two hours after amtrak deposited team mago (amazingly on time) in the city of roses, we were seated in andina drinking chilean beer and oregon pinot while listening to our earnest waiter describe three different dipping condiments that came with the restaurant’s whole wheat and quinoa bread. it marked the start of a very nice lunch.
the bread was light, airy, and just slightly chewy. each dip was not only very nice by itself, but the sum was greater than the parts as they provided distinct contrasts. the jalapeno and mint puree (on the left) sported a very decent hit of heat that played nicely against the mango dip’s refreshing acidity. perhaps the most interesting condiment, however, was a rocoto (on the right, aperuvianpepper that provided subtle heat in addition to an interesting flavor profile) and peanut sauce thickened with breadcrumbs.
my previous encounters withperuviancuisine stretch back a couple decades to el polo rico, a roasted chicken franchise that took northern virginia by storm in the 90s. their repertoire consisted of fairly good rotisserie chicken, steak fries, rice, and coleslaw served with jalapeno and mayonnaise sauces. none of this food was particularly peruvian, but the price was right and the staff spoke spanish (although i suspect most of them came from mexico and central america along with the rest of just about every commercial kitchen in the us). so i never felt the siren call of this incredible cuisine, until the 2014 winter tour rolled into the portland.
andina serves authentic traditional and novo-andeanperuviandishes that are from a completely different universe wherein the laws of culinary physics simply do not apply to cut rate rotisserie chicken purveyors that can be found in most of the world these days. the extensive sunday brunch menu listed 34 tapas and 13 entrees. we never got past the tapas, which can be ordered in small, medium, or large portions. we found that four small portion