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| - Excellent little bare bones establishment for a Latin American fix, with a Peruvian bent on Saturdays. Make sure to use the grocery store entrance on the opposite side of the strip mall, otherwise you'll be looking in sadly on a bunch of diners beyond a locked door. And to grab enough cash in advance.
If ambience, fine silverware, and style are your thing, Las Americas will not be your destination. But this trade-off is made in favor of authenticity, pride in cooking, and price, you'll be heartily rewarded.
I get the feeling that there's no "method" to ordering here. It's more of an aunty's house vibe where you grab a menu and sit wherever. But you do have to flag someone's attention to pick the menu items you want and of course, pay at the end. On Saturdays as previously mentioned, they have tilapia for Peruvian style ceviche, which is marinated in a sour bath of lemon-lime juice for maximum sour-packed punch. If you ask nicely (or bring a charming Peruvian lady with you), you can get other unlisted menu items like a Peruvian pesto pasta.
But like any good Latina aunty's house, they do NOT skimp on portions. The kitchen is just feet away from the dining area, so everything came out super fresh. And in contrast to the bland walls, the food came out full of color, clean of presentation. Our Ceviche Peruana was a heaping platter of fish and potatoes with Huancaina sauce. We also got three tacos (shrimp, al pastor, and carnitas), and an entree dish of shrimp and beef. Each taco came double wrapped in soft corn shells, onions, and cilantro, and a little bowl of hot sauce. The shrimp was my favorite of the tacos as the others could have used a little more seasoning. The other meats were juicy and tender, but I have to say we couldn't get over the Ceviche. And because we loved the Ceviche so much, we ended up just spooning the soup onto literally EVERYTHING. No shame.
For how full we got from just three dishes, it's amazing how little we paid. Less than Taylor Swift's new album paid. With those savings, you can go get yourself something nice from the store on your way out.
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