Today we went to DX Peruvian Restaurant (what is that name for?). It opened just this January. I'm also proud to say that someone at my dad's work asked me to review this restaurant! It is in this block of weird shopping malls near South Coast Plaza (see the link for more info). It was dark when we first entered but turned out to have a nice and quiet atmosphere. It was also nice to see just the right amount of people there. Our two guests were from Puerto Rico and knew a lot about authentic Peruvian dishes and spoke Spanish so the waiters (who also spoke Spanish) immediately accepted us.
For appetizers the four of us shared the Papa a la Huancaina, potatoes with a spicy cheese sauce that tasted good but to me had a better after-taste; and the Cebiche Mixto, seafood with a fresh lime juice mariniation. That was good, cold but a bit too sour and limey.
I had the Picante de Camarones as my main course, spicy shrimp soup. It came in a kind of shallow plate with not too much broth. Everything was spicy in my dish and hot, so I had to wait a little before it cooled down. The potatoes were great, the shrimp a little hard for my taste. The broth was nice but spicy and smooth. The rice was surprisingly soft but was still better than normal because of its texture. My dad had the Seco de Cordero, lamb stew which he said was a little bony but very flavorful. To me it tasted like very authentic lamb (though I still can't get into the taste) but quite good. Our two guests had Lomo Saltado - steak and potatoes - and Parihuela, a vegetable and seafood soup; we learned that it is influenced by European recipes. The steak was nice and crisp and tender at the same time. It also came with potatoes that were like french fries but less crisp. The potatoes were way too hot for way too long and were kind of too floppy. It was the least spicy dish of the meal but still pretty hot. The Parihuela was good in a way I have never tasted before; seafoody and normal broth combined. The seafood was kind of the same mix as in the appetizer but warm. All dishes including the appetizers were hot, spicy, and good!
Their desserts were special. We had the Alfajores and Arroz Con Leche: Peruvian cookies with dulce de leche and Peruvian rice pudding. The cookies were very light, the dulce de leche very good. Those cookies were the best dessert I have blogged yet. The Arroz Con Leche is normal rice pudding with cinnamon and raisins, light and fluffy. This is a great new place to give some support to, with great atmosphere and food but a non idyllic and forgettable location.
