Mochikas Peruvian Cafe

Several months ago, we wrote about the limited Caribbean repertoire of Vancouver's culinary scene. Another region of the world that is greatly under-represented is Central and South America, although you can find Latin American restaurants if you try hard enough, and there are standouts like the nuevo-latino Cobre. Fortunately, more and more places have popped up like Mochikas Peruvian Cafe, located in the Burrard Slopes area, which is home to various automobile-related businesses, including Platinum Touch Auto Spa, within which Mochikas is found.

Prolific blogger extraordinaire Sherman wrote about Mochikas several months ago, and despite reports of a limited lunch menu, we were determined to go. We finally braved the frigid, at least for Vancouver, temperatures last week and arrived chilled and, dare we say, famished. To our delight, we saw that the lunch menu was now quite extensive.

We were tempted by the ceviche de pescado o mixto for a starter, but as ceviche is pretty common nowadays, we tackled the tamal criollo instead. The subtle spiciness of the steamed masa succeeded in whetting our appetite for more.

An important part of Peruvian cuisine today is chifa, which is basically Peruvian-style Chinese food. One of the staples is lomo saltado, a beef stir-fry, which we ordered. Served over fries, this satisfying dish had hints of Asian flavours along with other spices that we were unable to discern.

For our other main course, we ordered the Arroz con Mariscos, a dish ubiquitous in Peruvian cevicherias, and said to be adapted from Spanish paella. The rustic execution of this dish offered lively seasonings and a generous amount of seafood.

To drink, we had to try Inca Kola, Peru's most famous soft drink. It tasted kind of like cream soda with a caffeine kick.

If asked to sum up our experience, the thought that comes to mind is "Peruvian comfort food."

After we paid for our meal, we were given two caramel-pecan dark chocolates, which we brought home. Mmm, mmm.