Where: 511 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey

What: Peruvian

Rating: 3/5

On a dreary day a week from our last visit, we found ourselves back in Montclair just around the corner and down a block or so at Costanera. We had looked at the menu posted outside the week beforehand, and after finding the Jamaican restaurant we had originally been planning closed for an undisclosed reason, we made our way back to Montclair. Just as with Brazilian food, I had never had Peruvian before, so I was interested in seeing how it would differ from other South American cuisines.

After lingering for a moment in the doorway, we were offered to sit wherever we liked, ultimately seated by the window at a four-person table. My mother commented on how everything seemed to be made of wood save a clay pot on a ledge behind me. There were slabs of wood taken from the trunks of trees covering the walls, even the menus were on wood. Commenting once again, she asked me if all South American restaurants seemed to not have their menus on wood slabs.

Of course, rather than that, it seems more the nouveau dining experience if anything.

We started off with complimentary plantain chips and roasted corn served along a spicy nutty sauce. As a fan of plantain chips, I can say these were definitely plantain chips. Nothing was particularly special about them, but then again, nothing had to be. The roasted corn was of particular delight to us, we both tend to buy and consume entire packets of roasted corn when given the chance.

The sauce was very interesting, it really did just taste like a spicy slightly nutty sauce, though whether it was almond or peanut I sadly cannot recall. It was a good way to add some more flavor to the plantain chips, and the corn if one found themselves so inclined, though I am a fan of those in particular plain.

The lunch menus came with a salad, soup, and drink. With only two drinks to choose from– and forever scarred by iced tea after a certain summer camp as a child where that was all there was to drink for days –we both ended up choosing the Chicha Morada, a cider made of purple corn.

The taste reminded me of Sujeonggwa, a Korean cinnamon and ginger drink, though much stronger. If you’re a fan of cinnamon, this is the drink for you. The smell reminded me of Christmas time, though a quick glance out the window was always quick to bring me back to my senses.

First to arrive was the soup, we had once again both ordered Sopa de frejoles, a black bean soup, seeing as the other had cilantro. For those of you who are unaware, a certain percentage of the population has a particular type of gene that causes the herb to taste like dish soap. It ruins any meal, hence why I will be avoiding it throughout the duration of this blog; the entire meal would only taste like soap to me and I could not give any sort of even objective review. The other option was Aguadito de Pollo, a chicken and rice soup, though for those of you who share our twisted genes, it’s best to steer clear as cilantro is a vital ingredient, you can’t just pick it out.

The soup was very delicious, as someone who finds beans (outside garbanzo) “meh”, I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I enjoyed the taste of the soup. My mother even wanted to inquire as to the ingredients flavoring it, though never quite got the chance. I would definitely recommend this to anyone visiting the restaurant.

Afterwards came the side. To keep up the illusion to myself of being healthy, I ordered the salad. It was fairly standard, not very much to say, coming with a lime citronette which I am personally a fan of. My mother ordered the sweet plantains, that is, Maduros, and found them enjoyable as well. I managed to snag a piece of one or two and can confirm, they were sweet, but not dripping in sugar as many places tend to carelessly do.

Onto the entrees, and yes there was cilantro I had to avoid and/or pick out, I ordered Estofado de Pollo. As stated by their menu, this is a, “Tomato and Aji-Panca braised chicken with potatoes, peas and carrots (chicken thighs),” I’m afraid to admit I ordered it mostly for the potato pieces.

Speaking honestly, the dish was alright. The flavor wasn’t particularly strong, nor was it anything to write home about, but it was fine. I liked that the portion wasn’t too large so I was able to finish the entire thing, though I’m not certain I would order it again. If you want something more simple and can handle the mild flavor of peppers, this is the dish for you.

On the other hand, my mother ordered the Choritos Calientes, described by the menu as, “1 Lb. PEI mussels cooked with chorizo, cilantro and Aji Amarillo served with crispy garlic toast,” though there was quite the lack of chorizo. The most we could find were a few little pieces interspersed among the mussels.

Unfortunately I can not give a review on this one, as I would not and will not eat shellfish anytime soon. She seemed to enjoy it well enough, though, but I had the sense she also wasn’t too wowed by the meal.

Now for the best part, and the reason I was looking forward to going to this restaurant: Combinado Clasico. This was a rice pudding dessert with golden raisins mixed in with purple corn pudding and cinnamon. The menu states that it should include, “Parfait of vanilla and Arborio rice pudding with golden raisins, and Peruvian purple corn pudding with pineapples, apricots, papaya,” so I’m not sure if I missed something, but I had only been able to find golden raisins of those fruits.

As a fan of rice pudding, I can tell you this is a rice pudding worth trying. It’s different from Middle Eastern ones with the lack of rose water, thank goodness, and has more ingredients to it than Indian rice pudding. I tend to add raisins myself when I eat rice pudding, but having them cooked within it and golden worked very well. Highly recommended.

My mother ordered the Peruvian Lucuma ice cream, eager to try something new. She had asked the owner, who had been very friendly and coming over now and again, what it was like, to which she received mixed answers. Apparently some find it tasting of coffee, others chocolate, and others more butterscotch. As the one who ended up eating most of it, I can assure you the correct answer is without a doubt butterscotch. There was an odd sort of texture to it as well, the fact it had a texture at all made it odd. If I had to choose, I would say it was almost gritty in a way.

Along with that, she had ordered passion fruit green tea. I’m sad to say neither of us finished it, I personally am not a fan of fruit teas as they tend to taste like soap to me, but I am a big fan of passion fruit so I had hoped to overcome it with this.

My mistake.

That said, if you are interested in Peruvian, it’s a place to go to. To be honest, I wasn’t too impressed with the food outside of the soup and rice pudding, both of which bumped the score from a 2.5 to a 3. The service was fine, the owner very friendly, and the prices are quite fair, especially for the lunch menu with all of its inclusions.