For a city with a comparatively small Peruvian population, LA is awash in great Peruvian restaurants...the wood fired chicken of Pollo a la Brasa, the garlicky shrimp and pasta of Mario's Peruvian Seafood, the rich saltados of Don Felix and Pollo Inka, and the list goes on and on.
My favorite, though, for LA Peruvian is Los Balcones de Peru (The Balconies of Peru). Located on Vine south of Sunset, Los Balcones offers a somewhat more refined, more sophisticated cuisine than the rest of LA's Peruvian spots.
This is one of those places where everything I've ordered has been great, but these are some of my favorites. Camarones a la piedra is a ceviche of cooked shrimp with hominy and a delicate yellow sauce which you will dab your bread in until it's gone. Tacu-Tacu Con Lomito Al Jugo is a perfectly cooked skirt steak (a la carne asada) with tacu-tacu, a sort of course rice and bean paste. Saltados, those Peruvian stir fries of meat, veggies and french fries, are also good. One of my favorite things is the red onion garnish that comes on several of the dishes including the ceviche. It's a simple salad of thinly sliced red onion marinated in a vinegar dressing...I could eat it all day.
Balcones has a prime location, and it's a convenient spot before or after catching a film at the Arclight, buying some gaviotas at the Sunday Hollywood farmers' market, picking up some music at Amoeba or searching for a rare single malt or Bourbon at K&L. Check it out!
Los Balcones de Peru
1360 Vine St (south of Sunset)
Los Angeles, CA 90028
323-871-9600
I just love this place! Last time that I went my camera was being fixed so I had to use mumsy's camera and her settings were off so all of my pix came out crappy. I'll probably have to put this place on my farewell restaurants list.
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