Tag: El Tambo Grill Peruvian Restaurant

I’ve been Peruvian-restaurant hopping since I can remember. I’m always on the look out for traditional or innovative twists for this particular cuisine. I can always look to El Tambo Grill when I want something familiar and I know that will not fail me. This restaurant is located in a small plaza in Kendall, and since I’ve been going there (probably ‘06) business has boomed and they’ve expanded their location.

Anyway, I decided to document my go-to comfort food for curious readers. Normally, I go and have their anticuchos to start off. Anticuchos are similar to the shish kebab, but it’s marinated beef heart that’s put on the grill. Yes, it is cow heart, but it taste so good! It may be a bit chewy, but there isn’t a weird taste to it. Normally it’s marinated in vinegar and spices like cumin, aji, and garlic. This is a very common thing to eat, and could be found at many cart vendors in Peru.

My entree has been practically the same here for more than a decade: pollo a la brasa, which is Peruvian-style roasted chicken, with either homemade fries or arroz chaufa, which is Peruvian-like Chinese rice. I go a little more in depth about typical Peruvian food here. The seasoning that Tambo Grill puts on their chicken is exceptional, and I have yet to run into other brasa restaurants that replicate the same type of marinade like they do here. The chicken is always juicy and tender, never dry. The best part of this restaurant is the thick salsa huancaina and aji verde. If you don’t know, huancaina is a spicy cheese sauce, and salsa verde is just Peruvian green chili sauce with mayo as the base.. Both sauces are homemade and they’re authentic peruvian sauces (I’ve had my share of imposter huancainas). Make sure to wash it all down with Inca Kola, Peru’s national soda (it tastes like bubblegum), and grab a couple of alfajores for dessert.

I definitely recommend going to Tambo Grill if you’re looking for authentic Peruvian cuisine, particularly, good pollo a la brasa. I do advise to call and order ahead - the place gets slammed pretty often.