**** Pisco has closed
If you've read this blog long enough; you know that I love the cuisine of Peru; which, in addition to unique indigenous foods includes an amazing mish mash of all those who came upon its shores, there's something about the food of Peru that really strikes a chord with me.
Funny thing, I recently had an email asking if I'd tried Pisco Rotisserie & Cevicheria, which opened a few months ago in Liberty Station. I replied that I had eaten there 3 times. I was then asked why I hadn't posted on the place yet. I answered that I wanted one more visit before I did a post. I think Pisco did that to me. Opened by Sami Ladecki in the former location of his namesake Sammy's Woodfired Pizza in Liberty Station. I was told that Pisco was designed as his love letter to Peruvian Cuisine, I was really excited to visit.
And my good buddy Candice was more than happy to humor me.
I liked the interior, colorful, yet understated, the service was very good, except when it came to understanding what the place was serving. When we asked about certain dishes, we got blank and confused looks….which happened on a couple of my visits. Good spirited tries……but no cigar.
The Pisco Sour was decent, certainly, not in the league of what we've had in Lima.
It was bit on the weak side. One of my acquaintances told me it tasted more like a margarita than a pisco sour.
The canchita was spot on; not too salty, nice and warm.
And it was just screaming for some cebiche.
Which is what came out first….the "Classico" of course.
While the portion size was fairly small for twelve bucks; the whitefish was nicely "cooked" by the leche de tigre. Very tender in texture, good balance, leche de tigre not too sour, I enjoyed the chocolo (peruvian corn), but lamented the small portion of camote (sweet potato), which wasn't flavored correctly and was too mushy for my taste.
We'd recently been back in Lima rather recently and had really enjoyed the "Leche de Tigre" styled dishes at places like El Veridico de Fidel, I was intrigued by what the Martini de Tigre ($14) was going to be like.
This was way too acidic, sour, and spicy to enjoy. The seafood was nicely prepared, but it was difficult enjoying the dish.
Up next was the Causitas with Crab ($15). This was a very nice version of the classic causita; the potatoes creamy, the crab sweet, without too much mayo.
The potatoes were very moist, not too heavy and the tobiko added a nice textural and slight briney flavor to the dish. the tomatoes added a bit of acid as well.
Of course I had to order what I consider to be, along with cebiche, the national dish of Peru; Lomo Saltado ($16 + $2 for an egg). Adding an egg was a no-brainer.
I love lomo saltado as you can see if you do a search on the blog. On our last trip to Peru, we were struck at how this dish has seemed to evolved into Lomo saltado con Tacu Tacu. Unfortunately, this dish made me rather sad. First off; the dinner fries just seemed out of place, being too large and dry. The beef was on the tough side and had a slight metallic flavor to it. The overall balance in flavor was off and this was just too salty to enjoy.
The Braised Lamb Shoulder ($25) was very interesting. This seemed to be a take on Seco de Cordero.
We didn't care for the texture of the lamb, which was shredded, making things seem a bit mushy. But they sure didn't hold back on the mildly minty-anise-bitter, yet sweet flavor of huacatay. It just went so well with lamb. I enjoyed the crisp fried kale and the sweet Cipollini onion, even though they seemed a bit out of place in this dish. Overall, a very nice entrée.
The visit was a mixed bag that showed some potential. After all, it was grand opening and all that.
So, a few weeks later, I decided to return for just a Pisco Sour and the Cebiche Classico. This time I sat at the bar and met a nice fellow named "Mike" who was from Peru. We had a ncie chat and I got my cebiche.
This version wasn't nearly as good as what I'd had on my previous visit. The leche de tigre was very sour; the fish tough, with a mild fishy taste. On a funny note; when I lamented the portion size of the camote, Mike told me, "in Lima, we most feed that to the dogs anyway"! Must be some lucky dogs. This wasn't very good….which you can just see…..
Still, I waited a couple of weeks and dropped by during Happy Hour. Since I'd enjoyed the causitas the last time; I ordered the "Grilled Octopus:.
A causita by any other name; the garlic infused mashed potatoes were excellent, as was the tender octopus. Not enough piquillo peppers to make much of an impact, though what seemed to be an aji rocoto based sauce was delicious as it did a very nice job of cutting any of the richness in the dish.
On my previous visit, "Mike" had recommended the Carne Empanada, so I ordered that as well. The creamy huacaina sauce proved to be a nice foil for the onions. The filling had a nice flavor, with a mild sweet-smokiness that I detected.
Unfortunately, the middle of the empanada was barely lukewarm.
Not a bad visit, but not great, I was left with mixed feelings.
And so my photos resided in limbo, just kind of hanging around waiting for me to post. Until that faithful email (thanks ST!). I was almost reluctant to return, but decided that enough time had past and I needed to get this post done. So, last week I returned. I again sat at the bar. The dining room was pretty quiet when I arrived, but quickly filled up.
I sat at the bar trying to decided on what to order. I went back to the first few times I had Peruvian food; back in the 90's, living in LA…..the gateway dish for me was Pollo ala Brasa, rotisserie chicken. It had been a while since I'd had a good version. So why not go with the Half Chicken ($17), which came with two sides. I went with the Choclo Garlic Rice and Canary Beans.
Three sauce were provided for the chicken, which came in handy since, while the skin of the chicken was nicely flavored, the meat was a bit dry and on the bland side. The garlic rice was mushy, very salty, and the cholco a bit too hard. The canary beans were very nice; perfectly prepped, excellent texture, slightly smokey….man, they would have killed it with some tacu tacu. That chimichurri sauce was quite heady; though it had me missing the aji verde that used to be served with the pollo a la brasa we used to eat way back when. 
So, what to say about Pisco? I've got mixed feelings. I enjoy more restaurant choices, but have never been one to be "just happy to have it", if you know what I mean. I think the best explanation of the food at Pisco is what "Mike" told me that day at the bar when I mentioned that what I'd had at Pisco just wasn't quite "there", if you know what I mean. He told me, "look, I think Pisco is Peruvian food for those who never had Peruvian food. It's an introduction." Fair enough; I had my "gateway dish" all those years ago, but have grown and expanded my horizons. Hopefully, Pisco will too.
Pisco Rotisserie & Cevicheria
2401 Truxtun Rd
San Diego, CA 92106
Hours:
Sun – Thurs 5pm – 9pm
Fri – Sat 5pm – 10pm
The interior and table decor has remained the same (if you order coffee($2.50), you get whatever cup design is available) and the breakfast menu (at the bottom of this post) is fairly basic; the same ingredients in different combinations, prepared very well.
The diced ham scramble ($9.75) is made with the in-house mesquite smoked ham (Izzy's has it's own wood pit barbecue), cheese and three eggs, served with a choice of sides (these country potatoes or hash browns or grits)as well as a choice of muffin, biscuit, fresh fruit or toast (rye, of course was my order). {The list of daily muffin choices is on the white board at the front door}. We both asked for a side of the house made salsa, which is wonderful. I always add condiments after about halfway through a meal, making it seem like a different entree. 
Also on the white board at the front door are daily specials, The Mister chose this one-two blueberry pancakes (made with fresh blueberries), two eggs and two sausage (or bacon) ($10.50). The pancakes were light with crisp edges and the plump blueberries were warm and burst with flavor- I didn't think the cakes needed syrup. The sausage is local made and large. It's a skinned type, made with mild (not traditional breakfast sausage) spices. The eggs were perfectly over easy. 
