a great treat to end our meal with something so unique and fun.

Michael is definitely a fan of travanica - the locally flavored herbal grappa

Watching the boats go by