Taste of Peru

Thanks to rgl201 to organizing today's gathering of the Evanston lunch bunch at Taste of Peru. I had passed by several times, but circumstances never let me stop in.

I wanted to go there because years ago a friend who had lived in South America took me to a Peruvian restaurant, telling me that Peruvian food is considered among the best in South America. As I recall the restaurant was on Clark north of Diversey. It was a fine meal (the first time I had ceviche) and since then I've looked forward to trying more Peruvian food.

Today picked up where I left off long ago. It was very enjoyable both for the company and the consistently good dishes.

We started with excellent pisco sours thanks to rgl201 who brought along some Peruvian Pisco (brandy).

Bread and a hot sauce were already on the table. The sauce was pale green in color and creamy in texture. One of our table mates said it was made with jalapenos. It was hot enough to satisfy most fire-eaters, while the bread damped it down enough for ordinary mortals to consume it.

The menu was:

Appetizers
anichuchos de corazon (beef hear brochettes)
peruvian tamales
palta relleno (stuffed avocado)
choros (mussels)
papa relleno (stuffed postato)
(there will be just a little of each for everyone to taste)

Main dishes
lomo saltado (beef stew)
aji de gallina (chicken in spicy nut sauce)
cau cau (tripe)
tallarines con camarones (pasta with shrimp)
arroz con mariscos (rice with seafood)

Choice of dessert

The appetizers alone would have made a good meal. But we soldiered on.

My favorites were the beef hearts (a little chewy, but excellent flavor), the ceviche mussels (with kernels of corn as well as onion), the stuffed potato (meat filling) and the arroz con mariscos (sort of a Peruvian form of paella).

The cau cau (tripe) was well prepared. I'm not a tripe fan, but this dish was good -- tender tripe with little of that intense flavor which repels some.

The whole thing was $20 each including tax and tip. Such a deal!

The restaurant's menu is extensive and varied, and well worth further exploration.

Taste of Peru
6545 N. Clark Street (east side of the street in a strip mall just south of Albion)
Chicago
773-381-4540

tallarines con camarones :


stuffed potato:


Thanks again to Robert & Catherine.

Bumping this thread. I really like Taste of Peru. We were there last night - the place was almost filled - obviously the Check Please effect is in full force.

There have been other, less enthusiastic posts about Taste of Peru. Almost all of them focused on the meat. But Peru has a long coastline, and the cooks are especially adept with seafood.

We started with the ceviche especial - a large plate of shrimp, mussels, squid, fish, onions, potato, all in a light lime juice. Sublime.

That was followed by the brothy Parihuela - roughly, a Peruvian version of bouillabaisse, with more fishy stuff.

Then there was a "house" salad, followed by Sudado de Mariscos - crab, rice, and yet more ocean beasties.

So ordering four items, shared between two of us, was about $50 (we brought our own bottle). And based on the large portions, we're going to get another meal out of it tonight.

They have started to use the line "The Best Kept Secret in Chicago," - I take exception with that - especially since their Check Please appearance - but that's a quibble. The seafood's great. Go there in a month or two after the Check Please effect wears off. You can try the meat, but think seriously about the seafood.