The Peruvian Spot Revisited

Recently, I was hankering for a Cubano….but of course Havana Grill in Clairemont had closed! So, I decided to go for something else…..maybe a sanguche? I know a lot of folks really like Sangucheria…but to be perfectly honest, I’ve been underwhelmed by the sanguches there on my three visits….they use telera rolls….nothing like the traditional Peruvian Pan Frances like they do at places like Dona Paulina in Lima. And while the Sanguche at The Peruvian Spot was pretty massive, I did enjoy the Sanguche de Chicharron there when I visited back in February of last year. They also open at 10am, so I could beat any crowds in that rather small parking lot on the corner of Mesa College Drive and Ashford.

It was pretty quiet during my visit. With only one other customer….who seemed like a regular coming in for an order.

I was rather surprised to see that the Sanguche de Chicharron was still priced at $14.95….it hadn’t gone up in the last year-and-a-half. Of course, there were some alarm bells going off in mi cabeza, wondering if what I’d get would be radically different from my previous visit.

I was happy to see Bottled Inka Cola, which is vastly superior to the canned and plastic bottled versions. If I recall, the nice woman, who if I recall correctly is the owner told me this was imported…which means it uses cane sugar instead of corn syrup….it also is much cleaner tasting with an awesome light “fizziness”.

As for the sandwich….well, it’s still quite large!

But it has definitely changed! Instead of a variety of pork cuts, thinly sliced, and decent fat, with good porkiness, this version had three thick, tough, and dry slices of pork.

Only that middle slice had a decent pork flavor, the other two thick and dry chops was definitely in the “other white meat” category. The roll was still very nice, fairly light and yeasty, and held up pretty well. Nice layer of camote slices added a good sweetness. The salza criolla tasted more like straight-forward pickled onions, really sour, and lacking in a touch of spice. And there seemed to be a bit too much of it.

If you’d like to see what the sanguche de chicharron looked like before, here’s a photo.

Hmmm……..

Well, in terms of price….you do get quite a large sandwich….but in my opinion, it’s nothing like what it used to be. It’s not bad mind you; it’s just not as good in my mind.

The Peruvian Spot
7510 Mesa College Dr.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Sunday, Tues – Fri 10am – 8pm
Closed on Saturday and Monday