Saturday, March 21, 2009

Restaurants in Chicago -Ay Ay Picante (very recommendable)

This is an authentic Peruvian Restaurant which is located approximately 20 minutes by car from the center of Chicago (north).

We were a large group so we were able to chose a huge variety of dishes. We tried the following starters: the seafood ceviche (a fresh fish dish with a lot of lime and some Peruvian chilies) and Anticuchos (Beef skewer marinated in vinegar with spices and garlic). If you are a fan of ceviches and sour dishes the ceviche here is very tasty. The beef skewer was also tender and seems to have been marinated for a nice bit of time since it had a strong delicious flavour of a combination of different spices.

The main dishes are very large, so we chose 7 main dishes between 9 people and that was plenty. My favourite main dishes were: Lomo Saltado (lean beef with tomatoes and onions on fries and served with steamed rice) and Aji de Gallina (breast of chicken cooked with walnut, milk and cheeses).

All dishes had a wide array of flavours and were a pleasant surprise.

It is also possible to bring your own wine.

The bill including tip was $24 per person. Main dishes are at around $14,50.