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| - I got asked on a Valentines day date (hold your awwws) but he refused to tell me where or what we were doing. Creepy. When we parked in front of Villa, I found out that were coming here. To my date's credit, I am Peruvian and moved to the US when I started college (errr 7 years ago). He picked a Peruvian restaurant on Valentines day- where they had a Peruvian traditional folk band playing (enter cue to Awwwww away).
Now that you are done awww-ing, let me share with you that I kinda, sorta, maybe, definitely freaked out. First of all, authentic and decent Peruvian food is very hard to find in the US- different ingredients, imported stuff, not-equally-tasty substitutes, etc. Secondly- a Peruvian folk band? Dear god, this has the potential to be one incredibly embarrassingly cheesy night.
So I sat my ass down and proceeded to explain to my date (basically) the entire menu. I ordered the Anticuchos (grilled beef heart on a stick), Ceviche and Lomo Saltado. I also ordered 2 Cuzqueñas beer and the Chicha morada- a juice made from boiling purple corn, fresh fruit and sugar.
Food wise, Villa Peru is a decent 3.5 stars. The Chicha was made fresh and it tasted exactly like it is supposed to: fresh, sweet and refreshing. The Ceviche was a solid 4.5 stars as the fish was fresh, the corn was Peruvian (we have a different type of corn, people), the sweet potato was soft and it had tons of citrus and onions. It just lacked some spice, so I had to ask for some Rocoto (our spiciest pepper) to add to it.
The less successful dishes were the Lomo Saltado and the Anticuchos. The sirloin was sauteed with soy sauce which is not how its supposed to be done, The fries were a bit soggy and there were no fresh peppers (aji and rocoto, traditionally) sliced thinly and sauteed with the meal. It was decent and tasty, but it lacked spice. The Anticuchos were grilled well, but the pieces were very thick as traditionally, it's supposed to be thinly sliced squares. This made the meat dry and harder to eat, but the sides (potato, onion salad and some fresh herbs) were very nicely done.
I understand that the place was full on Valentine's day, but I hate to say that the service really sucked. I was constantly looking around to get the server's attention for more water, the rocoto sauce or even the check and receipt. 2 stars for service. boo.
Now that the boring yet actually useful parts of the Yelp review are completed, let me get back to my super corny story. The band started setting up while we were eating, to which I thought "oh god maybe I can eat really fast and get the check before they start playing". Nope. No dice. They started and they kept it going for the duration of our stay. And they were... awesome. For real- great voice, traditional instruments (like the Cajon- a form of drums), all traditional songs I grew up with and mad Spanish guitar skills. It's as good as I would find at any creole bar in Lima and that was ratified by all the (Peruvian) guests that were loudly singing along (maybe it was the booze) and shaking side-to-side in their chairs. Adorable.
I think at one point towards the end of the night, the date asked me if I wanted to dance. Dear date, don't push it, I'm too sober to go there.
All in all, it was a decent Peruvian restaurant that with some service improvements (and spice enhancements) can be a great great spot. They definitely delivered on Valentines day, and I guess so did my date. As I went home, my anti-romantic self stopped and thought "crap. I just ate a heart on Valentines day. I hope this wasn't on purpose".
Shucks.
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