El Cholo

The Pollo a la Brasa was delicious. I got it to go with an Inca Kola. I got the half chicken and it was a lot of food. It’s more of a take out place than an eat in place. There are a few utilitarian tables but they really need to put a little more effort into fixing the place up if they want people to eat in. I’ll be back!

Ordered the Rotisserie Chicken with the papa fritas (fries) and salad and it was ok
the good thing is that the meat was tender but the skin was not crispy but like rubbery so we could not eat the skin. the salad was put through a shredder and not a salad proper they did not include any salad dressing. the chicken came with a hot sauce and a regular sauce but it was not salad dressing. also the salad had maybe 3 slices of cucumber in it and had to be thrown out as I mistakenly thought the hot and spicy chicken sauce was the salad dressing. I don’t know if I will go there again. Probably not.

I was so excited to find a new Peruvian restaurant in my neighborhood yesterday. El Cholo opened up about four months ago. I’m a huge fan of Peruvian food and know it pretty well having been to Peru for a month and eaten in lots of Peruvian restaurants throughout NYC, so when I saw this new place while driving past it yesterday, I couldn’t wait to go back and try it.
Just a reminder, my reviews are based almost solely on the food. I really don’t care much about atmosphere or even service if the food is good. With that said, in this case I had to reduce the rating by one star because when I walked in I was unimpressed by the musty smell inside. It wasn’t unbearable though so I decided to stick it out and try the food and boy am I glad I did!
I went with a friend and so we were able to try two dishes: the Lomo Saltado, which is steak stir fried with onions, tomatoes, and french fries, and the Pollo a la Brasa, which is roasted chicken, (see my pictures). Both are traditional Peruvian dishes and both were excellent, with well-​seasoned, tender and juicy meats, and authentic Peruvian flavors. I was thrilled to find that they have Inka Kola too! I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to try the Ceviche or the Papa a la Huancaina this time, two dishes that are traditional Peruvian and which should be tried to really test a restaurant. But I’ll definitely be back so I’ll update my review next time!
The other reason for lowering one star is the service. It was extremely friendly and courteous but kind of inattentive. We had to find the waitress to get our check. I got the impression though that normally they don’t do tableservice that you would order your food at the register and then take it and sit and eat so we may have been messing with their system.
UPDATE — 9÷13÷2014 — I’ve been back twice this week and finally tried the Ceviche Mixto today. So glad I did. It was so fresh and delicious and beautifully presented. I’m sorry I didn’t try it before. The place still smells a little musty and the service was still a little inattentive after out waitress left and another took over but I still had to up my review to 5 stars because the food is just that good.
Please do yourself a favor and give it a try.