Chicha Morada by Victor Suarez Review

This small Peruvian restaurant at Calle San Felipe 38 is a great find. The restaurant takes its name from the Peruvian drink of the same name – and you’re presented with a complimentary one of these on arrival. It’s a purple- coloured drink based on a variety of purple corn which is grown and harvested in the Andes – absolutely delicious.

It’s small restaurant with an inside section and a covered outside area, so if you’re planning on going at a weekend, then you should definitely book. I prefer the outside part as it feels more airy. There is an open kitchen (always reassuring) in which the chef cooks up tasty Peruvian delicacies.

The food is very good indeed, authentic Peruvian cuisine. Don’t expect anything you might have had in a ‘Tex-Mex’ type restaurant, this is very different! Starters and sharing dishes include (inevitably)Ceviche, octopus, chicken and pork in a kind of pastry. Main courses include sea-bass with plantains, fried rice with shrimps, fried pork sandwich. I had the Peruvian chicken stew, with hot yellow chilli pepper, parmesan, fried pecans and white rice, and my companion had veal with onions, peppers and soy sauce, also served with rice. Both dishes were superb, and we didn’t have room for dessert. The desserts looked good though and included custard and meringue, chocolate pieces with mango cream, for example.