Chicama Peruvian Restaurant

Delicious food. We had the ceviche de pescado, Lomo saltado, papa rellena, papas a la huancaina, and bistec a lo pobre. Décor and bathroom cleanliness can be improved, therefore i gave it 4 stars.

We used to go to Norys is Anaheim for our share of jalea and chicha. Sadly, all good must come to an end and Norys closed. A new Peruvian restaurant took its place but it is not as good.
Then one cold winter afternoon, while cruising through fine Stanton (lol), we came across this gem. We actually passed it, since we were headed towards Gourmet Café, and 3 miles later, we decided to make a u turn and give it a try.
Husband was certain he wanted jalea. I wanted to try something different so I chose Seco de cordero (sheep stew). The kid had Arroz chaufa con carne. And I ordered a small cup of aguadito (cilantro chicken soup), and a pitcher of chicha.
First thing to come out was fresh bread, we were hungry, it tasted amazing. Then came my son’s rice. The plate was huge. We could all have eaten out of that thing. Then came my stew. I’m used to eating salty barbacoa so to me, the stew was on the sweet side. More of a shepherd’s pie flavor, still, really tasty. Lastly came the jalea. My husband was very anxious to try it because that dish was going to be the dictator of whether or not we had found our new favorite Peruvian spot. He ordered the large size. He ate about ½ and wished he could keep eating, but the portion was just too big. I tried his dish and it was really good. The shrimp were already peeled, the fish was so flaky! I brought the rest for lunch at work and a day later, in the microwave, it tasted just as good and fresh as the day before.
So yes, we found our Peruvian spot! All I have to say is price is moderate, but the portions are huge. So order a dish for two, then the price becomes cheap. This was an amazing find for us. So glad we made that u turn!!!

This place I awesome! I come here regularly and enjoy it every time. The people are very nice and accommodating, the food is great. The homemade empanadas and desserts are amazing. I take my friends and family here all the time. Highly recommended.

Unilocal Challenge 2015 ³²¹⁄₃₆₅
Puruvian fill up at Knott and Cerritos in a tiny plaza with super friendly service. Long time customer here since they took over the previous tenants. The gentlemen that usually runs the front counter is super friendly and brings out hot fresh bread immediately after you order to nurish your belly before the food comes out.
Pollo Saltado, a favorite dish cooked with sautéed tomatoes, onions, over a bed of fries accompanied by some rice. If chicken is not your passion, then order the Lomo Saltado, same dish but with beef. Usually the 2 dishes are great, but every now and then they come out dry.
Chicken fried rice with a side of fried bananas is also a go to dish for me. Throw in a few empanadas and I am happy as can be.
Nothing is better than a cold glass of Inka soda or their signature purple drink.
This place is alright.
#796

Food taste like it should. But two stars or maybe one star because the portions are extremely small for the price. Don’t recommend

So I’ve been craving Peruvian for a good week now. Luckily I found this little gem that’s pretty close to work so called in for pick up and got me some lomo saltado. It wasn’t to die for but it was pretty damn good that I’ll be returning for some more (maybe try other dishes tho) I’d say it’s better than marios! I actually got to try my friends arroz con pollo and thought that was bomb! The rice and the onions just mesh so well together. The green sauce was good but that extra kick won’t hurt either. Staff seems friendly and loved that the order was ready as soon as I stepped in.

I’ve never dined here before; only ordered my food to-​go. Never had to wait more than 10 – 15 minutes for my order to be ready.
Service is always great here and employees are always friendly. The entrees I’ve tried so far have been impressive. Lomo Saltado, Tallarines Saltado Con Carne, Arroz Chaufa Con Mariscos — all are served with generous portions, and thankfully not too salty. Aji sauce is spicy just as I like it. Their Alfajores (dulche de leche cookies) are made in-​house and I like taking them to work the next day so I could enjoy them with my coffee.

The food is great in this Peruvian little place. My favorite things to order are the Ceviche Mixto and Choros a la Chalaca.
I’m from Callao, Peru and believe me when I tell you this little mom and pops place does not disappoint. I’ve tried the Picante de Quinoa and the Aji de Gallina and I would order the Quinoa again.
The restaurant is decorated with a variety of Peruvian amenities, and most people that I’ve taken there, appreciate the pictures of the plates they have long side of the kitchen window area. I just hope the quality of the food doesn’t dwindle through time.
Four stars because when the weather was hot, I went in for my usual Ceviche and Choros with a Cusqueña, but the air conditioning left much to be desired. The fans were on but where I was sitting, it was a little too hot for my taste.
That being said, when it cools down you shouldn’t have any problems. The service is courteous, and the food always comes out at a reasonable amount of time.

I can be really tough on Peruvian restaurants and my tastes for Peruvian food is tough to satiate since I always compare the food to dishes I remember my grandmother and mom cooking for me or compare it to what I ate the last time I was in Peru (2014).
Given that disclaimer, this restaurant does a pretty good job.
Here are the dishes I would recommend:
— ceviche de pescado
— jalea de mariscos
— arroz con mariscos
— pescado a lo macho
— arroz chaufa
— chupe de camarones
— aguadito de pollo
— lomo saltado
— picante de pollo
Dishes I think are ok:
— seco de cordero
— arroz con pollo
— tallarin saltado
Dishes I do not plan on ordering again:
— pollo a la brasa
— tortilla de camarones
— saltado de vegetales
— bistec apanado
They make above average Peruvian food but I am still searching for that one place that will be amazing.
Almost forgot to mention. Parking is a BEAST in this little quad. I usually order take-​out and I end up having to double park so I can run in and get my food.

Per my friend who is in love with Peruvian food, I decided to try this place out when I was working out of office.
I have not tried a lot of Peruvian dishes before so I was not really sure what to expect. After 5 minutes, I was hooked! Why? Green sauce, green sauce, green sauce! That stuff is delicious! To clarify, when you dine in, you are given complimentary bread and green sauce («Chicama Green Sauce» which is on sale for $ 5/​bottle). The bottle is a little small, but definitely worth it.
I got the Lomo Saltado, which I am told is a classic Peruvian dish. Beef, french fries, fried egg (+$ 1) on top? SOLD. I have been here a couple of times now and 80% of the time, I’m telling the waiter: «I’ll get the Lomo Saltado with half green beans and half french fries; can I also add an egg to that?»
One of the few upsides of traveling to the OC-​area (in traffic) for work !

Yum!!! A new favorite! The green sauce is so good! Had to buy a bottle to take home. Beef empanadas were small but filling. The place is very small with just a handful of tables and no air conditioning (yikes!), but I would so go still because the food is delish. Parking really sucks because they’re in a small plaza with multiple shops and it feels like there may be 2 parking spots to every shop. So it’s a waiting game. I’ve seen folks double park too, but its probably as they’re doing take-​outs.
The menu items all sound about the same, but they have large photos on the walls so you can see what looks appetizing. I wanted to order everything! Can’t wait to go again.

Chicama is my local Peruvian joint. It’s in a tiny complex with not that much parking.
We picked up some pollo saltado, which is thinly sliced strips of chicken sautéed with some French fries and onions. I think the dish could use a bit more meat inside of it. At the very least, add more fries and put less onions.
We really enjoyed the ceviche. Large chunks of seafood with plenty of citrus flavor.
I looked over the rest of the menu and I’m looking toward my second visit.

I was really excited to try this place out. Seeing the multiple favorable reviews gave me high expectations. Just want to note that I’m only commenting on the food rather than the dining experience as I took my food to go.
I ordered an arroz con chaufa, one of my favorite Peruvian dishes. However, when I got home and started chowing down I was immediately disappointed. The food was overly seasoned with soy sauce which made it very salty. The plate also had clumps of rice, almost as if the food had been sitting in a pot for a while.
I plan on giving this place another try hoping that I just went on a bad day.

Pollo Saltado and the steak Saltado is what we ordered to go. Both were ok but I’ve had better. I thought the portion was small for the price.
Empanadas were good.
Desert was amazing!!! Shortbread cookies with a dulce de leche filling were amazing.

I just came home from eating mother’s day dinner here with my mom (who really likes Peruvian food). It was our first time trying it out and I’m SO happy we decided to do so, because the food was REALLY good.
The restaurant itself is located on the corner of a small strip mall, at the intersection of Cerritos Ave and Knott Ave. We were able to get parking right in front, and when we walked in we were promptly greeted.
The interior is small, but pleasant. The establishment was clean, there were a number of Peruvian/​Incan decorations adorning the walls, and the tables/​chairs were sturdy. I really enjoyed the music they had on, as well — acoustic guitar versions of popular songs (Shakira, ABBA, etc).
It was very clear that the restaurant is family run, and I believe it’s the son that was serving us? We were given menus, bread with green sauce, and iced water. The green sauce was really good! It had a great consistency, and went very well with the soft bread. I ate too much bread. Haha.
I ended up ordering my go to Peruvian dish: Aji de Gallina ($ 10). My mom got a half order of the Jalea de Mariscos, which was highly recommended by our server and described on the menu as «deep fried breaded calamari, shrimp, and fish, seasoned in a mixture of Peruvian spices. Accompanied by salsa criolla and fried yucca.» ($ 11). A full sized order is $ 18… but the half size was so big that I can’t imagine any one person comfortably eating a full sized order (my mom ate a lot and still took half of her dish home).
My Aji de Gallina was amazing! It was thick, creamy, and flavorful. The shredded chicken was cooked well, as were the potatoes.
My mom loved her Jalea de Mariscos. She kept raving about the breading — how light and flavorful it was. I tried a piece of shrimp, which was very tasty, as well as a piece of fish, which was very tender. The seafood was definitely fresh and breaded in the restaurant, not frozen. The yucca was pretty good too! Her dish also came with fried corn and tartar sauce for dipping (which was flavorful and not too heavy).
All in all, our dishes were so good that I wanted to try more… except I was really full, so I figured I’d get some dessert to go. They had about 6 different dessert items to offer (crêpe wrapped plantain, Peruvian ice cream, shaved ice, funnel cake, something that looked like the Peruvian version of flan, etc). At the top of the list were alfajores (6 for $ 5.50). I hadn’t had alfajores in a long time, so I decided to try some. Eeeee what a great way to end the meal! The cookie portion was so buttery, flaky, and delicious, and the filling was sweet but not TOO sweet. So, so, so good!
Their menu was actually really big, and had a variety of appetizers, soup, ceviche, seafood, chicken/​meat, and side dishes to choose from. They also had a wide variety of drink options (including Inka Cola, a dragon fruit/​pitaya smoothie, margaritas, and beer), as well as the aforementioned delicious dessert options.
The service wasn’t the fastest, but everyone was very nice/​pleasant and the food was SO amazing. It’s the best Peruvian food I’ve found thus far. I can’t wait to go back and try more dishes!

This place is amazing! If you’re in the area, you need to check it out, it’s the best Peruvian restaurant in north Orange County. It’s a small, family run place. Service is typically quick, the prices are more than fair, and the portions on main dishes are generous. As a appetizers they bring french bread and green spicy sauce which is amazing together. The only possible complaint I have is the parking. The tiny parking lot serves too many business and tends to have only two or three spots available. Only once did I have to park in the parking lot one over, and even then it was a ten second walk.
The Beef Saltados and the Lamb Stew are delicious. The empanadas are also pretty good, but I’ve honestly had better and small for the price. Still tasty. There’s also a children’s menu with children-​friendly items that are little less worldly, like chicken fingers and french fries.
All and all, great restaurant, one of the best places Stanton has to offer.

This place is amazing! I crave it multiple times a week. The wife and husband who run it are very nice and care that you are enjoying your food.
We LOVE:
— Tallarines (spaghetti) Saltado con carne (SO GOOD)
— Lomo Saltado (AMAZING as well)
— Empanadas are great too, the dipping sauce is really unique. I can’t recall if we ordered chicken or beef.
They bring you bread and their spicy, but delicious hot sauce (green chile sauce). You can even buy a bottle, they make it in-​house.
I love this place and will keep going here!

Ceviche Ceviche Ceviche!!!
I have been wanting to check out Chicama for the longest time, but just got lazy. Finally, yesterday I had such a craving for Ceviche, so decided to stop by. It is good quality at a great price.
Why the low rating, you may ask? Pollo saltado was not that great. Just okay and expensive, not worth it.
Will try something else next time.

Thanks to my Unilocaler friends Gigi and Sandra i finally made it here !
We started off with Papa rellena which it was the biggest potato i ever seen in a Peruvian restaurant, we ordered empanadas and the Chicken tamal our appetizers were really good .
We ordered for our entrees their Parihuela soup, aji de gallina, tallarines verdes with their rostiserrie chicken and picante quinoa de carne.
The soup it was ok same as their tallarines verdes, the best one was the Aji de gallina that was soo authentic it reminded me when my grandmas used to make that for me when i was little .
We will come back to try some other dishes, i would say it was worth the 1 hour drive and my family liked it.

I’ve only eaten three Peruvian meals and they all came from this place; each one progressively worse.
Since I have no experience with this cuisine, I cannot say whether or not I dislike the food or this restaurant.
Well, yes, I do dislike this restaurant.
Today’s fish tasted frozen and it was served undercooked. The fish was soft and watery. While the sauce had an okay flavor (I ordered it spicy) the texture of the fish was alarming.
This place was so bad that I ended up losing my lunch (ugh) and had to go pick up a sub from Subway later in the afternoon.
Never again!

A few I have tried out: Pollo saltado ($ 10.50), Arroz con Pollo ($ 9.50), Lomo Saltado ($ 10.50) and the Tallarines Saltados con Carne O Pollo ($ 10.50).
The saltados are a tried and true… consistently spot on delicious. They’re a tad heavy handed on the onions and less so on the protein but I’ve never asked if I could pay extra for extra protein. There is no other gripe with that dish; it is always tasty and delicious. My second favorite item to order is the arroz con pollo which is a ¼ chicken with cilantro rice, onions, red peppers and green peas cooked in peruvian beer. The rice is nicely seasoned and not overly cilantro-​y. (I actively avoid cilantro.) The Tallarines saltado is the same main filling as the other saltados but with spaghetti. The spaghetti is al dente but I still prefer the rice dishes which absorb the sauce more readily.
I’ve ordered this to go as well as eaten in numerous times. The owners are always very nice and I’ve always had great service and a warm welcome. Always ask for the green sauce and bread! They are very generous regardless if you are eating in or getting it to go; I’m always afraid that I’ll miss out on my green sauce. It’s addictively spicy but I think it brings a different level of awesome to the dishes!
The only downside I can think is the times that I have been there it was a little hot inside the restaurant. They have a few fans but I’m not sure if they have A/​C.