Pio Pio
In New York, the best-known Peruvian dishes from that country's highlands and coast are spicy rotisserie chicken and citrus-marinated fish ceviche; both can be found at Pio Pio. So can salchipapas.
This beloved meat-and-potatoes fast food heaps thin slices of deep-fried beef sausage atop hand-cut, twice-fried fries; $4 will secure you an immense portion. Though salchipapas can be dressed with ketchup or mayo, it's almost addictive with the house-blended spicy green sauce.
For a meal, the whole chicken ($12) seems a safe bet; during my visit to the Upper West Side branch of this mini-chain (shown at bottom), neatly quartered chickens were deposited, and done away with, at a number of other tables. Instead, I was disappointed by a pair of meat-and-potato dishes. Lomo saltado ($16), a sauté of onions, tomatoes, and less-than-tender beef, sat in its typical soy sauce; on this occasion, even the base layer of fries was soggy and ho-hum. The papa rellena ($8), a lightly deep-fried mass of mashed potato, was filled with shredded meat of some sort (perhaps chicken), a single unpitted olive, and an insipid "salsa Criolla."
Pio Pio
264 Cypress Ave. (East 138th-139th Sts.)
718-401-3300
Also at 702 Amsterdam Ave. (at 94th St.) and several other locations
www.PioPioNYC.com







Love the ceviche, chicken and ice cream there. If anyone can tell me what's in their spicy green sauce I would truly be grateful!
Posted by: Flo | November 07, 2008 at 04:14 PM