What we ate in Panama
Trip Start
Jan 22, 2006
1
9
Trip End
Feb 12, 2006
Where I stayed
Panama,
Panama
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Since Panama is a country of immigrants and expats there is an amazing amount of international cooking/eating done there. Of course the big resorts consider themselves "international" so you are sometimes hard pressed to find any "local" food. Most striking case in point....the (very tasty) Chinese shrimp dumplings one morning on the breakfast buffet at Gamboa Rainforest Resort. One kind of sort of egg roll wasn't so tasty, but the single shrimp in a rice dough wrapper was a winner.
In general the food at Gamboa Rainforest Resort was beautifully presented and quite tasty. It does become a bit much to have 3 of those huge buffets every day however. Breakfast was included but $20+/- for lunch and for dinner does add up.....in price and in calories. Awfully hard to resist the cheesecake and other goodies when they are "included"
01 Food Gamboa Breakfast, Chinese & Cheese
. We took to skipping lunch, munching on a bit of cheese and some bread we brought along for lunch. It was a bit unusual at Gamboa in that some people (Canadians with package tours) got full inclusive in the price, anyone else could buy a food plan for $50 a day ( and drinks for another $10),and they also had an a la carte menu. We had a very nice early dinner at Los Lagartos down by the river one evening. Lots of fish and turtles to watch, and a distant view of the bridge over the Chagres River at the canal. Keith drank Gamboa's own label beer and had a very beautiful and tasty "banana" fish. My soy sauce chicken with veggies was also very good.Still, the local ingredients do find a way into to dishes on many menus. Corvina (sea bass) is the fish of choice, and you find it everywhere. I ate it a lot and it was always good. The night we arrived we ate just a couple of appetizers at Machu Picchu.....raw corvina ceviche, and fried covina ceviche, later in Boquete I had the best ever ceviche at another Peruvian place. These were big bite sized morsels with the perfect balance of sour and salty plus the great texture of the white fish. We also really liked the deep fried fillets at Mi Ranchito on the causeway, and even the well cooked (the only thing well done) grilled fillet at the a la carte restaurant at Playa Blanca
02 Food Gamboa "Banana Fish"
. Squid and octopus both raw and cooked were quite common. Also bought some Dulce de Leche and a package of mozzarella rolled with hot peppers (nothing special) to take along. The unusual thing was that the cheese had a little "kosher" sticker on it. Odd, you think. But not if you remember that Panama city has a population of Jewish businessmen who run the "duty free zone" in Colon. Most likely these same businessmen also own some of the nice beach houses along the Pacific. Hence, kosher cheese in the western reaches of Panama. SEE.....food is culture and history!Empanadas on the InteramericanAs I mentioned before "Lonely Planet" is THE guidebook to Panama, not many others cover the country in any depth. In my trusty guidebook I found a cheese factory/store which seemed to be on the way to Playa Blanca. I showed the book to the driver and asked to stop there. So in the town of .......the driver pulls into a parking space at what turns out to be a typical Panamanian style cafeteria. Looked good, smelled good, but not what we wanted. Showed book to driver again.....AH HA! QUESO Chelo, the cheese place. Now he knows it, and a bit down the road we pull up in front of the cheese store. Neat, clean and full of homemade local cheeses and best of all warm empanadas.....in various types of cheeses, meat, and dulce do leche. Wonderful dough, tender and a tiny bit sweet, with oozing ricotta and soft mozzerella
03 Food, Delicias del Pueblos..Columbian Sampler
. The perfect treat for a pre lunch snack. Also bought some Dulce de Leche and a package of mozzarella rolled with hot peppers (nothing special) to take along. The unusual thing was that the cheese had a little "kosher" sticker on it. Odd, you think. But not if you remember that Panama city has a population of Jewish businessmen who run the "duty free zone" in Colon. Most likely these same businessmen also own some of the nice beach houses along the Pacific. Hence, kosher cheese in the western reaches of Panama. SEE.....food is culture and history!On our return from Playa Blanca we spent the remaining part of the day at the Multi Plaza Mall.....Boring! None of the crowds and excitement we had experienced at the Allbrook Mall earlier. Add to that the fact that the guidebook said the mall was full of good eating opportunities. AND....indeed, on the top floor there was every fast food place known to the western world. Not what we had in mind! Then, outside, with the taxis beeping and the busses honking and grinding, under the big curved overhang we found El Amir. Seems that there is a small Lebanese population, and several Lebanese restaurants in PC. A big attraction here seemed to be the water pipes which they rented out for use on the patio. We could have been in Cairo with the noises and the sweet smell of "hubbly/bubbly" fruity tobacco
04 Food El Hibiscus, Boquete: Shrimp & Pineapple
. My falafell ($4.) really hit the spot, crispy fried outside and soft outside. Served with a basket of fresh, really hot flatbread and a bit of salad it was the perfect light meal. The next morning, leafing through the morning paper....there was the restaurant review of the very same place. I brought the food section home, will sit with dictionary sometime and learn some new foodie words in Spanish.Last Night Treats One more place remains on the "Have To" list and luckily it is close by, lots of places are in easy walking distance of Sevilla Suites. So tonight it is a first taste of Columbia at Delicias del Pueblos. After a month of reading menus I figured I would be set....but the names of food are different in Columbia and we were pretty much stumped. 2 waiters and finally a waitress tried their best to explain the dishes to us. It seemed simplest to go for the national platter for 2 and it was a good choice. It contained a whole range of national favorites on one large platter, topped with 2 fried eggs. There were both fried green and sauted ripe plantains, pinto beans with tomato topping, a corn cake, a great sausage, a strange deep fried pork piece and other good things. Keith had his last Panamanian beer and I tried one last batido....of lulo fruit. That didn't translate, but the waitress assured me "very good", and though not my favorite it was refreshing and tasty if a bit sour. For friendliness, tasty food and charm this place made for a good last dinner.
