Restaurant Evaluation: Kousine Peruvian Kitchen

1668 N. Federal Freeway, Boca Raton; 561-430-3337

In its purest expression, Peruvian ceviche is a straightforward dish with a restricted variety of substances—high-quality fish and lime are at its core. However making a tasty ceviche isn’t really easy. So, after I visited Kousine Peruvian Kitchen I used to be cautiously optimistic. Its Federal Freeway location, simply north of Glades, is its second outpost and opened about two years in the past. Chef and proprietor Danny Kou shares his Peruvian heritage with a curated menu of dishes that precisely symbolize his nation’s well-known ceviche whereas introducing patrons to different, much less fashionable dishes which might be simply as tempting.

Kousine gives 5 totally different ceviches. The Ceviche Trio ($42) is a pricy appetizer however contains the three hottest varieties, and is sizable sufficient for a light-weight dinner if not shared. Let me begin by saying all three choices—whereas totally different—had been equally engaging, contemporary and fairly satisfying. The basic ceviche is strictly what your tastebuds anticipate while you order ceviche: a excessive lime focus with chunks of uncooked fish (this dish had grouper), onion slices, cancha (or salty corn kernels), candy potato and Peruvian corn. The mixto ceviche has quite a lot of seafood together with grouper, tender shrimp and plump calamari in a barely spicy citrus sauce; it was my private favourite. The Kousine ceviche got here with tuna drenched in a passionfruit sauce that was sweeter than the opposite two ceviches. It’s additionally topped with nori, avocado, cucumber and sesame seeds.

Our second appetizer, La Causa ($19), was a tackle tuna tartare that I’d by no means tasted. It’s important to like potatoes to benefit from the dish—and I definitely do. It’s a stout tower of layered mashed potatoes, tuna and avocado topped with fried shrimp and a rocoto cream sauce. Rocoto peppers, native to Peru, carry a warmth just like the habanero, however on this creamy sauce there was merely a touch of spice, and I loved each chew.

For mains we dined on the Chaufa Aeropuerto ($19) and Aji de Gallina ($16). Whereas Nikkei delicacies, which mixes Peruvian substances with Japanese methods, has turn out to be extra mainstream in recent times, Peru additionally has a protracted (and tumultuous) historical past with Chinese language immigrants who introduced their delicacies to the nation. Chifa is what the fusion of the 2 cultures is named, and chaufa is Peru’s model of fried rice. The barbecue pork fried rice was topped with an egg omelet and a candy and tangy tamarind sauce. The peppers and daikon radish gave the dish a pleasant crunch that balanced the softness of the rice and pork. The aji is a shredded rooster dish that’s served over massive chunks of potato after which topped with creamy aji amarillo sauce. Aji amarillo, one other Peruvian pepper, offers the dish its brilliant colour and barely candy taste. It’s creamy, filling, and heat, suggesting a superb hangover treatment.

For dessert we opted for the Lucuma Mousse with Chocolate Cake ($10). A local South American fruit, the lucuma gave the mousse a creamy citrus taste with delicate hints of maple, complementing the cake’s sweetness.

IF YOU GO

PARKING: Car parking zone
HOURS: Solar.-Thurs., 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat., 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
PRICES: $9-$38
WEBSITE: kousine.com

This text is from the April 2023 subject of Boca journal. For extra like this, click on right here to subscribe to the journal.