A Solid Fallback Plan

The Pitch

Barranco was not the intended destination tonight.  I had my eyes set on Name's on the Way, a Plateau bar with one of the coolest names I've been wanting to try for a while.  However, it was completely empty at 8:30PM on this Saturday night, so my wife and I changed our plans.  While walking towards Saint-Denis Street, we tried our luck at the buzzing Bouillon Albert; but were turned away due to a full house.

We then decided to head over to one of our favorites in the area, Peruvian hotspot Barranco, which I have been to – and reviewed – multiple times.  I figured it has been a few years since my last visit, so a refresher review was due.  The restaurant now spills over into neighboring Piel Canela – its sister brunch spot – in the evening, which explains why several seats were available for us and other walk-ins.

tagged:  NO NEED TO RESERVE

The Mood

The front part of Piel Canela's space is gorgeous, bright and colorful and puts a wrap-around bar as the main focus.  Behind that are tables scattered throughout darker spaces painted in cherry red.  We immediately opted for the more inviting bar at the front, as did the other drop-ins who came in after us.

The crowd has certainly changed since Barranco's early days.  It's tough – if not impossible – for a restaurant to draw the young, in crowd for years on end; it seems the one here has followed suit and now consists of laggers, older folks and random walk-ins.

tagged:  SIT AT THE BAR

The Food

It is a little-known fact that Peruvian cuisine is one of my favorites in the world – who would know or even care?  Don't ask me what comes before it or after it; let's bucket it in my top 5.  The reasons are hard to pin down even for myself but chief among them is the ceviche.  Peru's national dish wins me over with its juxtaposition of lime, chilis, onions, corn against raw fish; and the one at Barranco is top!

Although my wife and I were stuffed from the tapas we shared as starters, I still went ahead with the ceviche and single-handedly slurped it down to the last drop as my main dish.  This time around, I tried their Nikkei (Japanese/Peruvian) version, which adds salmon, cucumber and togarashi to the regular base of leche de tigre and choclo.

The causa de pulpo (layered potato/avocado topped with octopus) was stellar as always, the fried chicken chicharron was fun and the chicken tacos were just alright (too much onion).  The cocktails were original, creative and refreshing per usual.

Everything we ate and drank reminded me of why I love this cuisine and this spot, but of course I need to fuss.  It seems the wave of inflation plaguing the rest of the city has also descended here.  The taquitos jumped from $18 to $21 (fine), the causa from $20 to $25 (huh?) and the ceviche from $19 to a whopping $29 (ouch)!

tagged:  GOOD FOR SHARING ORIGINAL DRINKS

The Service

The patrons' age and hipness were not the only demographic shifts I noticed tonight.  I was surprised that none of the staff – or the soundtrack for that matter – was Latino.  The former were white – for lack of a better word – and the beats overhead were mostly hip-hop oldies.  That said, everyone from the hostess to the bartender/waitress was welcoming, accommodating and hospitable.

Our request to change spots and our cancelling of the yuca fries order when we noticed the chicharron came with some were both duly granted.  Even a mistaken cocktail order – did I mispronounce or she misheard? – was corrected by throwing the desired one on the house (although the "mistaken" one was better in fact).  Latino or not, we were in good hands tonight.

The Verdict

In the five years since Barranco opened, it got absorbed into what's called Barranco Partners, which also counts Nikkei, Piel Canela, Comptoir Barranco and the now-defunct Caifan at some point.  Despite the changes (staff, crowd, prices), this Saint-Denis spot remains the top Peruvian destination in town.  And now with more seating at night, a last-minute table will be easier to nab on an impromptu visit.

After dinner, my wife and I decided to extend our walk back to the car and pass in front of our original destination: Name's on the Way.  Lo and behold, it was bustling and near full at 10:30PM.  But so were we, so we ended our night and headed home thinking: we're getting too old for this…

tagged:  SOLID

Price per person:  $49