Review: At Roosters Peruvian Rotisserie, el pollo no es loco

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Roosters took over the space of short-lived Tahini and slightly longer-lived Il Pollaio, and boasts a beautiful new, floor-to-ceiling mural of, naturally, a giant rooster strutting its stuff, while llamas and Peruvian folk dancers cavort nearby. 

The narrow dining area is small — there’s seating for about 20 people — and they seem to do a lot of take-out.

Roosters is all about pollo a la brasa, that Peruvian mainstay of rotisserie chicken, boasting a deeply bronzed skin covering tender flesh. The seasoning can vary from just salt to cumin and aji panca (a Peruvian red chili pepper made into a paste), or sometimes a soy sauce-based glaze (Peru has had a good deal of Chinese immigrants since the mid-1800s). 

The bird is usually served with thick-cut fries and parrot-green aji verde, another of Peru’s famous chili sauces.  But Roosters has a plethora of other offerings to go with the chicken.

To start, three of us shared the papa a la Huancaina.

One of my favorite dishes from childhood, it’s a cold dish of boiled potatoes blanketed by a velvety cheese sauce.  The dish has its origins in the city of Huancayo near Lima.  The sauce is variously made with cottage cheese, queso fresco, mayonnaise, sour cream, garlic and aji amarillo paste.  The aji amarillo lends a bit of heat, of course, but also a distinct fruitiness that screams Peru to me.

Next, ceviche.

Peruvian ceviches are my favorite, and this was no exception, with a touch of that aji amarillo blended into the zesty lime juice.  There was fresh white fish, seafood (squid, shrimp), a lovely sweet chunk of sweet potato, red onion, hominy and cancha (toasted corn nuts), all of which are standard accompaniments to ceviche in the motherland.    

We followed with causa de pollo.

An architectural and culinary feat made of layers of firm but incredibly fluffy mashed potatoes blended with lime juice and (of course) aji Amarillo, avocado and chunky chicken salad.  This dish can also be made with a variety of seafood: Tinned tuna, crab, shrimp or other shellfish.  It’s a delight, and if you think you’ve ordered too many potato dishes, well, then, you must be in Peru.

Next, the rotisserie combo:

A whole chicken comes out on a baking sheet loaded with fries (yes, more taters!).  Marvel at the beautiful, herb-flecked, mahogany skin as you inhale the cumin aroma of roasted fowl.  The pile of frites were daunting at first, but we managed — oh, we managed. 

The combo also comes with a salad of avocado, greens, cukes, etc., with a creamy dressing of indeterminate make-up, but we only used it as a palate cleanser to go in for more fries and chicken. 

My only tiny complaint was that they didn’t bring out the aji verde with the bird until we asked, and then didn’t bring out enough of it, but again, we managed.  I’m sure you can ask for more, and you should, but the chicken is incredibly flavorful on its own.  

As for what else is on the menu:  I was completely entranced by a plate on the table next to us of jalea, a sky-high, heaping mound of beautifully golden-fried seafood.  I’d have to get that next time.  There are also two other ceviches, empanadas, arroz chaufa (Peru’s take on Chinese fried rice), lomo saltado, tacu tacu, fried yuca… you know, all the Peruvian hits.  

They serve wine (Californian and a Chilean wine drink called Borgoña, which our server thankfully warned me was quite sweet; I got the Merlot), beer (three of which are Peruvian), and soda (yep, including Inka Kola, that cloyingly sweet, Juicy-Fruit-gum-flavored soda pop beloved by so many!)

Roosters is a casual, family-type place, with quite reasonable prices.  Our meal set us back, with about half the bird left over to take home, $100 for three very full diners.  

Hearty food, great flavors, and their casa is su casa.