I am very sorry, but I have been so busy with work these past 2 months I have not had time to post a thing. Some dinners are so far gone, they are now lost to me, but last week we headed to AMAZONIA on Blagden Alley in Shaw here in DC which is Peruvian perfection.
Amazonia is the main dining room upstairs with a bar and sits atop CAUSA which is the tasting room below, which we need to come back to!
The four of us were thrilled by the menu and it's variety but narrowed the choices and loved everything. The bulk of the dishes are meant to be shared and our server, Gabriel, who hails from Peru's souther region, was quick to note that some dishes come with three pieces but can easily be adjusted to 4 with a surcharge. BRILLIANT!
All of the dishes are on my FB page, but first came the delicious house Pisco Sour. The alcohol content was high so we moved on to a white, then red wine and there are many here to choose from, but the prices can get quite high if you do not do the house wines!
We tasted the house Albarino which was a tad too effervescent and settled on a Thierry Dizz 2019 "Macchu Pichu" made in France from a blend of Grenache blanc, Grenache gris, Greanche and Roussillon which made for a nice foil to the lightly-spiced dishes. Keep in mind that Peruvian food is not too spicy, even the Amazonian dishes found here are not as spicy as you would find in Peru. Our red for later in the meal was the house Carmenere from Miguel Torres, Reserva Especial Cordillera from the Valle de Chachapoal in Chile. It is a nice simple wine that works with all meats for sure, but $60 is a lot for some of these wines that should be much less.
Patacones were made from Plantain, Mushroom, Hearts of Palm & Cecina while the Lagarto is alligator picadillo, aji dulce, turmeric & tapioca in a kind of fried meat fritter.
There is a section on the menu called "La Anticucheria" featuring the famous skewered dishes from Peru which I love. We chose Corazon de res(beef heart) which are cut into small easily eaten pieces so you are not confronted with a large heart like we saw in many places south of the border. Duck Tongues were tender and tasty and the best was probably the simple Salmon Belly, all grilled to perfection.
Cebiche is a mainstay and we chose the Clasico of mahi-mahi with lime, sweet potato, cancha and choclo(the large white corn kernels). One of our friends wanted to try the Causa, the famous stuffed pototao dish that can vary to almost anything inside. Here the Causa Norteña has Shrimp, Escabeche, aji amarillo, plantain and botija olive.
Our two "larger hot" dishes were the Chaufa Putumayo made from Chorizo, Cecina, Jasmie rice, soy and an egg on top. It is a delicious and filling dish. The other was the A Lo Pobre or sliced grilled Wagyu, Tacu tacu(basically a reheat of leftover whatever--here beans), plantain, egg criolla.
We chose one dessert to split--the Ungurahui Açai simply marinated fruits with granita and a quinoa crunch on top. It was a great light option and easy to share as well.
There is sparkling and/or still house water for every table and the service is excellent with attentive and caring attention from Gabriel throughout. I would not hesitate to return to Amazonia, but I think the tasting menu below beckons first!
