One of my cousins who is an excellent chef spoke to me about different places, carts, and huariques that are breaking bounds in Lima. He told me about a place called Lucha. “It is incredible, cousin. They make sandwiches that are the best.”
He told me about one of their main sandwiches that is the most ordered. It is the hero of the El Sandwich de Chicharrón street, that is the Sandwich of Crispy Fried and Savory Pork. It perfect combination is La Chicha Morada, a cold glass of this elixir from Peru.
I suddenly came to Lima for reasons of study, and decided to take advantage of Lima’s summer, go to the beach, and enjoy the enchantments of this season. Along the way, I remembered my cousins suggestion. “When you go to Lima you will have to try it. Do not forget, cousin”.
A couple of days ago, when it was very hot, a couple of friends and I waited for the sun to go down and, as nigh approached, decided to go and check out Lucha’s offerings. (I am staying with one of the friends and the other was a guy from Colombia who came to get to know Peru). While walking there, along the Santa Cruz Avenue in Miraflores, I could smell a scent of creole cuisine,e ven though we were still ten meters away. It made me happy.
Suddenly, I saw a lot of people forming a line of the corner. It is La Lucha, they said. I saw the amazing demand, all the people who stood in line to order sandwiches, both to stay and to carry away.
The place looks very attractive. It makes you want to order everything. You can see right up front its large list of sándwiches and juices. On either side of you stands a large jar of chicha morada which looks very refreshing. Ufff, what perfection to relieve the high temperatures!
On its tempting list of sandwiches you can see: Lechón a la Leña (wood fired roast pork), Smoked Turkey (Pavo a la Leña), Country Ham (Jamón del País), Steak (Asado de Res), La Lucha Hamburger, and its main character, “El sandwich de Chicharron”.
We saved a table there in the restaurant; it was very full. I decided to have the chicharrón along with a chicha morada. My Colombian friend chose French fries of huayro potatoes and my other friend chose a steak sandwich. After a seven to ten minute wait our sandwiches arrived in small baskets.
We began to devour them and they definitely met my expectations. My cousin was right. The chicharrón was crisp and was joined with a few strips of fresh onion and crisp fried sweet potatoes. Along with condiments and my chicha, wow. It was a perfect combination.
The huayro potato French fries were amazing. They are one of the best things that La Lucha has. We all were well satisfied. We felt delighted but also sad that we could not eat more. LOL.
Oh well. Till the next time.
La Lucha, Sanguchería Criolla
Av Santa Cruz 847, Miraflores 15074, Peru
Open: Friday-Saturday, 8 am to 3 pm and Sunday-Thursday, 8 am to 1 pm.
