Hem B.

Initial impression based on 2 appetizers - overall - meh. Upon entering the establishment, you will see a cashier station immediately to your left and a "Please wait to be seated" sign. Beyond that, there is a bar to the right and seating for diners to the left. I arrived at the restaurant just a bit after they opened for the day, about 11:30 ish AM. The bartender who greeted me, explained different menu items to me, and took my to-go order was courteous and patient. Chicharron de calamari - fried calamari. Really good fry on the squid. I think it was potato or corn starch batter. I like the addition of what the Japanese refer to as tenkasu (crunchy scraps of deep fried batter) to the dish. Tatar sauce was provided for dipping. Nikkei signature roll - I tried the acevichado (shrimp furai, avocado, flounder served with acevichado sauce). I looked it up, acevichado is "a creamy, tangy Peruvian-Japanese (Nikkei) condiment that blends traditional ceviche marinade (leche de tigre) with mayonnaise, soy sauce, and Japanese fish stock." To my palate, this is where it went a little awry. The rice for the inside-out roll seemed overcooked and gummy. Rather than preserve the individual rice grains in a loosely bound yet cohesive layer, the rice felt like a homogeneous dense mat. The sauce, mayonnaise-based, was fat forward and seemed to add to the "weight" of the dish. Gave it a shot - I'll stick to the more traditional Peruvian dishes next time.

We came here for our 10th anniversary and we were not disappointed. It's a small dining space but beautifully curated. Waitstaff was friendly, professional, and eager to help with food and drink recommendations. I had the Pisco Inca which was balanced and not overly smokey. Food was absolutely fantastic. We started with the Chicharrones con Yucca and the Acevichado Nikkei Roll. Hubby got the Arroz con Mariscos and I got the Red Snapper with a Lo Macho sauce. Portions were generous and everything tasted wonderful. Neither one of us had a bad criticism over any of the food we received and went home with leftovers. What a wonderful little gem to have in the area. We will definitely be back.

Robin I.

The service was delightful. Our server was knowledgeable and kind. She even offered us all a drink to try since we were new to the cuisine. We had the trio of ceviche to start. Everything was fresh and flavorful. Everyone's entrees were huge and we all liked our choices. The size of the portions are definitely shareable. You certainly get your money's worth.

Bill Z.

Places like this are why my Yelp profile lists Peruvian cuisine as my Current Crush at this time. The staff, the atmosphere, and the food, exemplify everything I've come to like about it. My sister came here first, at the recommendation of her Spanish instructor (from South America), who said the cuisine here was very close to how these dishes are actually prepared in Peru. I had only recently learned about the fairly complex background of the foods and the variety of cultures on which it's based. All of those are represented on their menu. I went with a traditional route (or maybe MY traditional route) for a first dinner here. That began with a Pisco cocktail. Mine was the Machu Picchu Express, which includes coffee liqueur and Bailey's. It was quite tasty. That was followed by chicken empanadas. What impressed me the most about these was the crust, thin without being extra-crispy, with its own flavor apart from the chicken. I'm not up to "tentacles" or "innards" for my dinners, but I was quite content with the rotisserie chicken, and I got to sample another seafood dish at the table. I love the spices on that chicken, so flavorful and so tender. I think I could eat that every day and never be tired of it (of course I'll try other entrees). The canary beans are a great side dish too, and I used the sauce on my rice. Since a lot of the seafood dishes say "fish" in the description, you may want to ask your server if they know which types of fish are going into the dish. We saw delicious looking flan go to another table, so we wanted some for ourselves for dessert. Our waitress said that they had just finished a fresh one, but it was still too hot to slice. If we wanted some, we'd probably have to wait a while. We passed, but she was nice enough to give us some complimentary shortbread cookie sandwiches. Dinner here was a great experience, and I look forward to coming back.

Colleen N.

I have been wanting to try this restaurant since it opened. We finally went last night and it was awesome!! We went at 5pm on a Wednesday. There were a couple of other parties. When we left around 6:30, more than half of the tables were filled. I imagine it is quite busy on weekends. The drinks were fantastic, especially the blackberry margarita. It tasted like freshly pureed fruit. The sangria also tasted like there was blackberry juice in it. Delicious! We started with a trio of seafood ceviche. It had fish, shrimp, and octopus. It was fun to compare the subtle differences between the sauces. We ordered it spicy, and it had a lovely, warm spice that stayed with you, but didn't overpower. So fresh and yummy. For mains, we had the tacu tacu with cilantro beef and the seafood risotto. Neither dish was spicy, but both were so flavorful. The beef fell off the bone and was perfectly cooked. The cilantro sauce was great (I wanted more) and the rice and vegetable part had a great combination of fried crustiness and softness. The risotto had plenty of seafood and the sauce was almost like a thick seafood bisque. I loved it. For dessert, we had churros filled with dulce de leche. They tasted like a cinnamon roll but less doughy. I want to eat them every day. We can't wait to go back and try other dishes. Dinner, dessert, and 4 drinks were not cheap, but the meal and experience was so worth it!

Absolutely coming back again Good service and quality of the ingredients are phenomenal The waiter was super friendly professional and very knowledgeable about the food and the place Love it

Corie Y.

A first visit of many to come! I have been patiently awaiting the opening of Quechua to add some variety to my lunch orders. I have had Peruvian food a few times and I've always loved it, so this opening right by my job was perfect! Today my office ordered take out for lunch and we were all blown away. I apologize for not having a gorgeous photo to share (yet) but don't let that fool you, this was an amazing dish. I ordered the Lomo Saltado - lunch portion. This is wok fried steak, onions and tomatoes, served with fried potatoes and white rice, the take out also came with a bright yellow sauce and crispy corn. I drizzled the sauce and sprinkled the corn and dug right in. Wow, the flavors in this dish run deep. The beef was marinated so well and it was tender, and the sauce that pooled on the bottom of the dish was delicious, mouthwatering, crave-able. The fries were perfectly seasoned and a bit greasy but in a REALLY good way, the rice was also perfectly seasoned and had a lot of flavor. Once you mixed everything together it was perfect. The yellow sauce was a great addition and I loved the added crunch of the corn. The flavors were just that of the other Peruvian dishes I have tried before, so I think they are keeping it authentic here. I cannot wait to return and try more of the unique dishes in the menu. This is going to be a staple for us moving forward. I LOVED IT.

Food and atmosphere is phenomenal. We sat outside last week and had such a nice dinner. Our server was knowledgeable and helped us pick some menu items to try because we were unfamiliar with Peruvian food. She recommended the Causas as an appetizer and she did not steer us wrong, they were SO GOOD. I'm including a picture of them in my review but unfortunately I was too excited for dinner and forgot to take pictures of that. I had the Arroz Con Pollo for dinner which was delicious, and there was so much food I had lunch for two days. My girlfriend had Risotto Fruto Del Mar which was also amazing, but had too much calamari for my taste. Highly recommend, and if you're not sure what to order: trust the wait staff!

Sharon W.

We ventured in snowy Friday afternoon for a late lunch. Thanks to our lovely host by the name of Alex who is quite knowledgeable and passionate about Peruvian food and history. We asked questions and he made recommendations. They have free Peruvian beers and a number of Peruvian cocktails Pisco based your handcrafted and well balanced. In addition they have other bottles of beer and wine by the Glass or bottle. There are a few Peruvian restaurants in the area, flea Massachusetts and New York City are the closest. We enjoyed the appetizer, which is beef Heart screens perfectly done and tender with roasted Peruvian corn and baby red potatoes with a lovely Peruvian spicy sauce. Looks like a fajita coming out. We split the Peruvian seafood tower, which could really feed four! . The tiger shots are basically a milky, salty ceviche shot which was a little warm and salty but everything was fresh and tasty. On the top of the tower is assortment of lightly fried Yucca, plantains, trace is back to store quarter to Aurora games calamari, white squid, fish, shrimp garnished with lovely shavings of sweet potato and seaweed, don't miss those. On the bottom is on a bed of crushed ice three tiger shots, three green muscles and an assortment of octopus, squid, shrimp and calamari in a spicy ceviche with a chunk of lovely, sweet potato that's cinnamon seasoned which balances the heat. Little lovely dining experience I would recommend reservations because it is a small place and if you don't want to be rushed for dinner, a cozy yet streamline atmosphere with a full bar and personalized service. We will definitely be back two people for lunch with two drinks each, these appetizer and a seafood tower both split and containers to go! Maybe a little bit high-end, but the food is fresh and perfectly balanced and excellent service. It's hard to get Peruvian beer or drinks or food for that matter in this area. Even the plantains were done, perfectly, thin sliced, and the sauces were impeccable. Well done!

Amanda R.

I really enjoyed my partner's and my meal here -- the ambiance is lovely with a fresh and clean interior of soft green and gold accents, and the food was all-around delicious. I know Peruvian food is heavy on the meat and fish so I really appreciate Quechua putting a handful of vegetarian options on the menu. We started with the Papa a La Huancaina, which was a cold appetizer of potato and hard boiled egg covered in a creamy cheese sauce, it's a simple but delicious dish that's easy to share. My partner was intrigued by the Nikkei rolls that blend Japanese technique with Peruvian flavors so he tried the Acevichado roll. We appreciated the waiter letting us know that their remaining avocados were too hard so they didn't want to put them in the roll, but my partner did conclude that, while tasty without it, the avocado would have been a welcome texture addition -- we do commend their commitment to quality control though! We ordered two of their vegetarian dishes and both were hits! The Vegetable Chaufa might sound just like Japanese fried rice but it has a distinct smokey flavor that I really enjoyed. My favorite bite of the night was the Vegetable Tacu Tacu -- I loved the blend of crispy on the outside but soft on the inside rice and canary beans and the cilantro beer sauce is a lovely pairing for the vegetables it comes with -- it will probably be my go-to dish here. We ended our meal with the Arroz con leche which had wonderful cinnamon flavor, but I would suggest that they remove the large cinnamon sticks before serving, having to fish them out while you're enjoying your dessert is not the most pleasant. Quechua cocktail menu is equally as fun as their food menu with several Pisco based signature cocktails and classic cocktails to choose from. I thoroughly enjoyed my purple corn sour which had a great balance of sour and sweet. tl;dr: Quechua is a lovely addition to the Capital Region dining scene. I look forward to returning!

Raya V.

Great place to grab dinner. Authentic Peruvian cuisine and fusion sushi dishes as well. Our server was a polite young man who was very attentive to all of his tables. The vibes there are nice. You can go casual or dressy. I loved the drinks also. I had the pescado a lo macho. My date had the lomo saltado. We had a furai maki for our appetizer, which was a fried salmon roll. I would give them 5 stars, but my dish was advertised as red snapper and being an island girl I could tell that it was not in fact red snapper. It was possibly a bronzini, which I do not prefer. I was afraid it was tilapia when I saw it, but it wasn't. I would definitely return to try some other menu items! I think I'll stay away from any fish dishes here next time.

Claudia L.

I have been wanting to try this place forever and finally had an opportunity to go last Saturday. It was amazing! The restaurant is cute and casual and the service was excellent. We started with Pisco Sour cocktails which were refreshing. I had the Leche de Tigre as an appetizer which I highly recommend - delicate pieces of white fish and Peruvian corn marinated in lime juice and spices - yummy! For the entree, I had the Tiradito Aji Amarillo - excellent! My dinner companions ordered the ceviche al rococo with seafood - delicious and spicy and a filet mignon dish made in a wok that was out of this world. The menu is expansive and includes Japanese and Peruvian fusion dishes. Upscale eating in a casual ambiance - I'll definitely be back!

Jem B.

Wow where am i in Queens!??? lol sorry Cap region you have disappointed me (except for Ali Baba, Great Indian Kitchen, Mazadar, Shams Al Yemen). The Leche Tigre is amazing perfect seasoning, delicious flavor, love the small plantain chips the crispy corn and white corn, octopus cooked perfectly tender well season and wow, never had beef heart and it was amazing almost like skirt steak and the chimichurri sauce bomb damn makes me sad that I'm leaving now but definitely will be back when in the area! Wonderful service by Adalia & football player in the front!