So who's ready for something very different, cause today we're gonna go for Peruvian cuisine! Yeap, for those who don't know what Peruvian is, it's from Peru, a country in South America. It's said that even though it's a country from the West, their cuisine is highly similar to Asian's with it's strong flavor and everything. Well, if you're interested in this Peruvian cuisine, you can head out to a restaurant here in Jakarta! The place is called Pavela and located in Pondok Indah Mall 3!
PISCO SOUR IDR 45K
Peruvian national drink. Lime, egg white, brown sugar, cinnamon.
Starting off with Peruvian's national drink! Pisco Sour here is supposed to be an alcoholic drink, since Pisco is actually the name of Peru's brandy, which is the base of this drink but Pavela provided us a taste that is similar to the cocktail with no alcohol, so everyone can try it!
YUCCA FRITAS IDR 40K
Crunchy cassava, aji verde.
Instead of potatoes, they use cassava as fries here and the taste is very similar to the fried cassava you'll find here, so I bet people here will be able to accept this pretty well!
PAVELA WINGS IDR 55K
Marinated crunchy bone-in chicken wings, Pavela tartar.
Love the super strong taste! They weren't kidding when they say the taste here is pretty strong but that's just the way I like it! This wings is really salty, so I suggest using the tartar to tone it down!
CAUSA DE CANGREJO IDR 45K
Nikkei twist. Seasoned mashed potato base topped with Kani stick, corn, onions, crema de rocoto.
This comes with the Jaela, which is a Peruvian fish and chips!
JALEA IDR 95K
Peruvian fish & chips, fresh greens, papas fritas, aji verde, salsa criolla.
Taste like any other fish and chips, nice cripsy texture tho. It'll only become different if you dip it into the aji verde or salsa criolla or even both..lol!
POLLO SALTADO IDR 85K
Flame-cooked chicken breast, caramelized onions, ripened tomatoes, yucca fritas, cilantro butter rice.
The cilantro butter rice smells superb! Just look at how many cilantro they sprinkled on top! The chicken's tender and love the caramelized onions. If you love onions like I do, than you'd love this. There's the yummy yucca fritas again here!
POLLO A LA BRASA IDR 95K
Slow-roasted Peruvian spiced chicken leg quarter, fresh greens, yucca fritas, cilantro butter rice, aji verde.
They're signature dish here, though I think this is the most ordinary. It's good but it's just your typical roasted chicken with special spices. The chicken is tender as well and again the butter rice is amazing and you'll find some yucca fritas here as well!
CHICHARRON DE POLLO IDR 80K
Crispy chicken breast, salsa criolla, crema de rocoto, fresh greens, cilantro butter rice.
Somewhat like chicken katsu, huh? Lol! Well, this crispy chicken is drizzled with delicious sauce and topped with salsa. You just can't say no to that, just look at that hot mess! Plus I think anything becomes good when eaten with the butter rice!
NIKKEI CHICKEN IDR 80K
Crunchy chicken leg, special Nikkei sauce, cilantro butter rice, Pavela tartar.
My personal favorite! Probably because it's glazed crunchy chicken, I'm weak on those! It also comes with tartar sauce that adds up flavor! 'Nuff said!
BESO DE MOZA IDR 45K
The young lady's kiss. Dark chocolate cake with marshmallow, roasted peanuts, vanilla ice cream.
No one would be in their right mind to reject this! Well, unless you're super heartless..or hate sweet things. It's super sweet and super guilty but super good!
BANANA POPSICLES IDR 40K
Sweet ripe plantains, dark chocolate coating, roasted crushed peanuts, vanilla ice cream.
Looks tempting enough but because I don't really like bananas, just one bite of this and I'm done. Well, you probably would love this if you're okay with processed bananas cause the only processed bananas I'd eat is fried, other than that I'm okay with just fresh one, thank you!
And that's it for today's Peruvian tour..lol! I'd say that people of Jakarta would be able to accept this pretty well because the taste is not way off and because of the strong flavor, people might even like it! Good luck then Pavela!
Pavela
Pondok Indah Mall 3 Street Gallery
GF #13
Jl. Metro Pondok Indah No.16
Jakarta Selatan 12310
021-29529767
Opening Hours :
Sunday - Thrusday : 10:00 am - 00:00 amFriday - Saturday : 10:00 - 02:00 am
An unusual name or an unexpected claim may sometimes attract us to only be misled or disappointed, and may also do a disservice to a reputable, long-established culinary tradition. As a lover of the superb and now well-recognized Peruvian cuisine that I have enjoyed for many, many years, I was asked by some friends if I had already tried the new “Peruvian food” restaurant in town… Naturally, I could not hold my curiosity. I am sorry to have to say that it was not what I expected… The menu offered a “Pisco Sour, the Peruvian national drink”. Pisco sour is, indeed, a delicious, fiery mixed cocktail featuring pisco, a Peruvian brandy (42%-alcohol) made from pure grape… But would you serve a rum-and-coke without rum? Well, the Pavela version of the otherwise wonderful Peruvian pisco-based drink simply has no pisco… should it be more appropriately called a lemonade, perhaps? Hmmm… Let’s move on to the “Peruvian food”… Nachos! Pardon me, I thought that nachos were a Mexican appetizer… Nikkei chicken! Perhaps a version of a Japanese stock-market-based-recipe? Seviche! Well, cebiche –known in several countries-, is a mouth-watering dish made of fish marinated in lemon or lime juice and sliced onions (thus the name “cebiche”, from “cebolla”, the Spanish word for onion); the Peruvian version adds a slice of boiled sweet potato and a piece of boiled corn-on-the-stalk to tone down the hot peppers, and garnishes it with a leaf of lettuce… What do you get in Pavela? Fried calamari, not even remotely close to a cebiche. Other selections in the menu: anticuchos, which in Peru are skewered chunks of marinated beef heart cooked over an open fire, but in this case it is not beef heart; “arroz con chaufa” is the Pavela version of arroz chaufa, a basic Peruvian fried-rice dish dating back to the Chinese migration to Peru in the late 19th century; “yuccas fritas” (fried cassava slices), well, you can’t go too wrong on these. Perhaps my biggest disappointment after the so-called Pavela “pisco sour” was the desserts. Peru is a paradise when it comes to sweets; it features an immense variety of gorgeous, unforgettable and laborious concoctions that make dentists quite prosperous… Well, I could not find a single Peruvian dessert on the menu. My wife ordered “beso de moza”… perhaps an Andalusian treat? I have never seen it in Peru. In conclusion, let me be clear: I am not saying that the food at Pavela is bad, you may want to experiment, try something different and it may even turn out well for you; what I am simply saying is, don’t expect authentic Peruvian food there…
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