Suyo 24th September
The Good, the Bad and the Huh?
My partner (who is German, and will be relevant later) and I (a misplaced Colombian) have enjoyed Peruvian food here in Vancouver is some places that are no longer in business (Chicha) or no longer offering Peruvian offerings (El Camino). We were therefore excited when we saw that a new 'modern peruvian' restaurant was opening on Main street.
We had reservations for 8:30 on Saturday night and this is the review of our visit there. The interior space is well thought out and pleasant to enter. The décor is simple and modern. We were greeted by friendly staff and taken to a room at the back that was cozy and contained 6-7 tables.
I was excited to see that they were offering Lomo Saltado so we decided to have that as our shared main. We saw that they were offering a staple in many Spanish speaking countries: Ensalada Rusa. For those of you who have not experienced a Spanish Russian salad it is a modified potato salad with the addition of peas, carrots, and sometimes meat of some sort. I love Ensalada Rusa so naturally I ordered it. We paired this with their basic Ceviche plate.
The wine list is extensive, and we picked a bottle of red from Uruguay since we had not had wine from Uruguay before. The wine was good.
Then came our first course. The ceviche was good, and if that is all we had had we would have been happy.
At this point I must digress and talk about our overly friendly and loud waiter Andres (or Andreas, I did not catch the name exactly). Andres is loud and loud. He spoke loudly to us (on the border of shouting) and did it far too often. While conversing with Andres he found out that my partner was German. This resulted in each message from Andres being loudly conveyed in English, then slightly louder repeated to me in Spanish, then finally very loudly conveyed in German to my partner (She speaks English, and understands Spanish, so she already understood the message being conveyed). This continued for the whole evening.
Ok back to the meal, remember I told you about Ensalada Rusa? Well, we did not get a Russian Salad, or at least we did not expect what we got. We got a beet salad with carrots and taro root crisps. Not a potato in sight, no mayonnaise. I was befuddled and immediately did a google search for the new Russian salad recipe since I obviously remembered incorrectly what a Russian salad was. No, the recipe had not changed. We did not get Russian Salad. We got a so-so beet salad that in no way delivered on the anticipation of experiencing another version of the delectable Ensalada Rusa we were expecting.
So while we were being shouted at by the waiter, we ordered the chicken ravioli and the Lomo Saltado. Lomo Saltado is a unique Peruvian dish that contains stir-fried (Saltado means jumped and is a reference to the jumping of the steak in the wok) beef served over some potatoes and cooked vegetables. It is a scrumptious dish. We wondered at the offering since it was using tenderloin meat instead of a cheaper cut usually associated with this dish.
The waiter took the opportunity to tell us about the Chinese migration to peru about 100 years ago and hence the birth of the Lomo Saltado. (He explained in English, Spanish, and German). The ravioli arrived and we were greeted by 4 ravioli that contained chicken and were served very dry over some sauce that had been placed on the plate. The filling of the ravioli was tasty, the dough on the ravioli was oddly textured and there was not enough sauce to make up for the dry dough on the ravioli.
Having finished the ravioli, we were presented with the Lomo Saltado. Andres came in close and repeated the origin story for Lomo Saltado in English, Spanish (and I think maybe german again, but I am not sure).
The meat was tender (duh, its tenderloin) and it was presented over some large wedge pieces of potato (not enough really). The Lomo Saltado was good, but definitely not worth the 68$ we paid for it. (I know, tenderloin,,,, but this dish does not need tenderloin)
The Good: the restaurant space, the ceviche, the Lomo Saltado, and we learned Uruguay makes good wine.
The Bad: being shouted at all evening, and the misrepresentation of the Russian salad.
The Huh? That ravioli. There was nothing to make the dish memorably, Huh is exactly our reaction to it.
We do not need to go back to this restaurant, it is overpriced, and the menu is odd. Right now it is the newest thing on the block and is full every evening. I hope they enjoy being the flavor of the month and that they are ready for improving their offering once they are no longer the latest thing. read more