The veg and I Had really a very nice lunch at Salamera this afternoon with G Wiv.
I had been meaning to get down there since I read ChefGEB's post and almost made it this weekend but was put off by a sign in the window indicating that it would be closed until further notice because of a family emergency.
Norka, the proprietress, told us that today was the first day they were open again, and the emergency turned out to be that her uncle (who runs a cevicheria in lima) and was her cook had to return to peru. She luckily found another peruvian cook and reopened. When we first entered she was apologetic that they were unable to make a number of popular items because they had just reopened, such as jibaritos and a drink and dessert made from purple corn. She even tried to steer us to taste of peru down the street, which is run by a friend (and whose owner's sister it turned out was eating in salamera when we entered). That concern was emblematic of the appealing, friendly, and open service we had throughout the meal.
As they did not have the purple corn drink or papaya juice yet available, Gary and I both ordered cafe con leche, Norka asking us if we would like an extra shot of expresso to accompany the coffee, which both Gary and I did.
Though there were a few items from the menu that they were unable to prepare for us, we were able to get the fried pork and sweet potato sandwich ChefGeb highlighted (on the menu as chicharron con camotes), as well the house special steak sandwich (the salamera), a made to order veg. sandwich for my wife which included sweet potato, avocado, cheese, lettuce and red onion. My wife really like the care that had been shown in this request, including the squeeze of lime drizzled on the toppings, and indicated that she would go back for this.
Having read my calvin trillin, I was pretty excited to see ceviche on the menu. An order was $8, and it was far more than enough for two, full of whole scallops, mussels, shrimp, large chunks of swordfish, and squid. One of the better ceviches around town that I've had. Even better with little bits of the sweet potato slices that were served with it, and the large crunchy roasted corn (cancha) that norka let us know were to be added on top.
These cancha were also provided for us to nibble on while we waited for our order and were quite addictive. I've always sought out the old maids in popcorn bags, especially those that have almost popped. These were like those kernels on steroids. warm, with roasty corn flavor and a taste of salt, we had a few little bowlfuls throughout the meal. Norka seeing our interest brought out the bag of kernels she gets at la unica for us to see and gave my wife small container of the already roasted kernels to take home.
how were the meat sandwiches? though I really enjoyed the chicharron (unlike mex. preps I've had, these were more straight pork belly) and the sweet potato, I think I enjoyed the salamera, strips of steak and sauteed tomato even more.
After the meal, we were offered a selection of chocolates from peru, that were very very nice, I tried one with prune, one with some sort of liquor, and one with some sort of nut (castana) that I didn't recognize but liked quite a bit.
I'll definitely be back, If I lived in the immediate neighborhood, I might spend quite a bit of time there. Unfortunately, I may not have the opportunity to, Norka indicated that unless business picks up significantly she will have to sell the place, as she'd like to hire a waitress so she can spend more time at home with her son. With a little more coming in, she'd bring a cousin in from peru to help her out.
I'd highly suggest that folks get over there and give the place a try. Don't wait, you might not get another shot.
Last edited by
zim on September 8th, 2005, 8:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.