Knowsee Blog

Knowsee recommends Entire Menu @ Picca Peru

With the arrival of Mini Me more than a year ago, Edward and I really needed a couple hours away by ourselves. More importantly, my taste buds were begging me for something other than mac ‘n cheese scraps off the my toddler’s highchair.

I saw some pictures on Instagram from a restaurant called Picca Peru, “Peruvian food with Japanese flair”. I was very intrigued. After researching around for the the must have dishes at this newly opened restaurant, I was having a hard time getting good recommendations. Since the restaurant just opened in late June and we went in July, there were minimal Yelp reviews and comments on Facebook. I resorted to Twitter where Jesse @tricerapops referred me to his sister Kimberly @dangitkimberly who had been to Picca Peru. She gifted me with her best recommendations of this amazing place. Armed with a list of the best dishes, we were off to Picca Peru.

As soon as I stepped into the restaurant, I felt a surge of excitement run through my body. The decor was minimalist chic and the atmosphere was heightened by the Latin jazz playing in the background.

Completely equipped with my personal recommendations,we proceeded with our drink order. I knew I made the right choice when I saw master mixologist Julian Cox at the bar. I rarely get cocktails before my dinner but there was a couple of must have drinks on my recommendation list. Lucky for me, almost everything on the cocktail menu had pisco in it. I developed a love affair with Pisco ever since my trip to South America earlier this year. I got the Chilcan de Anis which was made with PISCO, lime juice, ginger syrup, anise mixed with soda water with a spray of Pernod then poured over crushed ice. It was a perfect cocktail for a warm summer night. Light, sparkly and tart.

I urged Edward to get the Martin Ricky since it was on @dangitkimberly’s recommendation list. I swear I didn’t know it was going to be a pink drink served in a cup adorned with gold accents. ;) Either way, it was delicious. The Martin Ricky was created with lime juice, grapefruit juice, peychaud bitters, simple syrup, PISCO, soda and strawberry airs. Writing this now really makes me wanna kick myself in the arse for not ordering a second round of drinks.

As we started to order, our very friendly server was impressed that we had a list. (yes, your truly memorized the recommendations, those years at UCLA memorizing lecture notes for Soc 101 is finally paying off.)

We started out with the chicharron de pollo which is marinated crispy chicken, salsa criolla and rocoto sauce. The portion was just right to share for 2 people and it was the right amount of crispy and right amount of protein in each bite.

Then came the causa sushi which was what I have been wanting to try. We ordered the albacore with garlic chip, ceviche sauce and the scallops with mentaiko.

Causa is a staple Peruvian food. It’s a mixture of yellow mashed potatoes flavored with lime, onion, chili & oil. Chef Ricardo Zarate puts a spin on the traditional causa by topping the potato mass with sushi. I loved the texture of the causa sushi. It was creamy and fluffy at the same time. The sushi was fresh and the mayo and ceviche sauce gave the dish an extra kick.

Next up was the ceviche. We ordered the ceviche crocante which was made with halibut, leche de tigre, topped of with crispy calamari. This was Edward’s favorite dish and also came highly recommended by @dangitkimberly. As someone who loves spicy and sour flavors and anything crispy, this was his perfect dish.

The anticuchos came next. Anticuchos are basically skewers. We opted for the the black cod with miso and the scallops with aioli. I loved the black cod as it was so buttery and melted in my mouth. The scallops were also delicious and the aioli was a nice complement. 

Then came the locro de quinoa. Edward was hesitant at first because the dish consisted of 2 of his least favorite things, quinoa and pumpkin. I assured him to trust @dangitkimberly’s personal recommendations and he was nicely surprised at how much he liked the dish. It is a pumpkin quinoa stew , choclo,parmesan cheese and crispy tomato. I was tempted to order another plate but decided to keep the little room I have in my happy stomach for another dish. 

Last but not least is chicharron de costillas. This was a crispy port sandwich topped with sweet potato puree, feta cheese sauce and salsa. The crostini was bigger than I expected so it was a perfect sharing size for us. 

Although my stomach over runneth, I always save some room for dessert. Of course we got the churros which came with 3 dipping sauces, caramel, orange and chocolate.  

Whenever we try a new restaurant, there are always hits and misses. But with personal recommendations, there are bound to be more hits. Picca Peru is an amazing restaurant but being prepared with our list of recommendations from our friends, the entire dining experience was more enjoyable. Everything was beyond delicious and my tastes buds are buzzing with happiness. 

This is the reason why we are building Knowsee. We know personal recommendations are powerful and saw that an app was needed to share the best of’s and the must have’s with your circle of friends and family. 

So I highly recommend this restaurant for date night or any night. We plan to go back with more people so we can try everything on the menu. 

Recommendations:

Cocktails:
Everything!

Starters: 
Chicharron de Pollo

Causa Sushi: 
Albacore
Scallops

Ceviche: 
Ceviche de Crocante

Anticuchos (skewers)
Black Cod
Scallops

Main Course: 
Chicharron de Costilla
Locro de Quinao

Dessert: 
Churros

Picca Peru
9575 West Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Tel: 310-277-0133