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As far as Food Trends go, Peruvian food
has been the 'it' food of the year and after reading some travel
stories on pisco sours and ceviche served fresh from the harbours, I
knew it was a country I would love to visit. Plus they have good
surf, so I know my husband would be keen.
In Cape Town we are lucky enough to
have the only authentic Peruvian restaurant in South Africa, Keenwa,
and last weekend, my husband and I tried it out.
The restaurant is situated in De
Waterkant, between Bree and Buitengraght. Upstairs is a newly done-up
Pisco Bar, so, of course, we tried a traditional Pisco Sours to ease
into the evening.
The bar is beautifully bright with
interesting, colourful patterns painted on the roof, down the walls
and onto the floor. It was a friday night and there was a DJ cranking
out some tunes.
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| pisco sours |
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| pisco bar |
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| pisco bar |
*NOTE: Pisco Sours are fairly strong
and bound to get you feeling rowdy
Back downstairs, we settled in to order
our dinner. The owner, German, is very inviting and chats with
various customers as they arrive. A new chef, Patricio (I think) just
arrived three weeks ago, straight from the North of Peru and he has
loads in store for the next couple of months, such as wine and food
pairing evenings and some new dishes for summer. When I have more
information, I'll post about it, and I'm super keen to try one of the
pairing evenings.
There was so much to choose from, and
so, in order to avoid missing out, instead of just having a starter
each, we had The Peruvian Platter (R140) with four different dishes
to start.
It contained the Tiradito Classico (my
favourite) – thinly slices fish in spicy lime juice; Ceviche –
cubes of fish marinated in lime juice with chillies and sweet
potatoes; Pulpo Al Olivo – Octopus served on a delicious black
olive sauce alongside drunken prawns (they are grilled in Pisco); and
the Causa de Pollo – Mashed potatoes with limes and chillies topped
with a chicken, avocado and home-made mayonnaise.
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| complimentary toasted bread with sauce |
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| Peruvian Platter |
We ordered some Peruvian beer to wash
down our meals. German imports Cusquena, which is a lightish tasting
beer, which goes well with the food.
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| Peruvian beer |
All of them were excellent and the
ceviche bursts with flavour in your mouth, with the zing of the lime
and chillies. The fish used was Angelfish, for both the Ceviche and
the Tiradito. All four dishes were quite different, and the octopus
was another favourite of mine. Although, would order all of them
again in an instant. It's quite a nice things to have even as a main
course or to share with someone if you're not particularly hungry.
For mains, I ordered the Quinoa
Atamalada (R115) – Quinoa made in a tamal style served with grilled
scallops and my husband had the Tacu Tacu (R95) – Rice and bean
mixed together served with a choice 3 toppings, beef with Anticucho
sauce, chicken with spicy chimichurri. We were both thrilled with our
meals, but quite full.
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| Tacu Tacu |
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| Quinoa Atamalada with scallops |
This however didn't stop my
sweet-toothed husband from ordering dessert. He tried the traditional
Picarones. They're only made on Friday and Saturday as the whole
process is quite artisanal. Basically, they are 'doughnuts' made from
butternut and sweet potato dough with sugar-cane honey.
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| Picarones |
It was a great night – we enjoyed the
casual atmosphere, good food and the cultural journey our palates
took. We will definitely go back, and hopefully soon...
Now, to start saving for an actual trip
to Peru...
Details:
50 Waterkant Street
021 419 2633
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