Having been to the original El Inka location in Burlington, we gave their newer location in…read moredowntown Toronto a visit as we had a great experience at the Burlington location. This location was a lot busier and more packed compared to its suburban sister restaurant, and it was for a good reason - the food and service here were outstanding. Everything was delicious, and portion sizes were quite big.
Reservation is recommended, especially on weekends, since they can get super busy. The place had an energetic ambiance as all the servers seemed to be always on the go, yet they were able to maintain an organized flow and excellent & friendly service.
The outside patio was half covered, half wasn't. The inside had a somewhat open-concept kitchen.
We were able to customize some of our orders to make everything non-spicy, and also got to customize the side sautéed vegetables to be just boiled / plain vegetables without the sauce (I remember them being very salty the first time we got them in the Burlington location) - so bonus points for that.
Soon we could see why this place was always packed: great authentic Peruvian food (hard to come by in downtown with all the fusion twists), nice and attentive service, and the dishes came out relatively fast. Everything that we ordered was satisfyingly tasty:
1) Quatro Causas (Yukon gold mashed potato "cubes" topped with tuna, shrimps, octopus, aji amarillo, and lime juice) - Causa is a very classic cold Peruvian layered potato dish made with seasoned mashed yellow potatoes, yellow pepper paste, and a savory filling. Here at El Inka, they took a creative spin to the traditional causas by making them into 4 small cubes, each one topped with a different protein filling and sauce. Very pretty to eat.
2) Pulpo a la Parrilla (grilled octopus with asparagus, purple potatoes, radish, choclo, aji panca, chimichurri, and huancaina) - One of my favourite appetizer dishes here. I could taste the char / grill taste of the octopus - very tender without being rubbery, and I loved everything that it came with (the asparagus, purple potatoes, radish, and choclo). The huancaina (creamy, spicy yellow cheese sauce from Peru) gave it a bit of a kick, but it wasn't overly spicy.
3) Choros a la Chalaca (6 New Zealand mussels with red onion, tomatoes, cilantro, choclo, aji amarillo, and lime juice) - These were alright - the veggie toppings gave the mussels a nice and refreshing taste.
4) Ensalada El Inka (spring mix leafy greens, cucumber, tomato slices, red onion, avocado, and hemp seeds with avocado dressing) - Simple and a good accompaniment to all the other dishes.
5) Pescado Ceviche (tilapia, lime juice, cilantro, red onion, sweet potato, choclo) - Out of all the ceviche varieties out there, I like Peruvian-style ceviche the best because it always comes with sweet potato and choclo. Portion size of all the ceviches here was big - good for sharing.
6) Vegano Ceviche (broccoli, cauliflower, red onion, cucumber, red peppers, edamame, avocado, sweet potato, choclo) - I ordered this one because I was curious (never encountered a "vegan" ceviche before), and I just wanted extra broccoli and cauliflower. But there was more avocado here than the broccoli and cauliflower (only a few pieces). They must've used a whole avocado, sliced. The sweet potato that it came with added a nice sweetness contrast to the vinegar-y / more acidic rest of the dish.
7) Arroz Con Mariscos (Peruvian-style paella with octopus, calamari, shrimps, mussels, green peas, carrots, red onion, cilantro, aji amarillo) - This was favourite main dish at El Inka. Out of all the "Arroz Con Mariscos" dishes that I've tried at numerous Latin American restaurants everywhere, this was 'up there'. The rice was flavourful, the sauce was perfect (in amount and taste), and all the seafood varieties blended well together with the rice, creating a concoction of full deliciousness in your mouth.
8) Side Sautéed Vegetables - We were able to request customization of this to be without the sauce (just plain boiled or sautéed), yet they were able to make them still somewhat flavourful and still tasted fresh & crisp. This quickly became my favourite side dish.
I liked that almost every dish came with some form of vegetables (even if they were just a bit of leafy greens, diced tomatoes / bell peppers, or red onion), and that choclo (Peruvian large-kernel corn) was present in every dish.