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Fresca (Peruvian cuisine)  $$

 9
JaT Rating

2114 Fillmore St, San Francisco, 94115  (Directions)


415.447.2668


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Innovative Peruvian cuisine with a modern twist


Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 998
Reviewed: 12/30/2006
Rating: 9
My photo gallery 		I took some friends for a peruvian brunch at Fresca in San Francisco. Never been but I knew the ceviche was the thing to order. Started off on the positive note by landing a metered parking spot nearby. I don't have any advice on parking but if you're familiar with the bus routes; 1, 3, 22 pass right by. Reservations for afternoon aren't needed but I'd recommend calling in for dinner. We arrived shortly after they opened and bring a frickin jacket. This place has air conditioning set to 11 with icicles hanging at each table.

Started off the meal with muffins, chica morada, ceviche mixto, ceviche 5 elementos, and tomato/tortilla soup (image 6).

muffins (image 4) - served warm out of the oven, I don't remember what kind they were but were wonderful. White Cherry? There was 4 of us at the table and space is limited but they would not remove the empty basket? We would push the basket to the edge of the table, but wouldn't take it. Oh well, it's free, so I'll stop my bitching.

chica morada - purple corn cider, traditional peruvian drink with a mix of purple corn and (google says pineapple, sugar, lime, and other things). I'm mixed on this drink as the corn/cider flavor threw me off as I was anticipating a fruit punch. My friends thought the drink was refreshing but I think I'll stick to Inca Cola.

Ceviche Mixto (image 8) - seafood mix of shrimp (singular, I don't recall seeing more than 1 piece), clams, scallops, halibut, squid, homony?, and roasted corn nuts? Oh man, if there's 1 thing to order at Fresca, it's gotta be this dish. For the folks who have never had ceviche, it's raw seafood marinated in lime, wait a couple of hours and it's magically cooked. Everything on this plate tasted so fresh and the squid/scallops were amazing. Squid wasn't chewy at all and no fishy taste to anything on the plate. The corn nuts or whatever they are, I gotta buy a bag of this. If anyone knows where I can get these, please let me know.

ceviche 5 elements (image 9) - translates to halibut, lime, red onion, sea salt, rocoto aji (chile pepper). A bit of a warning, if you have a sensitive stomach, skip this one, it's a very spicy dish. I enjoyed this hot dish and the halibut broke apart in my mouth (sushi-grade for sure). Fish was super fresh and portion size is enough to share 2 people. If you can handle the spice, order this fiery dish.

After polishing the appetizers, our main courses arrived. We had a variety of plates; Ensalada Nicoise (tuna sashimi salad, image 11), Lechon Asado (pork sandwich on dutch crunch, image 6), and crab cakes benedict (image 12). I didn't get a chance to try all 3 but the tuna on the Ensalada Nicoise is basically maguro and good enough for any sushi place. Great stuff.

My plate was the fried trout and prawns (trucha encebollada). Brought out on a iron skillet with the trout butterflied. Covered with tomatoes, red onions, prawns, cilantro, and flavorful spices. I did a bad job on this picture, you can't see the 4 large prawns sitting in this heap of tasty ingredients. The trout was as fresh as the other seafood and cooked just right. I'd repeat order this dish for sure.

Prices are respectable and depending on how many appetizers you order, you should be able to walk out at $20 a plate. Service was ok and could have been faster considering we were in their early and received our plates later than those who arrived after us.

The restaurant name Fresca accurately describes all the food we ate. I don't think any of us had any complaints with the dishes and enjoyed everything they cooked up. There are 3 locations in San Francisco so that's 3 great opportunities to try a new exciting cuisine.
 
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