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canyonwalkerI blogged a few days ago about my 2023 New Year's resolution to try new restaurants when I ate at two new restaurants in one day. They were even both Greek food. 😂🍢😋 But those aren't my only forays into eating at new* (or haven't-been-there-in-like-20-years) restaurants recently. This month already I've eaten at four new places. The other two are pizza and Peruvian.
The Peruvian was Inka's Restaurant in San Jose's West San Jose neighborhood. Housed in an unassuming strip mall location the restaurant doesn't look like much from the outside. Frankly it doesn't look like much from the inside, either. "Unassuming strip mall" is a motif that extends straight into the restaurant's decor with neutral green-gray colored walls, generic tables and chairs, and minimal thematic decoration. Mexican restaurants are always festooned with things like sombreros and murals on the walls. This place? Add a few Vietnamese ladies wearing masks and gloves and I could've believed I walked into a nail salon by mistake. 🤣
The saying "Looks can be deceiving" certainly applies at Inka's Restaurant. While nothing about the appearance of the place suggests anything more than a bland food in a weak facsimile of Peruvian culture, the meals sure seemed legit. Three of us ordered dishes that spanned a range on the menu. Hawk chose Lomo Saltado, a classic beef dish with beef, onion, and tomato stir fried together; our friend, Mike, chose a Peruvian style seafood paella; and I ordered Seco de Cordero, a lamb shank slow cooked in a stew with cilantro sauce. Everything was delicious.
Would I go back to Inka's? Yes... but also No. The food was great, and the prices, while not cheap, were totally reasonable for the quality and quantity. I'd totally go there again if I were in the neighborhood. But that's the thing.... We're rarely in that area. And going to West San Jose feels like a haul, even though it really isn't. This is where the restaurant's completely anonymous decor detracts from the experience. It just didn't feel special to go there to eat. It needs something like brightly colored murals on the walls to set the tone. Or ladies doing people's nails.
The Peruvian was Inka's Restaurant in San Jose's West San Jose neighborhood. Housed in an unassuming strip mall location the restaurant doesn't look like much from the outside. Frankly it doesn't look like much from the inside, either. "Unassuming strip mall" is a motif that extends straight into the restaurant's decor with neutral green-gray colored walls, generic tables and chairs, and minimal thematic decoration. Mexican restaurants are always festooned with things like sombreros and murals on the walls. This place? Add a few Vietnamese ladies wearing masks and gloves and I could've believed I walked into a nail salon by mistake. 🤣
The saying "Looks can be deceiving" certainly applies at Inka's Restaurant. While nothing about the appearance of the place suggests anything more than a bland food in a weak facsimile of Peruvian culture, the meals sure seemed legit. Three of us ordered dishes that spanned a range on the menu. Hawk chose Lomo Saltado, a classic beef dish with beef, onion, and tomato stir fried together; our friend, Mike, chose a Peruvian style seafood paella; and I ordered Seco de Cordero, a lamb shank slow cooked in a stew with cilantro sauce. Everything was delicious.
Would I go back to Inka's? Yes... but also No. The food was great, and the prices, while not cheap, were totally reasonable for the quality and quantity. I'd totally go there again if I were in the neighborhood. But that's the thing.... We're rarely in that area. And going to West San Jose feels like a haul, even though it really isn't. This is where the restaurant's completely anonymous decor detracts from the experience. It just didn't feel special to go there to eat. It needs something like brightly colored murals on the walls to set the tone. Or ladies doing people's nails.
