Today is a special day. Not only is my partner celebrating a birthday today, it’s also the night that I make my return to the USA. (Worst birthday gift to him ever, right? Leaving him on his actual birthday.)

My partner and I went out to celebrate his birthday at a fancy ass Argentinian restaurant literally three blocks from our house in Lima.

Let me get one thing straight about “Argentinian Restaurants”.

There is no tastier meat in the world than what you will get from anything related to Argentina. Whether it be an Argentinian family, a stop to a restaurant, an Argentinian cut you found at the store, or an Argentinian partner *cough cough*, it will be succulent, unforgettable, life-changing, and tasty as hell.

I should know. I used to be a vegetarian, but there’s only so long you can hold out against their extremely high level of dedication to preparing freaking delicious meat.

My partner is something of an expert grillmaster, but since we moved to Lima about two months ago, we haven’t had a chance to get the grill going. Mostly because we don’t *have* a grill in our tiny apartment.

So for his birthday, I knew this was a really important and desperately necessary chance for us to get a little Argentinian asado in our bellies.

La Cabrera Meat

I literally am not emotionally ready to talk about how good this rib eye was.

My partner and I are big fans of treating ourselves to fanciness that is NOT part of our daily routine. So when we have the right occasion, or enough extra cash, we like to go splurge a little. We do this everywhere, and it’s led to some really interesting culinary experiences. This place was no different.

So many sides to choose from!

So many sides to choose from!

We were literally inundated with side dishes at this restaurant, almost like Spanish tapas, but mostly all mayonnaise-based (so South American). There were a variety of interesting sauces — like ginger sauce, broccoli sauce, carrot sauce — and trying combinations of everything was an unending adventure.

Tower of Suckers

 

And then, for some reason, at the end of the meal we were presented with a tower of suckers.

Delightful!

Happy Birthday to my love, and here’s to the exploration of tastes, rib eyes, and all sorts of side dishes in life!

Anybody have any recent culinary adventures to share?