Adjusting to a brand new visitation (and brand new residence for the S.O.) local Yelp buddy Kurdy S lunched with & introduced us to a HITW quite brazenly serving up cuisines counting on Mexican, Peruvian, Colombian, Ecuadorian--virtually any Latino genre thought of. This particular feat was composed of our orders of Ceviche Mixto Peruano ($15.75) as the protein starter--can't realistically avoid those freshly addictive chips & salsa--followed by some tantalizing Tamales as a Sampler Platter ($7.25) and Aji de Gallina ($11.49), while Kurdy picked a couple of tamales plus an Empanada ($2.15) and DL yearned for a sweet Guanabana drink (~$2.50).
Hoping that the ceviche was as irresistible as those fried "bread & spread," the citrusy lemon juice from its pretty plump shrimp & white fish cubes surely gave a knockout-inducing kick. The finned portions were minimally firm, but the taste wasn't very remarkable that I heavily relied on the pickled red onions & cilantro. Meanwhile, the fruit drink, i.e. Guanabana/Soursop, exuded a creamy & somewhat of a tropical, candy-like sensation, but it was incredibly sweet & milky for me.
Then, out of the Tamales the most pronounced was literally at the center of the plate: the Ecuadorian Tamale. The banana-wrapped, tomato-garnished masa was consistently moist & flavorful while synching with modest aji sauce and equally scrumptious pork. As for the other husk-wrapped 2 the Mexican (chile) Green's masa was too moist while being milky rich & downright cheesy--though not gooey--and the pork-filled Mexican Red was unimpressively too stiff & average for a tamale that I blatantly finished half of it. Finally the shredded chicken breast from the Aji de Gallina was praiseworthy for its succulence & flavor, delightfully coated with its just-right creamy & subtly nutty Amarillo sauce to go along with the terrifically cooked sliced potatoes and rice.
Our host/server/manager (and I bet he's the owner) was pleasantly welcoming & quite friendly. In the end I am granting 3.5 stars to this worldly eatery, though I have an itchy feeling that Ecuadorian may be their stronger suit. So when revisiting I hope to order another taste of Ecuadorian, e.g. the Ecuatorian Ceviche, but at the indecisively same time I couldn't help but notice their seductively sounding Lomo Saltado on the menu =P.