Dinner At Q’ero Peruvian

After a few months off, we recently continued our food exploration with our friends Dejah and Roby. Last time we went to Sushi Ota and it was fantastic. We thought it was time to try out a new food experience together again, so we headed to Q’ero Peruvian Restaurant in Encinitas on Saturday, 1/19. We’ve never had Peruvian food before, so we were very excited to give it a try.

Todd and Roby were all smiles, even before the food came out.


Q’ero was a small restaurant, so we made reservations. That was a good thing because the place was packed!


Dejah and I sported black and white stripes. No, we didn’t call each other beforehand! :)


The restaurant had a very dark ambiance, so getting good food photos was a challenge. We ordered several appetizers to share.

This was a big Chicken Saltena. It’s actually a Bolivian tradition. Baked, handmade empanada filled with dice potatoes, peas, raisins, spices, and chicken.

Empanadas De Verduras, which were vegetarian and had lentils, sweet potatoes, and spinach in them.


This was the Ceviche Mixto – morsels of sea bass, calamari, bay shrimp, and Peruvian “choclo” kernels in a lemon, roasted jalapeno-cilantro marinade. It had a kick to it!


I got the Costillas en Jora, which was beef short ribs braised in Chicha de Jora (sacred corn beer), served over mashed aji amarillo potatoes with sauteed Swiss chard.


Dejah got a roasted butternut squash appetizer as her meal.


We also got some Platano Relleno, which were sweet plantain cake filled with black beans, topped with sour cream and scallions.


Roby got the Pernil de Chancho – Kurobuta pork shank prepared confit style with roasted oyster mushrooms, sauteed with shallots and finished in an aji amarillo sauce. I didn’t get a good photo of it.


Todd got the Bistek a la Trujillana – grilled Brandt Ranch skirt steak with a caramelized onion, aji amarillo, and chicha de jora sauce, served over sweet potatoes with sauteed Swiss chard.

A lot of the food was spicier than we had expected, but the flavors were delicious.  We had a great time chatting and enjoying the food and each other’s company.




And for dessert, each couple got a Tres Leches Cake. We had heard about this already so it was a no brainer. And it was as delicious as it looked!


Much of the food served at Q’ero was gluten-free, so if you’re looking for GF restaurants, you definitely need to try this one out. We had a great time and the food was really good. Now we have tried Ethiopian, Russian, and Peruvian food. What should be next?