Sandwich Heaven!

Today I made an interesting find. Earlier in the week as I was returning from one of my tutoring jobs in Surco, I saw a familiar sign--Deli France. When I was in Australia, my favorite cafe to eat at was called Deli France. They made the most delicious chicken salad I´ve ever eaten. The only other time I´ve found a Deli France was when I was at the airport in Amsterdam--they didn´t have the chicken salad though. Anyway, when I saw that sign the other day, I knew I had to go back there soon.

I basically remembered where it was located, but I knew the taxi drivers were going to want a more specific address, so I looked it up online and found out that there were actually two in Lima--the one I saw in Surco and another in Miraflores. However, aside from the addresses, I couldn´t find any other information on the delis, so I was still hoping they were the same as the ones in Australia.

Pedro and I were doing some research at some local travel agencies all morning, so we were really hungry when it came time to look for the deli. We found a cab that knew where the location was, drove over, and stepped inside. NOT THE SAME! :( It was very French though! There were about 6 display cases--one with cheeses, one with meats, one with ducks, one with patés, one with olives, and so on, as well as a large variety of bread. But no sandwiches and no chicken salad. What a disappointment.

Pedro and I were planning on going to his parent´s house later that day to visit his grandmother and aunt. Pedro was fine with eating lunch there, but I really wasn´t in the mood for a large Peruvian lunch. I really just wanted a good sandwich! We decided to walk down the block to see what else we could find. It was a restaurant-heavy area. We passed several pizza places, a German restaurant, numerous pastelerias (pastry shops) and chifas (Peruvian influenced Chinese food restaurants). Nothing seemed tempting. I still just wanted a sandwich.

As we were about to give up, we found the ultimate sandwich shop! Their menu literally wrapped around the store! There were almost 300 sandwich combinations listed on this menu! They had hamburguesas, hot dogs, tocino, pollo, jamón, pavo and then you could combine those meats with other toppings like fried eggs, cheese, other meats, and so on. It was incredible! I ordered the pavo con dos quesos y mostaza. They also put shoe string fries on top of your sandwich. When I first saw this after moving here, I thought it was quite strange, but it´s actually delicious--adds a little crunch for people who don´t like lettuce. It was the best replacement sandwich for a Deli France chicken salad sandwich and I can´t wait for going back again. (FYI: Pedro choose to eat at his parent´s house--he insists he couldn´t survive on just a sandwich for lunch!)