Tradicion Arequipena

Posted by Edmund in Peru, Peruvian, Restaurants | 1 comment

Tradición Arequipeña.
Traditional Arequipenian Peruvian cuisine.
$5 to $10 for entrees. My cost was 93 soles, or about $30, for 4 large courses & 3 fruit drinks for 93 soles.
Avenida Dolores 111, Arequipa, Peru.

One of the great things about Peruvian cuisine is the diversity of regional cooking styles and specialties. One of the most distinctive styles is that of Arequipa, the city of white stone, where you can find such specialties as the roasted cuy, or guinea pig, which is common throughout Peru but cooked a little differently here (roasted whole in a special style). Having only experienced the dining scene in Lima and Cusco, I couldn’t wait to get a taste of Arequipa. Unfortunately, I only had one day in Arequipa before returning to Argentina, and so I had to choose wisely. Luckily, though, I had some help. Whenever I’m in doubt, I like to ask some of the countrymen themselves, especially cab drivers, who tend to give out the best advice when it comes to exploring a new country, at least in my book. The overwhelming consensus was that if I wanted true, authentic Arequipenian cuisine, made like a grandma would make it, I really couldn’t go anywhere but to Tradición Arequipeña. And so I went, driven on by an insatiable appetite that had been whetted by the many respondents.

The restaurant, to tell you the truth, is just a casual, cheap, family-friendly type eatery. And of course, with any really cheap,  casual restaurant there will be problems, and probably the biggest one that Tradición Arequipeña suffers from is service, which is just downright slow. The waiters are great, friendly guys, but it takes them an hour to bring you even a simple request. And that’s only a slight exaggeration—I was the only person sitting in the upstairs seating area when I arrived, and there was almost nobody in the whole restaurant, yet I still couldn’t get a cup of juice until 10 minutes past my order. And there are so few of them around that it takes a few minutes just to find one to ask for something simple, like more drinks.

The other aspects of the restaurant fared better. The ambience, for example, is great for a cheap joint. There are 5 different seating areas, each with a different view and vibe. I had a second floor, semi-open seating area, with a fantastic view of the surrounding area. It’s very nice on a warm sunny day, like the day I went. Other than that, the whole restaurant is very simple, with normal, wooden chairs and tables. There is also some live music at dinnertime, though I didn’t get to hear it. And, finally, there are some nice touches to make you really feel like you’re in an old-fashioned, casual, and—yes—touristy joint. Most notably, whenever you order the famed Chupe de Camarones, a traditional seafood stew and regional specialty, the waiter brings you a bib-like paper napkin that fits over your head and covers your entire upper body to keep off all the splashing soup (and it will splash, since you’re expected to dig in with your hands to eat all the shellfish). The waiter will even offer to take a photo of you. I know what you may be thinking at this point—sounds like this place just oozes “touristy” or “common”—and you’d be right, but that doesn’t prevent this place from serving up some true, authentic Arequipenian cuisine that you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.

And the food really is the main attraction here. It’s not the best, but it serves true Arequipenian cuisine, with almost all of the regional specialties of Arequipa offered. I know, again, because I asked local Peruvians. Moreover, this is one of the best values of any restaurant I visited. Everything I ate (4 large courses + 3 fruit drinks) cost me about $30, and the portions are so huge that I’d be willing to bet that what I ate would feed two normal people (I was starving that day). And for the most part the food tasted pretty good.

Overall, then, this is a great restaurant/pigout joint. Not only do you get huge portions and a nice ambience for a very low price, but this is one of the few where you can try well-prepared, traditional Arequipenian cuisine. It’s highly recommended if you want authentic a and/or cheap food in Arequipa.

What I had:

1. Piqueo Tradicional, a medley of traditional Peruvian foods, including rocoto relleno (stuffed red pepper), potato pie, boiled potatoes, chili sauce, lamb feet vinaigrette, oven-baked ribs and pork: Wow! This is a GIGANTIC dish and is the perfect way to experience practically the whole of traditional Arequipenian cuisine. Overall: 4.0/5.0 for the variety and quality in general. Hits: rocoto relleno. Misses: boiled potato.
   • The ribs are so crispy you can eat the bone. The pork, in general, is nice, flavorful, and moist enough not to be dry.
   • The potato pie is nice and rich, with a creamy cheese inside and a crunchy top. The potato taste is right on—the Andean potato is just so satisfying, in terms of its starchiness.
   • Lamb foot is interesting. Served cold, kind of like in a ceviche—the vinaigrettegives it a very nice flavor and complements it well. The lamb foot is nice and chewy because it has so much fat, but the texture and flavor are actually good. It’s just way too spicy and has too much pepper on it.
   • The boiled potatoes are the weak link. They are served with mayo and spices, but they’re just so cold that it seems wrong. The creaminess and richness of the mayo, moreover, makes the starchiness just way too fatty and unsatisfying. And the potato flavor is dull.
   • The stuffed red pepper is, hands down, the most delicious part of the dish. It’s spicy as hell, but oh so good! The filling is right. A peanut flavor just jumps out. The meat inside is nice, juicy, and savory, and the mix inside seems a bit creamy.
2. Platter of fried yucca and fried cheese: Rich and fatty. The yucca could use ketchup—it’s in huge, dry chunks. The dryness is a bit odd, since yucca is typically so starchy it’s normally very satisfying even on its own. The taste is, thus, much more like potatoes—not the greatest quality. The cheese is gooey but far too salty and oily. It leaves a disgusting grease all over the plate. It can’t even hold a torch to fried mozzarella. Cheese is a 0.0/5.0. Yucca is a 2.7+/5.0.
3. Chupe de Camarones, a cream stew of crawfish, vegetables, milk, rice, potatoes, corn, and beans (and the regional specialty of Arequipa): Huge mountain of seafood. You must eat this with your hands and it gets really, really messy. The waiters even provide you with a large apron-type covering for your chest and ask if you want a photo—this is quite the annoying tourist experience, like eating at one of those steakhouses with a gimmicky challenge in the US. Still, the stew is of great quality. The crawfish and shrimp are cooked very. The soup is rich and creamy, with lots of starchy thickeners and a great mix of veggies. The quality is unmistakable, but it’s just too messy and too much seafood for my taste. For me, an 3.0, but I could see a seafood lover rating this as highly as a 3.5.
4. Queso Helado/Frozen Cheese: just like ice cream, but much harder and with lots of cinnamon. Way too icy, but with a nice flavor. The cheese just doesn’t come through, though. Seems like an odd flavor combination, and, in reality, it’s somewhat tasteless. 1.0/5.0

Scoring

Ambience: 3.5/5.0
Service: 0.5/5.0
Food: 3.0/5.0
Value: 4.8/5.0. The portions are so large that you probably won’t finish, and the quality doesn’t suffer too much.
Verdict: 3.5/5.0, but 4.0 for a pigout joint.