Really starting to find many different ethnic restaurants in the far northern section of Chicago. The latest is named “Taste of Peru”. I don’t believe I have ever had any Peruvian food or Platillos Peruanos before today.

The owner is a very tall, deep voiced, mustached man who speaks decent English. I asked him what would be a traditional Peruvian meal. He pointed to the “Peruvian Dishes” section of the menu (as Homer would say, “doh!”). I choose the Estofado de Carne which is a beef stew w/Peruvian spices cooked w/red wine, some potatoes and carrots, served w/white rice.

The appetizer I had was the Papa Rellena. This is a ball (9”) of mashed potatoes that surround a seasoned beef mixture that contains raisins, some nuts, eggs, olives. The whole thing is then deep fried briefly which makes the outside layer of mashed potatoes very crispy and yummy. The Papa Rellena is served w/an onion salad that consists of thin sliced onions, cilantro and a lime flavored vinegar. The crisp sharp flavors of the onion salad were a nice compliment to the starchy beef taste of the Papa Rellena. This one appetizer is big enough for two easy.

The Estofado de Carne is a stew w/ a rich sauce that has a great flavor w/the red wine. A very good stew dish.

I was also interested in the 7+ soups that Taste of Peru had, but with the large portions I had NO room.

Taste of Peru is a BYOB place w/a corkage fee of $3.50, they also serve cola, juices and coffee.

I will be back to try more at this restaurant as it was a very satisfying meal.

Taste of Peru, 6545 N. Clark Street in Chicago
Phone: 773.381.4540
Hours: Sun-Thurs. 11:30am-10pm, Fri & Sat 11:30am-11pm

 

Taste of Peru was just mentioned in Chicago Magazine's recent article "The 124 Best Dishes". The dish mentioned was the Seafood Paella

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