Sarah Auerbach
Google
A neighbor posted about a new Peruvian restaurant with delicious food and wonderful service, so I got some friends together to try it out: so glad that we did!
Carmen was a wonderful host and took us through the menu. As usual, we wanted to try as much as possible, so we ordered two half chickens* (which came with all the sauces and two garden salads), two Brazas Empanadas (Aji de Gallina - pulled chicken, Peruvian pepper, cheese sauce), Yuquitas a al Huancaina (crispy yuca and Huancaina dipping sauce), Chaufa (Peruvian fried rice), Maduros (sweet plantains), Macaroni a la Huancaina, and Chicha Morada (Peruvian purple corn drink) and Pineapple Jugo Fresco all around.
The Brazas Empanadas are original to the chef at Brazas, and, as Carmen suggested, best eaten immediately so they're piping hot and the cheese is gooey!
Everything was perfectly cooked: the chicken was tender and well-seasoned, the Yuquitas were extra crispy, and the Maduros were sweet and slightly crispy.
Both the Chaufa and the Macaroni a la Huancaina were spins on what your taste buds might expect from fried rice or macaroni--note, the macaroni was more of a macaroni salad than a mac'n'cheese.
And the salad was refreshing--especially when mixed with the Peruvian Olive Mayo dipping sauce! Speaking of dipping sauces, my favorite was the Brazas Green Sauce (Medium). Second favorite was the Brazas Rocoto Red Sauce (Hot). The other sauces were also tasty, but I just couldn't stay away from the Brazas Green Sauce, which went well with the Chicha Morada, which wasn't overly sweet, and was certainly a deep purple color.
We capped off the meal with an order of Tres Leches and an order of Flan--both were yummy.
Brazas has plenty of seating for parties of various sizes, and was fulfilling quite a lot of takeout orders, but the chef brought some dishes out himself and Carmen checked in on us periodically. Will definitely return!
*It was so tasty, that some in our party wound up placing another order to bring home to the rest of her family!