Lima, Peru  |  Sunday, March 21, 2010 07:13  |  |  | 


« back to home
FREE !
Make Livinginperu.com your Homepage

Being a resident of Peru, how many times per year do you travel abroad?
 
1
2
3
4 or more?

Gastronomy

Food & Pisco Pisco < Features | Pisco Recipes | Share a Pisco Cocktails|
Top 5 Cocktails | Bars in Peru | Top 5 Bars

Food / Feature Articles


El Montonero

By Rodney Dodig

El Montonero at Arequipa, PeruI was visiting Arequipa Peru and had heard that the dish they were most famous for was their Ricotto Relleno. It is a spicy (picante) chili pepper stuffed with meat, rice, grapes and cheeses in a mild red sauce. As Peruvian food goes, the dishes prepared in the Arequipean fashion are supposedly much spicier. I did find this to be true during my stay there. My friends and I had taken a tour of the city and at the end the guide recommended the restaurant “El Montonero” as a place to get this dish. He stated that this was not a restaurant familiar to tourists and true to his word I was the only Gringo in the place.

El Montonero at Arequipa, PeruThe restaurant was beautiful with both indoor and outdoor dining. There was a live band playing Peruvian music and the hostess and wait staff were all in native dress. The outdoor patio was covered with nice cloth awnings to protect you from the sun and there were fountains and well maintained gardens.

The wait staff was courteous and prompt and we ordered our dishes immediately. To drink we had the Peruvian favorite “Chicha.” Chicha is a sweet drink, sometimes fermented and sometimes not, made from the purple corn grown here. It is quite delicious and tasty although at some restaurants it is made a little too sweet for my tastes.

Our food was delivered in an acceptable time frame and the presentation was mouth watering. The Ricotto was accompanied by two large pieces of pork cut and grilled in the Argentinean style plus a type of potato casserole with cheese. There was also the usual pile of Salsa Criolla on the side. The portion sizes were large and more than even I could eat. The dishes were spiced very nicely and to my palate were well within anyone’s tolerance for picante foods.

The prices in the restaurant were mid range I would say. Our meals plus drinks came out to about 35 Soles apiece or about $10 US. In my grading scale for Latin American Restaurants this place gets a 4 chili rating out of 5. If you are ever in Arequipa this restaurant is definitely worth a visit.
El Montonero at Arequipa, Peru
El Montonero
Alameda Pardo 123
Arequipa, Peru

To learn more about Rodney, you can read his bio at the end of this article!




Add a comment :
3 comments

Heinz Kohler says :
10-06-09,03:44:12

Great discovery.  Is it Ricotto or Rocotto? I believe it might be the latter.
Thank you.

Juana says :
11-06-09,06:31:59

It's actually "rocoto" with one 't'.  It's spanish not italian, hence only one t pls. 

Micah Cantley says :
26-07-09,02:57:46

My family and I eat at El Montenero as often as we can.  It's got not only great food but a great atmosphere and is very family-friendly. Definitely worth looking for if you're in the mood for good food.



Name :

E-Mail


Code :




  • Comments are the property of their respective authors, and LivinginPeru.com is not responsible for the content of these comments
  • Only comments in English will be published
  • Por ahora solo se permiten comentarios en ingles.
  • Any offensive, injurious, profane or disrespectful comments will not be published
  • You must include a real email address (this WILL be verified) for your comments to be published
  • Repeat comments, or comments of a similar nature written by the same person will not be published
  • All comments are sent to a moderator before publication
  • Referring to the topic indicated in the article will increase your chances of publication
  • Repeat offenses of the above guidelines will result in the removal of your ability to comment