| rev:text
| - Newly opened in my neighborhood. I'm cutting some service slack to the newness.
This is a small place in the usual Glendale strip mall. The decor screams "strip mall restaurant" with two "hispanic" paintings, one on either end of the room. There are only 5 tables for 4, a table for 2 and two larger tables for bigger groups. There is also seating available at the bar (in name only, no liquor here!)
Our waitress did not speak English as her first language, but was able to convey to us that she really liked the food and pointed out a couple of her favorites on the menu. There are quite a few pictures on the menu of the food, so if you haven't eaten Peruvian (which we hadn't) you at least can be "safe" and order by the pictures if you'd like. We were served a small bowl of large kernels of corn, toasted and with salt, as well as a yummy green sauce to eat with them. The corn was very tasty...like popcorn almost...
There are two sides to the menu, Peruvian and Mexican. We ordered from the Peruvian side. I ordered the "Papa Rellena", described as "The secret is the seasoning! Meat wrapped in a mashed potato shell, served with red onion salsa." Hubby pointed to the picture of the "Bistek a lo pobre", touted as "Peruvian-style steak srved with egg, french fries and fried plantain.
Au contraire, mon frere (OK, I don't speak French, but I think you get my drift...)
I got my Papa Rellena quickly (it is listed as an appetizer) and was pleasantly surprised by the tanginess of the red onion salsa...more of a pico de gallo with fewer tomatoes and a good citrusy zing. The rellena itself was the size of a potato and the meat??? Ground beef. OK, I'll survive. It was nicely seasoned and also had diced boiled egg in it as well.
About the time I was done with my Rellena, the "alleged" Bistek a lo Pobre showed up. We discovered (by reading the menu when we got home) that it was actually the "Bistek a la Huancaina", which is "Grilled steak served with lettuce and potatoes, and topped witha creamy fresh-cheese sauce". Well, no lettuce and no warning that the potatoes are cold (as in chilled) as is the sauce.
Steak was indeed grilled with just a bit of salt and pepper. I really liked the creamy fresh-cheese sauce...a very different taste...spicy, but not really hot.
I ordered a piece of flan for dessert. It was AWESOME. Finding good flan in Glendale should be easy, but it's like the Holy Grail...this was a wise choice! Sadly, my husband took the good flan as a sign that the tres leches cake would also be tasty...he chose poorly...A thick slab of pink frosting with sprinkles (WTH?) topped the cake. He says the cake was good, but I would have had a hard time looking at that icing...it was like a 3-yr old girl's birthday party gone bad
SO...having absolutely NO qualifications to judge Peruvian food...I was pretty happy. Hubby states he is in no hurry to return...good, but bland, yet in bright primary colors (indeed, that creamy fresh-cheese sauce was yellow...like looking directly at the sun).
I will most likely return to try another dish...the Sopa Crilla looks interesting, as does the Anticuchos. Another day..
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