Two fancy restaurants in one weekend isn’t typical for us, but since Jan’s birthday didn’t fall on Thanksgiving this year we didn’t have any choice. We had to eat out again. Knowing his taste for adventure, I picked Ámaz Restaurante, a restaurant with an emphasis on ingredients found in the Amazon rain forest. Because who among us hasn’t wanted to stare at a menu and say, “what the hell is that?”
We spent a fair amount of time interpreting “the letter” they have posted on their website. It’s a pretty extensive menu and I’m not sure Google Translate is clued into the intricacies of local ingredients. Fortunately, the restaurant had both an English version of the menu and a waitstaff that patiently explained the highlights and give us a sense of how much we should order. Half-orders were an option on almost everything, which was fantastic!
Appetizers
Despite their recommendations, we only ordered two appetizers — an excellent croquette made with sweet peppers, coconut, and crab; and a wild boar empanada that I thought was a little bland. Since these were both fried, we played mix and match with the cocona sauces that came with the dishes and the hot pepper sauces that stood in for the salt and pepper.
The waiter actually brought out a cocona for us to see — it’s similar to a tomato, though more elongated and with notes of citrus. We had a sauce that was just the pulp and one that was mixed in with a mayonnaise and spices. One of the table chili sauces was made with aji peppers, the other with pepe de mono (or monkey pee), and there was a third blend on the table that knocked me over when we opened it up. I don’t know what it was, but I hurt so good.
Ceviche
I’m going with the mindset that ceviche is a course all by itself. And this version did not have potatoes! Once you spend a little time in Peru, potatoes become remarkable for their absence.
This was a woodsier version of ceviche than what we’ve had before — the tender chunks of tuna were paired with callampas, a Peruvian mushroom that has a shitake-like texture though a heartier, more balanced flavor; and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. This was all laid on a bed of avocados and limon-flavored tiger’s milk.
It was the most original take on ceviche I’ve tried since I’ve been here. We wiped this out pretty quickly.
Main Attraction
I want to say that even though river snail and smoked pork knuckle soup were options for a main course, Jan thought it would be important to provide a typical American entree for comparison AND to leave room for dessert. For these very wise reasons, we ended up with a single course of smoked pork ribs served with peanut sauce and pickled vegetable salad. We threw in a side dish of coconut rice to round out the meal.
Both were excellent. The meat was very tender, the sauce a smokey sweetness, and the veggies provided the tangy counterpoint. We were actually pretty stuffed by this point, but with a determined wave at the waiter we forged toward dessert.
Sugar
Normally Jan is a crème brûlée fiend, but after weighing the options on the dessert menu he thought we should try the chocolate profiteroles. The chocolate in this case was macambo, made from cacao meat, and it gently flavored the ice cream and was sprinkled on the board for garnish. In texture, it’s very similar to an almond though more delicate tasting.
I think the addition of acai may have given the pâte à choux a different texture, because the crust was crunchier and the interior less doughy than expected. I think it held up well to the ice cream so I didn’t mind. The blackberry sauce was delicious though an odd choice given the easy access to native fruits.
And in this manner, we navigated a very moderate path through Amazonian cuisine that both celebrated the food and Jan’s birthday. We had just enough to lend a sense of the foods available on the jungle path, but not enough that we’d regret spending money on a strange dinner.
Birthday dinner for two with drinks and dessert was about $90. The waitstaff was very confused that I paid even though it was Jan’s birthday. Oh, well.