Kylie P.
Yelp
Traveled down to Charleston specifically so my parter could show me this place. He was a big fan when he went last time, and absolutely loved their chicken. Even when we came in so late (8pm), the service was quick and easy (though their rotating menu made it a bit hard to pick what I wanted). Our food was still nice and warm even after about 30+ minutes of driving around and running an errand, so I know it would have been piping hot when eaten fresh.
We got the small fried plantains ($5.50), lomo saltado ($20.25), 1/2 chicken (with green beans and garlic rice - $15.50), pinono ($?), and 2 maracuyas ($3.99 ea).
We split the fried plantains and the pinono on our drive over to our errands before we ate our entrees. The fried plantains were very sweet, and tasted even better with the aji amarillo sauce. They tasted alright with the rocoto, but the aji amarillo was the better pairing in our opinion.
The pinono.. we were not as impressed by. It was cold, dry, and very dense. It almost tasted flavorless to me, but my partner said he could taste the sweetness. It kind of just tasted like old pound cake minus the icing in my opinion.
The lomo saltado was a new flavor profile for me, and I quite enjoyed it. The tomato slices and the red onions paired with the steak wonderfully, and the fries soaked in the steak juice were delicious. My only issues were that the steak was a bit too tough for my liking and the rice was a little too sweet. However, I was pleased with the meal as a whole and only didn't finish the rice.
My partner got the 1/2 chicken meal. He said that the chicken was very tender; the rice was soft, savory, and satisfying to eat; and the green beans were a little soft for his taste, but had a fantastic flavor that paired excellently with the rice. He also added the rocoto sauce to his rice to add some flavor. From what I could taste of the chicken when I tried it, I thought it had a very cumin-heavy seasoning, but otherwise it was a pretty decent flavor.
We both absolutely loved the passion fruit juice (maracuya) and were craving it before we went down to Charleston. It had a good flavor and wasn't too overly sweet. It paired well with the meal.
Additionally, their to-go packaging was sturdy and kept our food warm. My only (small) criticism would be that napkins, straws, and utensils were not put in the bag. Had I not grabbed them in the restaurant just in case, we would have been SOL. Makes sense if we were taking it home, but in this case we were eating it by the beach. Not really a problem, but something to keep in mind when you order.
----------------------
Over all:
My ratings:
**Fried plantains: 7/10 (with sauce 7.5/10)
**Pinono: 3/10
**Lomo saltado: 8.4/10
**Maracuya: 8.5/10
Partner's ratings:
**Chicken (white & dark): 8.5/10
**Rice: 8/10
**Green beans: 7/10
**Pinono: 5/10
**Maracuya: 9.5/10
Total rating: 7.16/10 (or 3.58/5 rounded to 4/5)
Total paid: ~$55+