Eating out in Puerto Maldonado

Alan Lee The good thing about spending 2 weeks in Puerto Maldonado is that my wife and I have been able to try out all the new restaurants that have sprung up in town with the local boom in the economy. We have also been able to track the fall of some old favourites. For instance, El Chifa Sol Grande used to be a regular for lunch or dinner with a tasty and affordable range of Chinese dishes. The basic furnishings were livened by some dramatic local paintings – a Harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) carrying off a half naked lady and a hungry looking jaguar. After the establishment doubled the size of the eating area, they failed to double their cleaning budget, and started providing a less than adequate Puerto Maldonado fare of the type that can be found on almost any street corner for 3 soles and is no longer on my list of places to visit. If you really want to eat Chifa (Chinese) you could try Chifa Waseng, on Calle Arequipa. I have never made it in there, but from outside it does look very nice. I think it was the smell of raw fish that put us off that one last time we tried to lunch there. Fortunately, an old favourite, El Buen Paladar on Gonzalez Prado has made a dramatic comeback into the lunchtime favourites after spending a long time at the bottom of the preference list after their neighbours opened up a pet shop that specialized in keeping puppies outside the entrance in small, inadequately cleaned cages. The attention to detail in the presentation of the more classic lunchtime range of meals failed to cater for the pungent odour of doggy-doo wafting in from outside. Happily, the neighbours now only do goldfish and budgies. El Buen Paladar serves a variety of Peruvian specials, with soup for starters and drink included. It is a firm favourite with the locals and always busy. This is a typical Peruvian lunchtime restaurant, so don’t plan on doing your evening meal there as it will be closed. Lunchtime is when Peru’s national coastal dish, Ceviche, is served from fish caught in the early morning. If you have not heard of ceviche, the sound of raw fish marinated in lemon and raw onions may put you off, but the spicy and succulent meal is a real treat and one that needs to be tasted to be appreciated. Around Puerto Maldonado ceviche from the local river fish is very popular and the restaurants of choice are El Tigre (about 2 blocks from the market – take a taxi) and El Catamaran. El Catamaran has a lovely view over the confluence of the Tambopata and Madre-de-Dios rivers and also serves ceviche made from sea fish flown in on the day. This means that if you are at all concerned about the gold mining and levels of mercury that you may get in the local varieties of ceviche, that at least you can enjoy a typical Peruvian lunch and peace of mind at the same time. Dinner in Puerto Maldonado no longer has to be Pollo a la brasa (chicken and chips) – there is a Polleria on every block, although the cheapest and most interesting experience is at the market. The long established El Hornito has always been a firm favourite for getting away from this. With a real wood oven, western fast food pizza outfits have a lot to learn from this gem from Puerto Maldonado. The main section of the restaurant can get quite warm – good for if there is a friaje - so the back section (officially called El Boulevard), is a far more refreshing option for more typical warmer weather. The food still comes from the El Hornito oven. With an eclectic collection of posters (Backstreet boys next to the Beatles and Che Guevara), colourful compositions made from LPs and cigarette boxes, a well adorned bar, a large screen T.V. and a table football, El Boulevard has atmosphere and is one of the few places where one can escape the noise of the motorbikes and motorcar taxis on the streets. Pizza has definitely taken off in Puerto Maldonado as a special family treat (it has to be with prices twice those that one would pay for one’s standard quarto de pollo), and there are several copies along the main road Leon Velarde. If you are a motorbike spotter and like a whiff of exhaust fumes, you may prefer those options. The owner of El Hornito has capitalized on the popularity of pizza to open a double story version called Lena y Carbon that also does chicken and chips. A block away towards the cinema, the restaurant is divided quaintly into sections honouring the pioneers of Madre-de-Dios, an ecological section (it does have 2 wooden carvings of macaws), and a family section that may have drawn experience from McDonald’s playgrounds as it has something very similar (a playground with slide and lots of balls that children proceed to scatter around the restaurant during the course of the evening – and a very inconvenient place for them to loose the motorbike keys). With a large open plan design, it is very airy, but as a result the sounds of traffic from the plaza can also plainly be heard. Without the big screen TV playing a random collection of DVDs from 80’s rock to reggaeton, it does not have the atmosphere of the original, but attracts its clientele looking for a wider choice of items on the menu and for something to entertain the kids. If you do want to enjoy a reasonably priced meal and the goings on in the plaza at the same time, then Luciana Burgers on the east side of the plaza is for you. The interior has been splendidly painted with a map of the area and a jungle interior feeling with really detailed paintings of macaws, cock-of-the-rock, anaconda, a sunset swamp scene and with a few aliens hidden among the leaves as a bit of a twist. Sitting on the street allows great views of the clock-tower in the plaza, a popular spot to “pasear” for young couples, and where families take their children to ride tricycles and bikes around the main square. This is also one of the few plazas in Peru where you will not be harassed by people trying to sell you post-cards or shine your shoes. Carne Brava, on the south-east side of the plaza, does not do pizza. In fact, if you are vegetarian or looking for seafood, this is not the place to go. As the name implies, this restaurant specializes in meat dishes (carne means meat in Spanish), so I always have a crisis of conscience if I have to eat there thinking about the swathes of cattle pasture now found around town where once there used to be forest. However, this is a smart and professional restaurant and bound to satisfy the most discerning pallet. Beware if you don’t like tripe or small intestine, as this is a local speciality that features prominently and comes with the popular combined dish. The very generous portions of Lomo (fillet) is well worth a try though, and there is an impressive wine collection. La Vaca Loca (Mad cow), despite the less than politically correct name, is a restaurant that aspires to be first class. Located on the north side of the plaza, it is probably the only restaurant in town that has linen napkins as opposed to paper serviettes. The first time I tried to enter, my wife refused to sit down due to the overpowering smell of incense. However, on our second attempt we did manage to get all the way to a table close to a fan. The décor in La Vaca Loca beats all other restaurants in terms of oveall décor, with beautiful backlit silk screens and is very pleasing to the eye. The menu offers something for everyone, even catering for vegetarians with some worthy vegetable kebabs. Set back from the plaza, the atmosphere is peaceful and La Vaca Loca would be a good place to bring someone for a special occasion. Just don’t sit facing the oven painted as a mad, grinning cow. Despite the price tag, portions will not require the need for doggy-bags. But it is very close to Los Gustitos del Curo, the best of the many ice cream parlours that have sprung up around town recently. Many of the flavour of ice-cream on offer originate from the area – Castana, Araza, Huicungo, Mango and the local chocolate biscuits “Charada”. One of the best places in town to have breakfast is the buffet at the Hotel Cabana Quinta. With a spread ranging from coffee and fresh juice, to seasonal fruits, various snacks one would rather expect to find at a wedding reception and my wife’s favourite - fried eggs on local bread, there really is no better value-for-money meal anywhere in Peru. As such, we had great expectations for the newest edition to Puerto Maldonado’s special restaurants: Karambola. This latest enterprise from the owner’s of Cabana Quinta is already promising to be a runaway success due to the family’s good business sense and excellent attention to detail. The menu is refreshing and original, and the results well presented and very satisfying. Make sure your eating is done by 9pm though, which is when the disco associated with the restaurant starts to pump up the volume (unless of course your plan is to hit the dance floor straight after eating). The waitress needs a bit of training – we were still waiting for dips to go with our Yucca Frita once we had all finished eating. Overall: highly recommended, especially the Pollo a la plancha con champinones (Chicken with creamy mushroom sauce). Buen apetito! Buen provecho!