Unbelievable!?! And I don't mean that in a good way. As a native Peruvian visiting a Peruvian restaurant, I never thought I could be treated as rudely as Inka's in Irvine. It's pretty obvious that the least of their interest is serving any fellow Peruvians because they could not have made a worst impression as they did tonight. Not only were they less than friendly, but they also cheated us on our meal and our bill. Let me explain the whole story...
So early this evening, I thought about grabbing a quick bite at this restaurant as I did not want a full meal, but rather something light. Since Inka's has been advertising in all the local mailers for quite some time, I figured I could finally use one of their coupons, in particular the 50% off of all appetizers (from 5-7 PM). Upon entering the restaurant, we were seated and provided menus and finally the owner came over to take our order. She asked for a drink order and we ordered waters. She said "No, you have to order drinks if you're going to use a coupon". To which I replied that we were not using the buy one, get one 50% entree coupon (which I had read required the purchase of 2 entrees/2 drinks), but rather the 50% appetizer coupon instead. The look she gave us was incredible. My first thought was...why advertise a coupon you don't want people to use?!?! I didn't say anything but did proceed to order 3 appetizers and an entree and hoped for the best.
We ordered the ceviche de pescado, papa a la huancaina and empanadas to start and a chaufa de pollo as an entree. Where to begin...first off, the empanadas order clearly states both on their printed and online menu that the order is for 3 empanadas and is priced at $5.95, which would put the price at $2.98 with the 50% coupon (I was charged $3.95 instead). The taste was fair, but definitely not great at all. And we only received TWO empanadas! OK, so not only did we not receive the full order, but then the price we paid was substantially more for the mere 2 empanadas we got. The papa a la huancaina was priced at $4.95 on the menu (I was charged $2.95, rather than $2.48). And the ceviche was priced at $12.50 I believe and I was charged $6.50, again over-charged. While I have never over-analyzed a bill as much as I am in this review, I am just shocked that they advertise a coupon that they are not going to honor in its entirety. I am more than happy to pay full price for a meal, and quite honestly hesitate on dining at restaurants that offer coupons, BUT if I am actually going to use one, I expect the restaurant to honor it accordingly.
So I'll go back to reviewing the food...the ceviche de pescado was good, although the serving of fish was minimal and instead the dish was covered with onions. While many restaurants do this, they definitely minimized the amount of fish and instead tried to cover the flavor with onions galore. The papa a la huancaina was also a very small dish with only 4 slices of potatoes and while the sauce was decent, I've definitely had much better at other restaurants. Lastly was the chaufa de pollo (or chicken fried rice)...which came last. And by that I mean, the other tables that came in and were seated well after we had placed our order were already done eating and paying their bill. I understand a long wait for a complex dish...but rice, eggs and chicken? Really?! The flavor was good, but by then, the bad taste I had from the service, the food and everything about Inka's far surpassed anything complimentary I could say.
Do I recommend Inka's? Not at all. Not if you're looking for a great Peruvian restaurant with great service. And whatever you do, don't bring in one of their coupons either. They'll hold it against you and then overcharge you in the end. Did I try to remedy the situation while I was there? No I did not. Because it was not worth my time and energy to argue over $0.50 here or $1.00 there, but I do feel the need to express my sincere disappointment in a place like Inka's now. read more