I had a serious craving for Peruvian Pollo a la Brasa last night. Unfortunately, there aren't too many places to choose from in my vicinity. It was either this 'restaurant' or a spot in Sunset Park that I haven't had in a while. I knew right off the bat that this was a virtual restaurant because of the location, I've had food from a few ghost kitchens operating out of that space at this point. And the reason that I decided to give them a chance was because they had a 4.9 rating on UberEats which I thought was pretty good being that they're fairly new.
This is really a 3.5 star review, which, if you're familiar with my reviews, I give out pretty often. 4 stars is usually my highest rating, I rarely give out five. I feel like there are definitely some things they can improve on but I will be ordering again. Let's get into it. It cost $17 for a half chicken combo with two sides. Personally I feel like that's a pretty good deal, however, the way they packed it wasn't my favorite. I don't believe rice and beans should be two separate sides. By that I mean they shouldn't count as two separate items for the combo, not that they shouldn't be packed separately. Because of this, I had to order a side salad for six dollars which in my opinion is a little high for greens and cherry tomatoes. I wanted some greenery lol. That then brings me to the fact that ALL of their sides are six dollars, that also doesn't really make sense to me. French fries and salad should not be the same price point. One requires prep and cooking, the other barely does. The container of beans was not full, it was fine for just me but if I had been ordering for 2 people, it wouldn't have gotten far. Same deal with the rice, however, I didn't eat much of it because it was a little too mushy for my liking.
Now for flavor. I will admit I'm a bit picky with Peruvian chicken because I grew up in neighborhoods that had great options, not to mention my sister in law is Peruvian. Their chicken was like a 6/10 for me. Wasn't bad but it definitely wasn't the best I've had. I was wishing for just a TAD more flavor. But I will say that it was tender and moist. The breast was not dry by any means even after it was warmed up. Now here's the thing, it would've been a four-star review if I had enjoyed their sauces. I also firmly believe that if the sauces were more in line with what you normally see in a Peruvian restaurant, then the chicken wouldn't need anything else because it would've been a perfect balance. Their version of Aji Verde was not what I was expecting and if I'm being honest, I didn't like it at all. It wasn't as thick and didn't have much flavor to me. It was a bit spicy and you could sort of taste a bitter after tone from the jalapeño, but that was all I got. I enjoyed their version of Aji Amarillo way more but tbh that's not saying much. That tangy garlicky flavor was missing from both of them and so everything else became very flat. Everyone knows that half of the magic of Pollo a la Brasa is the sauce. The beans weren't bad at all, a little watery for my preference but I ended up eating them like a soup because they were pretty tasty lol so it worked out. Oh and honorable mention for their honey balsamic salad dressing. NOW THAT, was good. Like I said before, I'll order again and try something different. Hopefully they make some tweaks to the sauces and I'll be a regular for sure. read more