Latin Chef

I come here every once in a while for the happy hour. An all you can eat lunch buffet for $ 8.99. Truly amazing. The food is really good. Too good almost. I always overeat. You can’t beet the deal — weekdays from noon to 3pm. The interior is pretty chill, fits right into PB. It is very clean and the service is very nice, attentive and fast. Also I have seen all kinds of people here from families to businessmen. They all come here. Also they have well selected background music. Not like that’s too important, but they play my personal favorites many times :)
Try any of their chicken dishes and or better, try all of their chicken dishes. A must for every Brazilian and a treat for everyone else. The only downside: your lunch break is too short for how much you want to eat.

My only complaint is about the Papas a la Huancaína. I’ve lived in Peru and this is my favorite dish, but the sauce I was served here was from a powdered mix. Traditional Huancaína sauce would not be bright neon yellow, nor would it have gobs of black pepper. There’s no way this sauce was prepared from scratch. My family enjoyed everything else, but most of what they ordered was from the Brazilian menu.

Tried the buffet, $ 12 per person. I was skeptical at first since I’ve never heard of Peruvian buffet. However, It was well worth the price and drive from Torrey Pines. Good home-​style cooking with great flavors. We tried all dishes offered tonight: papa rellena, arroz con pollo, pollo a la brasa, tamale, escabeche, aji de gallina, lentejas and picarones. Will come back again!

Not bad, not great. I made the mistake of having some expectations, and you know how that turns out. You end up disappointed, and somehow, the establishments deserve 1-​star reviews. Well, I’ll show you how a Unilocal Elite does it, suckaaaaaa!
This place is decent. I see that it gets some trickles of traffic. After only one visit, I can hardly tell you all they offer. I hear that they have buffets during the weekdays, which can absolutely excite potential and existing clientele.
They have separate menus for Brazilian and Peruvian cuisine. Some menus have both of them attached. I went for Peruvian because that didn’t seem as common to offer in San Diego. I got the Chaufa con Pollo, which was the Peruvian-​Chinese fried rice with chicken. (If you didn’t know, there has been a prominent Chinese influence on cuisine in Peru.)
Prices are decent, but somehow, the portions don’t justify it. If you’re absolutely starving, these portions might not hit the spot. I could have ordered a 2^nd entrée for my meal to be filling. But I suppose the best thing to do would be to order multiple dishes, which, naturally, would add up.
Fortunately, the taste of the food is good.
The brigadeiro for dessert was very rich. You wouldn’t guess for something so small like that.
Street parking nearby is the only option, whether it be directly on Garnet or in the residential streets. If you frequent PB, you know how it is.
Would I recommend this place? That’s tough to say. It’s not bad, but I can see where it can disappoint certain types of people, especially if they’ve had similar cuisine elsewhere. It won’t ‘wow’ too many people, but not everybody is looking to be ‘wow’ed. I personally love variety, and let’s face it. There aren’t many places that offer Peruvian cuisine. So for that sake, I would absolutely recommend this place. Just know that it’s conditional.

We had the ceviche mixto, papa a la huancaina, lomo saltado and aji de gallina. Everything was just like how my ex husbands family makes it in Peru. It was excellent! And the best part… You can bring your own beer or wine and there is no corkage fee!!! Lastly, there are a few items you can purchase to make your own Peruvian food at home.

Being born in Peru i gotta say that sadly this restaurant is slowly decaying in the quality of food and amounts for the prices charged… this new waitress is more worried about flirting w some guys at a table than taking care of everyone else. …gave 2 napkins for a 4 people table and never came to check on us after the food was brought to the table… not happy at all on this visit, which is more than likely going to be my last. Also, the owner just so happens not to be here today is a disaster.

I came this place to have dinner while I’m here in San Diego. It was highly recommended by a good friend, and I can see why he spoke wonders about this place. The food was the best Peruvian food ever!!! I will have to make a second trip before I leave.

I’ve visited Latin Chef once before and both times I have not been disappointed. Latin Chef is centrally located in PB right across the st from McDonalds on Garnet. It’s pretty funny because I’ve been here with my bf and his sister both times and all of us have ordered the exact same thing.
We started off by ordering the coxhina which is a fried flour pastry with chicken inside-It’s delicious and I’m very happy that they have it here. My bf’s sister really likes the «Papa a la Huancaina” — it’s an interesting dish that I can’t really described because I only had a couple bites but I know there are potatoes in a mustard like sauce.
Both times I’ve visited I had the «Seco de carne de res» which is a beef stew in a rich flavor cilantro sauce, served with beans and rice. It’s delicious. The «carne de res» in this dish is very tender and the flavors are so rich and perfect it reminds me of a home cooked meal. The quality is very nice and the atmosphere of Latin Chef makes you feel like you are right at home.
My bf had the beef stroganoff– I had a couple bites and it wasn’t really the flavors that I liked but he loved it– It had a generous portion of mushrooms for the mushroom lovers.
Latin Chef is a hidden gem in the middle of Garnet :) definitely worth the try.

This is one of this places that maybe if you pass you wont come in. I was recommended so for sure I had to try.
During the week they serve a buffet but they also have a la carte menu actually two menus, Peruvian and Brazilian.
Humble place but good food for a fare price. Give a try.
I had brazilian filet a milanesa, with fried bananas, guarana to drink and a brigadeiro. So good

It’s super hard to find parking for this place and after driving around for 5 minutes we got a spot the next block over. We walk there only to find they closed 35 minutes early. I guess they don’t care about doing business.

Pretty small, casual establishment. I had the yuca and the ceviche de pescado. The ceviche was pretty good, but very salty. I tend to like things salty and it still was a bit too much for me, but edible. (Note: I lived in Peru and have a high standard for ceviche)
One thing I was super excited about was the lucuma ice cream. I have never found it in the US before — apparently they get it from a woman in Mexico who makes it herself! It was quite tasty and refreshing.

When you arrive there, you can thought that it couldn’t be that much but when you taste it…
You can definitely say that reminds the taste of your homemade town (Brazil!). Few options when you look at but, makes you totally satisfied. It’s delicious and worthy to try!

Food itself was ok, but we could not get waiters to bring us any water. They kept ignoring us the whole time.

I hate giving 1 star reviews. Two is typically my lowest rating, but I will never go back here again, unfortunately. I didn’t have a bad experience, but just an experience and the food is decent. The food is way over priced compared to other places in PB and my order portions were extremely stingy.
It’s a peruvian/​brazilian restaurant and they have 2 menus. The guy who was working there was really friendly and telling me about the popular items once I asked. He seemed very persistent with my friend and I ordering, so we finally decided on something. Note that mostly every entrée on the menus come with rice and fries. We asked to sub our fries for yuca (c’mon, it’s part of their culture and cuisine), but we weren’t allowed to substitute. He also said if we were to order yuca, we would have to eat it right away because it’s not as good 40 minutes later (we were ordering to-​go). Hate to be rude, but boxing up french fries to take to-​go I’m sure isn’t any better than eating yuca fries 40 minutes later.
I ordered the beef stroganoff, as he said it’s one of their popular items. It was $ 14, cash only, and came with like I said, fries and rice (white rice). The food was made really quickly which was pleasant. When I got home to eat it, the fries and rice took up ²⁄₃ of my to-​go box. I would NEVER pay $ 14 for a small portion of what my entrée is supposed to be and to be filled with french fries, which I can get a lot cheaper for $ 1 elsewhere, and white rice, which I have an X pound bag at home. The beef stroganoff itself was tasty, but half of it was mushrooms.
Sorry, but no =\

I have never had Peruvian food, let me start by saying and I was a little skeptical to say the least when my Peruvian friend suggested it when we starving. She said she always came and knew exactly what to order and let me tell you, I was NOT disappointed! I LOVED it, it was delicious!
I had the «Yucca Frita» which was yucca fried, and looked and tasted like french fries or potatoes! Yum! We also shared what she suggested– the «Solmo Saltado» which was marinated beef strips sautéed with onions and tomatoes with french fries and rice. French fries you say?! Yes! French fries! If they put it in a Cali B why not sautéed?
Anyways it was delicious! The only downfall is the place– it could be spruced up a bit. From walking in, it gives you an impression of a hole in the wall shop and kind of worries you walking in if its your first time because you can’t tell by the appearance of the place if the food will be great or make you sick, lol. I guess that’s why they say don’t judge a book by its cover because the dishes pulled out of there were gourmet all the way down to the rice served upside down in a little circle square. Great presentation.
Coming here I was worried of having a scary bridesmaid experience like the movie but I left feeling great and wanting to come back.
Great, delicious, food.
Just beware– CASH only. Haha we forgot but I’ll remember next time ;)

I really liked this restaurant. It doesn’t have the best curb appeal, but most of the best restaurants scare you a little bit when you walk in.
We just passed by this place and were hungry and decided to give it a chance. Like, we didn’t even Unilocal it beforehand, you guys! We were living on the edge. I’ll admit, I was nervous having not thoroughly vetted it via Unilocal before sitting down. When the menu was presented to us, however, I was pleased to see it seemed like a legit Peruvian/​Brazilian restaurant.
I ordered the Aji de Gallina, which is a chicken dish and not something I would typically order from a place I knew nothing about. Meat freaks me out and I’m extremely picky about eating it. But when my plate arrived it was stacked full of beautiful pieces of chicken breast. Not a weird piece of meat in sight!
I loved my meal and my husband loved his as well. We ordered the Yuca Frita to start and also a side of fried plantains because if you ever see me in a place that serves fried plantains and I’m not eating fried plantains, you have my permission to slap me upon my face and shame me for my error in judgement.
Another bonus? They have Inca Kola here. When my husband and I first met ten years ago, our favorite place to hang out was a Peruvian restaurant in Oxnard and he would always order Inca Kola. It used to freak me out and I made fun of him for drinking it. I’ve not seen it anywhere else besides that restaurant, though. Until we went into Latin Chef. Unfortunately neither of us are soda drinkers anymore, but it was a sweet blast from the past to see that bright yellow soda all around us.

My favorite is Lomo Saltado, a Peruvian dish.
Second favorite is their beef stroganoff over rice.
We always get their Coxina for appetizers with hot sauce. If you don’t order anything else, get one of these for $ 3 and it’ll fill you up nicely. They were so good, we ordered a ton as appetizers for my sister’s wedding

Latin Chef… what can I say about you?
I’ve been frequenting them occasionally since 2008. Their Lomo Saltado is on point. I also love their Tallarin con Bistec… and that one yellow dish with the shredded chicken? I love that they have Lucuma Ice Cream (sooo yummy). The atmosphere is also very mom and pop so I think it gives it an even more authentic experience. I definitely recommend them for anybody that needs their Peruvian fix.

We had a good service from our server, my meal (shrimp soup, in a coconut milk stock) was delicious, and the Tallarines Saltado that my mother in-​law ordered it was really good, now why only three stars, well because the Picante de Mariscos had no flavor, and the Pescado a la Chorrillana was way to spicy. But even that, still is a place that deserves a second chance.

The food was tasty. I had the lomo saltado and liked my first taste.
However as it has been mentioned in other reviews, once the waitress brought the food she did not come back to check on us. I had to get up to get more water.