QUICK BITE: Peruvian Dinner

We flew into Miami today - a day before we step onboard Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady. As usually happens on a travel day, airport and airplane meals aren't the greatest.  Once we checked into our hotel and settled in, it was time for an early dinner since we hadn't eaten since 10AM.

I use YELP a lot when travelling.  It can be very helpful to find a great restaurant that you may never have heard of. My wife and I love ceviche so a place called CVI.CHE 105 sounded perfect.  It was a Peruvian restaurant located at 105 NE 3rd Avenue I'm downtown Miami, very close to PortMiami. 

We order a causa which I was not familiar with.  This is a essentially a cold potato salad made with mashed potatoes and then often stuffed with a protein.   In this case it was stuffed with crabmeat and served with a velvety yellow pepper sauce.

The causa was topped with fresh tuna and on the side was some deliciously crunchy calamari. The thin red onion was nice as a counter to the other ingredients.  I definitely have never had a dish like this. 

Next was a ceviche which had fresh white fish,  octopus and scallops. The liquid was a yellow pepper base with some lime. 

The most surprising part of the dish was the crunchy corn nuts and the hominy.  Often ceviches are missing a crunchy element so these were both welcome additions.

Our final dish was raw scallops in a light marinade of lime juice.  While there was a bit too much raw red onion, the scallops were so flavorful.  And such a beautiful presentation.