Birthday Aircation Roadtrippin' Llama St.Augustine | Birthday Dress # 3 Aparently I am "Twinning"

 

Dress: This was the birthday gift from my mom

Heels: Louis Vuitton Denim Remix mules 

And it was also my mom's birthday... and guess who bought me my birthday gift and then surprised me with photos of her in the same dress after asking if I had it on!

Thats diabolical! lol.

So, for tonights dinner I am going to introduce you all to Llama which is supposed to be an authentic Peruvian restaurant in St.Augustine.  As a fan of Peruvian food (and Nikkei) I was so excited to come here. I was pretty disappointed  though unfortunately, but happy I got to be out with my hubs in St.Augustine.

Classic ceviche of Peru

CEVICHE LIMA

Gluten-free 

Ocean and land dancing

this refreshing citrus experience with just the right arnount of heat. Fresh catch marinated with lime juice, cilantro, and limo peppers served with Peruvian giant corn and glazed

sweet potatoes.

This dish arrives deconstructed as you can see and the juice is poured out at the table meant to cure or cook the seafood at the table. This to me was not really authentic in the taste, there just was not enough time for any of that flavor to work its way into the seafood and it came off as extremely bland with very little acid. Overall, it was a disappointment and this was my favorite thing to order when I have Peruvian food- the national dish of Peru.

We also just did not know how much time was enough time to let this raw fish sit in the juice for it to be ready to eat.

Mate

So, there are reasons why I say this dinner fell flat for my expectations. Mind you, I found this restaurant about two years ago and I planned this trip around the restaurants I went to which is a normal thing for me to do.

I am sure you all have noticed over the last 4 years of travel I have tried to broaden my scope further with foods I have never had before, and that includes Peruvian food. So, when I heard there was an authentic Peruvian restaurant in St.Augustine (and I have been wanting to go back to St.Augustine), I was so ready for a road trip.

Unfortunately, this dinner was a miss for me and I wanted to like it so badly. So, the restaurant has all the vibes you would expect for an authentic Peruvian restaurant. Unfortunately, there were some issues, so I will just list them and make this quick.

The staff was not friendly at all. They really gave off a "here, damn" vibe and I guess if you don't understand this colloquial term, it's basically like they didn't want to serve us and threw food our way with a face or affect like " damn, here is your food".

I never got any drink refills, I had one cocktail, which consisted of a wine mixed with something, and I was never asked if I wanted another bebida (and I did).

They brought a shot of brown Bourbon I think to start the dinner, but my husband doesn't drink and I don't drink brown and when we mentioned this the waitress scoffed and rolled her eyes and walked away with it while I was still talking. It's so weird to me that people will serve other people alcohol, not even asking if they drink alchohol. My husband is sober from alcohol and has been for years, and we celebrate that. I was trying to explain that he didn't drink and I was met with an attitude. What is funny is she came back with a non-alcoholic option (a tea), and it was placed in the same dish that the original drinks were in whi h the alchohol was spilled in. This may not seem like a big deal, but for someone on a sober journey, that IS a BIG DEAL. 

ARROZ CON MARISCOS

Gluten-free 

Creamy risotto with a mix of fruits of the ocean perfumed with Andean Peppers and Herbs, garnished with, 

Parmesan and green peas.

This dish was ALL mush. The seafood appeared to have been cooked separately  and it was the only edible thing on the plate.

So, the last two issues were that my food was complete mush. I ordered a seafood risotto, and while the seafood was edible, it didn't seem like the seafood was cooked with the risotto because the risotto was complete mush. It was not good. It was the end of the night, so I do not know if the risotto was made to order.

The ceviche being served deconstructed was nice for aesthetic, but it fell short on flavor as the fish never really marinated and soaked up the citrus. We also just were not sure how long we should let it sit to cure. It's a great presentation, but it lacked all the flavors I love in Peruvian ceviche. I had no flavor at all.

So lastly, this dinner took place on my birthday vacation which was noted on the reservation along with the fact that I had Celiac Disease...they brought me a complimentary dessert that was a cake that I would get extremely sick from. And it kind of just made my experience worse because all my food had already been mushy, and service was bad as well. I understand the thought, but they knew I had celiac disease from the on start of dinner.

So, some good things I can say are that while the food did not meet my expectations, I fully believe and feel it was authentic. I fully believe if we had a reservation earlier in the evening, maybe staff would have been in a better mood. 

My husband had a lamb dish, and he loved it.

But unfortunately, I drove almost six hours in traffic for my birthday to eat here because I wanted to try this restaurant and I was met with a lot of disappointment and I am not going to gloss over it. Other people were in the restaurant eating and drinking without a care in the world past when the restaurant closed, but they were giving my husband and I kind of an attitude the whole time and they rarely checked on us. So yea, they gave us our food like "here damn...eat it and leave." 

I left hungry, which is saying a LOT BC I AM NOT BIG AS a MINUTE, and I eat very little in one sitting.

So, this was just a huge miss. 

The good thing was I love St.Augustine and the drive to anywhere usually makes me happy. This restaurant...not so much.

Hubs food:

CORDERO CUSQUEÑO

Andean-style roasted rack of lamb marinated with Andean herbs and spices. Served with: golden potatoes, Cusco corn and onions salad and finished with a garlic double cream and huacatay salsa verde.

This was a complimentary dessert that they brought me for my birthday (after knowing my dietary restrictions) and I could not even eat it because it was a cake of some type that contained gluten.

LUNA LLENA

Honey-Lavender Tres Leches cake with butterfly snow pea ground, & white-chocolate yeast ice cream.