The Dhaba

This is a small casual spot located on Broadway, near Main Street, specializing in Peruvian food. They used to be dinner only, but have recently started lunch service as well. I had their Chicharron and Pollo Crema Empanadas off of their lunch menu. The empanadas were a bit dry (although still tasty); the chicharon was fantastic. The prices are a bit higher, but not overly so, and the service is quite friendly. This is definitely worth checking out.

Chicharron ($12):
4.5/5
This consisted of three large pieces of crispy pork belly that's served with yam puree. The pork belly was just fantastic: it was nice and crispy on the outside while tender and juicy on the interior, and was covered in a sweet glaze. I also quite enjoyed the yam puree, which was smooth and had a nice sweetness.

Pollo Crema Empanadas ($18):
3.5/5
This consisted of two empanadas filled with smoked chicken, and is served with a small side of salad. The empanadas had a quite flaky and tender crust, and a good amount of filling. The chicken had a nice smokey flavour; oddly I actually found it to taste a bit like salmon (if you didn't tell me what it was, I might have thought that it was salmon). I did find it to be a bit dry unfortunately (I'm pretty sure that they use breast meat).

Summary:
Food: 4/5
Price: 3.5/5
Service: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
Recommendations: Chicharron

Went there during dineout, pretty busy, and we have to finish fast cz the next reservation is coming. Their seafood is much better than pork or beef.

If you like to try out fancy foods, this place is definitely for you. Even if if you just want a happy hour with some good drinks and innovative bar foods, this is great for you too. The traditional Peruvian doughnut dessert I had here is not great as Ancora though. But the savory foods are good...

Chicha - Broadway@Main, $30 Dineout

-free parking a couple of blocks away, $1/hr metered
-2nd consecutive year dineout visit
-seating is horrendously cramped

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Starter: Aji Amarillo Seafood Chowder
~local assorted daily catch seafood, aji Amarillo chili cream chowder

Rating: B-

Notes: decent temp, salt level - fine, creamy with good body, soft heat, lots of ingredients including carrot, potato, salmon, squid, celery. Squid was slightly rubbery but very fine diced so it didn't matter, fish was freshly added.

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Main: (share plates), Pollo Anticuchos
~aji Amarillo chili marinated chicken breast skewers, brown buttered fingerling potatos, trio of aji sauces (gf)

Rating: B

Notes: Excellent grill flavour, light char, tender but a touch dry chicken breast, nicely marinated while still retaining texture. Potatoes were perfectly tender, delicious mint-chil-mayo sauces.

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Main (share plate): Aji Panca Chili and Orange Glazed Baby Back Ribs
~served with double smoked bacon, green bean and red nugget potato salad (gf)

Rating: B

Notes: Delicious sweet-tangy savoury sauce. One edge of the rib was dry, the rest nicely tender, good bite coming off the bone nicely. Bean potato salad served slightly chilled, could've been a touch creamier. I liked the addition of bacon to it.

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Main (share plate): Crab and Wild Sockeye Salmon Cakes
~served with Peruvian tartar and pickled cucumber and young coconut meat escabeche salad

Rating: C-

Notes: Least favourite dish, too salty. Crab-salmon filling didn't hold together very well, a bit dry. The large size of the cake meant it fell apart if you try to fork it. Not a ton of impressionable crab flavour, mainly salmon; it didn't matter either way since the salt took over. For the salad, I didn't even know it there was supposed to be young coconut - not enough coconut, mainly cucumber.

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Main (share plate): Braised Red Deer Venison Neck and Chorizo
~slow braised venison neck and chorizo, Peruvian corn and grana padano cheese grits

Rating: A-

Notes: Favourite dish of the night. Good presentation and portion size (for a share plate). Supremely well cooked neck, very tender with moisture, non-stringy, good salt level, subtly sauced. Half creamy slurpable yet forkable texture of grits added gentle sweetness to the savoury meat. I also enjoy the soft heat from the chorizo. Very appetizing dish, commendable as it was the 5th of the night.

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Desserts: Chocolate y Café Enamorados
~coffee and chocolate pot de crème, spiked rocoto chili whip cream, canela sugared plantains (gf)

and: Peruvian Caramel Shortbread Cookies
~lucuma fruit crème anglaise, fresh fruit

Rating: C+, C+

Notes: Sadly the desserts weren't particularly impressive. (I had an amazing "A" grade bread pudding in 2015). Semi-rich chocolate-coffee flavour, dense pot de creme, good sweetness but I didn't get much from the whip. Plantains were thin, crispy, non-oily. The addition of fruits to the pot de creme helped cleanse the palate.

More Notes: Good bite to the shortbread cookies, very smooth and flavour caramel without being excessively sweet. Salted caramel and berry sauces were a nice touch. Fruits didn't add much but was nice to have. Your mouth is level with kiwi palate roughness though.