Review: Rocoto's Grill

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7/11/2015 Review: Rocoto’s Grill San Antonio ExpressNews

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RESTAURANTS Review: Rocoto’s Grill

By Edmund Tijerina | July 2, 2015 | Updated: July 2, 2015 6:00pm

Photo: John Davenport /San Antonio ExpressNews

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Peruvian rotisserie chicken, or Pollo a las Brasa, features crisp skin, and tender, juicy meat.

http://www.expressnews.com/food/restaurants/article/ReviewRocotosGrill6363664.php#photo8250791 1/5 7/11/2015 Review: Rocoto’s Grill San Antonio ExpressNews One taste of Peruvian pollo a la brasa and you’ll never look at chicken the same way again.

The rotisserie chicken, flavored with a mixture of paprika, garlic, soy sauce and other spices, is one of the most traditional dishes in Peru, and it shines at Rocoto’s Grill, where chef Damaris Trinidad and her family celebrate the gorgeous and complex interplay of flavors that are the hallmarks of their homeland’s cuisine.

At this familyowned restaurant just a few miles from SeaWorld San Antonio, the bright and tart cebiche (Peruvian spelling) sings with an unforgettable clarity, while the smoky beefiness of anticuchos satisfies deeply and the butterscotchlike flavor of the tropical fruit lucuma shines in a licuado (smoothie) and an ice cream.

Both the menu and the friendly sincerity of the Trinidad family entranced me when I first reviewed the restaurant, but I was curious as to how the place was holding up five years later. In restaurant terms, five years is an eternity and most independently owned restaurants don’t last that long, and those that do usually change considerably.

Fortunately, Rocoto’s still captivates. Of the few changes I noticed, they were for the better.

To be sure, the food still is the main MORE INFORMATION attraction. Service is friendly and knowledgeable — family members and Rocotos Grill their staff gladly take the extra ★★★

moments to explain the cuisine to those 10555 Culebra Road inside Loop 1604, 210521 unfamiliar with it — but the place is 4367, www.rocotosgrill.com

casual and the polished interior evokes Quick bite: Experience the many joys of http://www.expressnews.com/food/restaurants/article/ReviewRocotosGrill6363664.php#photo8250791 2/5 7/11/2015 Review: Rocoto’s Grill San Antonio ExpressNews the feel of a chain restaurant. All the Peruvian home cooking more reason to focus on the dishes. Hit: Cebiches, escabeche de pescado, alfajores

Miss: Pescado a lo macho could have been Peruvian cuisine is one of the world’s spicier great fusion foods, combining Hours: 11 a.m.9 p.m. MondaySaturday; noon influences from Spain, Italy, West 6 p.m. Sunday

Africa, China and Japan, while Price range: Appetizers, $3.99$19.99; piqueos maintaining its roots in the indigenous (appetizer samplers), $13$40; pollo a la brasa, $7.99$19.99; main dishes (chicken, beef, populations that predated the arrival of seafood, pork), $9.99$19.99; desserts, $2$7. the conquistadores more than 500 ★★★★Superior. Can compete nationally. years ago. Around the world, it’s huge. This year a restaurant in Lima made it ★★★Excellent. One of the best restaurants in the city. in the top 20 list of the world’s finest dining establishments, while culinary ★★ Very good. A standout restaurant of its kind. stars Ferran Adrià of Spain and Alain Ducasse of France tout Peruvian ★ Good. A restaurant that we recommend. cuisine’s importance. (no stars) We cannot recommend this restaurant at this time.

Globally, Peruvian cuisine is best ExpressNews dining critics pay for all meals. known for its cebiche, the lightly marinated raw seafood. At Rocoto’s, the fish, shrimp or mixture of seafoods are tossed in freshly squeezed lime juice with slightly hot rocoto peppers, thinly sliced red onions, minced garlic and minced cilantro and served with housemade corn nuts, boiled corn kernels, a slice of boiled white potato, a slice of boiled sweet potato and a small glass of the marinating liquid for sipping. By the way, that elixir, leche de tigre, or tiger’s milk, is considered an aphrodisiac.

The dish that should rise to a similar level of fame stars cooked fish and is called escabeche de pescado, a fillet of mahi mahi seasoned thoroughly, fried until crisp and then tossed in a vinegary tomato sauce with sauteed onions. There’s just enough sauce to soften the crust slightly but not render it soggy. By itself, the fish would make for a satisfying dish, but the tartness of the sauce elevates the fillet into transcendence.

Juxtaposing flavors highlight the homecooking classic lomo saltado, a mixture of http://www.expressnews.com/food/restaurants/article/ReviewRocotosGrill6363664.php#photo8250791 3/5 7/11/2015 Review: Rocoto’s Grill San Antonio ExpressNews marinated beef strips that are stirfried with a slightly tangy and salty sauce with sliced onions and red peppers and then tossed with french fries and served with white rice. Now, the restaurant offers a version of the dish with shrimp, or a shrimp and beef mixture, but the best option still is the original beef.

If you want a pure beef flavor, try the RESTAURANTS anticuchos. Although similar in appearance to the Fiesta anticuchos, Falafel for pharaohs and Texans alike these are not sirloin cubes but rather thin, marinated slices of beef heart, skewered, briefly grilled and served The new goto chilled mediumrare to deliver an intensity soup of the summer reminiscent of a dryaged steak.

Among the appetizers, the causa de A salad for summer, pollo is a must. Traditionally, it’s a cool and pretty dumpling of stuffed mashed potatoes. At Rocoto’s, it’s a torte with two layers of mashed potatoes seasoned with The Weeknight Dish: lemon and slightly spicy aji amarillo Grilled Scallop Tacos sandwiching a layer of shredded with Orange Crema & chicken with mayonnaise and more aji

amarillo. The texture of mashed This week, the Taste potatoes and shredded chicken feel Team is craving barbecue butter instantly familiar, but the seasonings are new for those not acquainted with

Peruvian cooking, and the overall Austin chef’s dish a effect is at once comforting and ‘beautiful mess’ exciting.

Aji amarillo also flavors a creamy In the Neighborhood: sauce that covers slices of boiled West Hildebrand Avenue potatoes in a dish called papa a la huancaina. The texture almost looks http://www.expressnews.com/food/restaurants/article/ReviewRocotosGrill6363664.php#photo8250791 4/5 7/11/2015 Review: Rocoto’s Grill San Antonio ExpressNews like melted Velveeta, but it’s a cool, spicy sauce that will banish any comparisons to the processed American cheese.

At this point, even though you’ll be stuffed, you’re going to want dessert. My suggestion is to get the combination of arroz con leche (rice pudding) and a fruity purple pudding called mazamorra morada that tastes of cooked pineapples and figs. Then take home an order of alfajores, the sandwich cookies of shortbread and dulce de leche.

When I last visited, I wished that the restaurant offered beer and wine. The owners went one step further: They added an allPeruvian wine list, several beers and evenpisco sours, the national cocktail of Peru.

Maybe it’s good that my own house is far away from this restaurant. Otherwise, I’d practically live here.

etijerina@expressnews.net

Twitter: @etij

Edmund Tijerina Food and dining writer | San Antonio ExpressNews

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