Lucuma Cafe and Bakery FTW

[mrissa]

timprov and I needed to get lunch while we were out running errands today, and since I'd read about Lucuma Bakery & Deli in the Strib, I suggested giving that a try. It's on Cedar at about 42nd St., and I'm telling you the location so that (if you happen to be in Minneapolis) you can go there, not so that you can avoid it.

It is not in any sense fancy. There are three tables, each seating four, and a little lunch counter area. You pay at the cash register, and the paper menu you can take home for a takeout menu (they have free delivery in South Minneapolis) is the same one you use while you're sitting in the restaurant. They have Peruvian, Mexican, and Colombian food. We only tried the Peruvian this time, but it was really good, and the Colombian looks worth trying, too -- lots of plantains, of which we are fond. (There was nothing wrong with the Mexican options so far as I could see, but finding Mexican food is a good deal easier than finding Peruvian or Colombian here.)

timprov had peach juice, which tasted a great deal more like an iced peach lassi than he was expecting, and it had other fruits in it than just peach. But still good, and they were fruits that had been juiced while we were sitting there, rather than a generic "fruit juice blend." I thought of zorinth because they had Inca Kola, which I think he had with us last time we had dinner with him. Maybe just something like it. Anyway, we split a papa rellena, stuffed potato with meat filling, for an appetizer. It was tasty enough that timprov was willing to eat the raisins in it, which is saying something as he is generally not a raisin fan. My aji de gallina was extremely good: shredded chicken on slices of potato in an aji (pepper) sauce, mildly spicy but not overwhelming. timprov's eyes rolled back in his head with joy over the seco de carne, which looked like a boiled dinner (beef, potatoes, carrots, peas, a gravy-looking substance) but with completely different spices than we were used to -- spinach and cilantro in the gravy.

(The most expensive entree is $14.50, but most of them are in the $7-10 range.)

Next time we'll try the stuffed avocado, or the huacatay and peanut sauce, or something with plantains, or...I don't know. But we're dragging markgritter with us soon, and probably my parents, and possibly even my grandparents, and our various and sundry friends in shifts. (Er. That is, taking turns, not making them wear dresses with simple lines.) It would be a great supply place for a cool-weather fall picnic: a papa rellena will keep you warm. Anyway, seriously, try it out. It's good stuff, and it's a small enough business that they almost certainly need more customers at any given time.

One more note for ksumnersmith: they have breakfast. Peruvian breakfast place! Come on. You know you want to....

Comments

[1crowdedhour.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation. I've been watching the location be readied for months, and now it is finally open, it's good to know it will repay further study.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

From what little I remember of your past restaurant stuff, it would definitely be your sort of place.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I adore Papa Rellena (as they do it in Villa Wellington anyway) it's a comfort food.

One of the things Peruvian food does interestingly is use lime in spicing. The first time I had Peruvian lamb it took me a long time to figure this out, yes, some cilantro, but what is this elusive sharpness? I don't know if this was in your boiled dinner, but it may have been.

Mmm, Peruvian. Must have some soon. I'm so glad you have one.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I'm almost certain it was in the boiled dinner, yes.

I have grown fonder of using lime in spicing myself. It's gotten to the point where I'm routinely keeping limes in the house because "I might need that" is an utterly reasonable theory. (I have all sorts of "I might need that" theories in the grocery store, and it's sometimes quite a task to sort out the reasonable from the silly.)

[ksumnersmith.livejournal.com]

Peruvian breakfast foods? It'd be a whole new realm of breakfast for me! Let's definitely add that to the list of things to do the next time I'm in town. (Also on the list: more sorbet!)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

There was kiwi sorbet at Pumphouse on Friday. It had a dash of lemon in it, but still was not lemon ice.

[ksumnersmith.livejournal.com]

Kiwi sorbet with a dash of lemon sounds just ... heavenly.

I will console myself with the mango/passion fruit sorbet that is in my freezer. It'll do for now. (Maybe if I find some chocolate chips ...)