Los Nisperos Seafood

PERÚ 🇵🇪

Besides possibly a branch or two of the ubiquitous Pio Pio chain, Los Nisperos might be the only outpost for Peruvian food in the Bronx. (That is almost certainly false, but hey I only have 7 days per week). Stopping by recently, we were happy to report that the food is actually quite good, so uptown and Bronx patrons do not have to head out to neighborhoods in Queens or Paterson, NJ for their fixes anymore.

The absolute best way to start your meal is with a cup of delicious chicha morada (below), the distinctly Peruvian sweet drink made with purple corn. This drink traces its heritage back to pre-Columbian times and is spiced with cloves and cinnamon after the corn has been boiled with pineapples. Wildly popular now, it is available throughout the country and luckily for us in any Peruvian restaurant here in NYC.

Another feature of most Peruvian restaurants in the area, although not as much in Paterson, is having dual focuses for the menu. Peruvian-style Chinese (called chifa) is just as popular as some of the traditional foods, and has blended itself into many dishes rather seamlessly. Los Nisperos offers chifa as well, and a plate of lomo salteado (below) is probably the #1 seller.

Served on a bed of fried potatoes, the juices soak into both them and the accompanying rice. The beef is not quite as flavorful as normal, and might signal that the restaurant tends to concentrate their energies more on traditional foods and seafood as the name suggests.

This meal did not call for seafood though, with a plate of anticuchos and papa a la huancaina (below) winning out. The marinade of this beef heart was miles better than the lomo.

Traditionally you find skewers of anticuchos on the street in Peru, groups of vendors will cluster together in parks selling this most-cherished of foods, plumes of smoke sending signals to hungry folks nearby. A typical night out might include a skewer of this and another of fried donuts called picarones. Unfortunately Los Nisperos does not offer the latter, but their huancaina sauce more than makes up for it. That sweet tooth will need to be satisfied elsewhere.

Right on busy East 149th Street, this restaurant is also a calm reprieve from the bustle. The friendly staff and Peruvian beer make it even more enjoyable in case you have a little bit of time to spare in Mott Haven.

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MOTT HAVEN Bronx

500 East 149th Street