[Review 6912] Peruvian cravings satisfied @ ICHU

 18/10/2018

ICHU 
中環皇后大道中80號H Queen's 3樓
3/F, H Queen's, 80 Queens Road Central, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/peruvian-cravings-satisfied-e3189095

Peruvian cravings satisfied
2018-10-18  763 瀏覽
I love Peruvian food but I cannot get enough of it in Hong Kong as there are not many around.
Peruvian food revolves around unique ingredients like purple corn, chocla, ceviches and colourful sweet potatoes.
At ICHU, the decor takes you to the Aztec times ruled by the Inca Empire.

Beginning my Peruvian dinner journey I started with the CHICHA MORADA which is a concoction of Purple Corn, Pineapple Skin, Apple, Spices.
It was rich in ruby colour and refreshing in taste.
For appetizers, began with the  PALTA QUEMADA (Charred Avocado, Aji Limo, Tomato) which was black in appearance.
The avocado was coated with black dusting filled with tomato puree in the middle.
Next were the ceviches, these are popular appetizers with a Japanese influence.
There are so many different options with a choice of snapper, yellow tail and even tenderloin.
PEZ LIMON (Yellow Tail, Yuzu Vinaigrette, Corn)
CLASICO (Snapper, Choclo, Red Onion, Sweet Potato)
TARTAR DE LOMO CON MAIZ (Tender Loin, Corn, Carob Molasses, Chives)


As well as ceviche, the beef short rib COSTILLAS DE RES was so soft and the meat literally melted in your mouth.
It was covered in this delicious strong seco sauce which seemed to be laced with cumin.

Dessert was also good, the QUESO DE CARBRA cheesecake really surprised me as it was made with goat cheese and it was not heavy at all as the texture was soft and silky, not dense at all.
There was a fragrant creamy taste to it topped with raspberry and Quinoa.

Also had the TRES LECHE which was cake soaked in three different milks hence the name Tres Leches.
However there was a Peruvian twist to it with carrot sorbet which makes it memorable and I loved the meringue crackers on top.


Overall, all the dishes were perfect from beginning to end and will definitely be back for another gathering.

Peruvian donuts at Chicha

25/01/2015
Chicha
中環卑利街26號地舖
G/F, 26 Peel Street, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/peruvian-donuts-e2420912

To be honest I came here just for the Peruvian donuts which are made with sweet potatoes.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
PICARONES:
FRIED SWEET POTATO DONUT WITH ORANGE SPICED SYRUP
On first taste, they were weird, they had this acidic bitterness to it which was wrong.


After I spoke to the Chef he tried it and told me that the yeast was not cooked.
Anyway he said he would make another one but the problem was he didn't personally redo the flour mixture hence the kitchen staff used the same batch of flour which had too much yeast hence it came out tasting weird again.
A few comments on openrice seem to mention the weird taste so if they work on the recipe it should taste good!

http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2395310&tc=sr2&con=rvw
味道有點怪的，但當與底下的橙汁焦糖醬混合後，味道則很棒
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2310368&tc=sr2rvw&con=rvw
不過我食到有少少微酸味
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2382350&tc=sr2&con=rvw
但就帶點苦澀。(可以是啡色的焦糖漿所致)
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
SUSPIRO DE LIMENA:
LADY FROM LIMA SIGHS, RICH CARAMEL AND PEDRO XIMENEZ SOFT MERINGUE
 0 讚好

This was really nice because it was really sweet with lots of gooey marshmallow and caramel.
However I couldn't finish it because it got a bit too sweet and sickly.
They could have used a better brand of sweet crackers because the ones they served were not that good.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

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The bill: $1xx
Service: OK

New Peruvian chicken joint : Healthy Chicken

11/10/2014
Healthy Chicken
中環威靈頓街87號群英商業大廈地下A2舖
Shop A2, G/F, Khuan Ying Commercial Building, 87 Wellington St., Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/new-peruvian-chicken-joint-in-central-e2397849

Ever since I found out about Healthy Chicken I have been meaning to go because I love chicken but it wasn’t open yet.
Walked past one day and they were doing a soft opening.
Just took some quick photographs because there was a group of people there probably thinking that this girl is weird taking photos or they must have thought that I could have been a competitor or something like that.
I liked the menu because you can get plain chicken, chicken with sides or chicken wraps.
For the chicken, you can get the breast (which is skinless), the whole leg or even chicken wings.
Not many roast chicken shops have chicken wings on their own because it comes attached to the breast.

I went for the plate which had chicken with all the sides they have on offer, but since they were soft opening there was no cheese, pinto beans or the full choice of sauces.

Basically you choose which part of the chicken you want and then you go to the sides counter and lastly you choose a sauce and pay for it.
Next time I will try the breast because it seems to be kept moist in some liquid.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
My box of chicken being processed.
Three different rice flavours: brown, tomato and spinach.
Vegetables: tomato mix, grilled peppers and lettuce.

black beans

Ready to go after the sauce was put in.
(only two sauces that day because they were not officially open.)

The box is big with their logo stuck on it.

The price was $68 which was about right compared to La Rotisserie and Flame.

Salad:

Rice:

Chicken:

Tomatoes and mixed grilled peppers:

On the lid, it has the words Thank you on it.

Overall, I loved the rice especially the spinach and tomato flavoured one. The chicken was good but I think it would have been nicer if I ate it there.
Next time I will go for the breast instead of the chicken leg.

Hope to see more Peruvian items as this joint is listed as Peruvian.

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The bill: $68

Peruvian food at Mayta Peruvian Kitchen & Pisco Bar

MAYTA Peruvian Kitchen & Pisco Bar (Central)
15/11/2013
MAYTA Peruvian Kitchen & Pisco Bar
中環蘭桂坊15號協興大廈3樓
3/F, Grand Progress Building, 15 Lan Kwai Fong, Central
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/peruvian-food-e2331042

This is the only reason I like Hong Kong is that there are so many international restaurants nearby without needing to travel far!

Mayta has some quite nice Peruvian dishes which is why I have been there quite a few times.
Some of the dishes were quite chinese such as the rice pudding with red beans.
The soup was quite boring because it was mushroom soup, but the Peruvian corn was cool, they were like giant pieces of sweetcorn and were chewy and hard like purple sweetcorn.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pan Con Chicharron:

I was surprised they use the same Chinese steamed bun which is white.
The pan con chicharron had slices of crunchy pork belly, crispy purple sweet potato slices and tangy sauce which balanced the fatty pork and made it delicious.
After googling it, it appears that most places use normal buns and not these Chinese sweet buns that they sell in Little Bao and Bao Wow!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★