No Mo-chica

There was no questioning the excitement I harbored for Mochica. Peruvian food is high on my list of top 5 ethnic deathbed meals. The drama only heightened as I meandered aimlessly on Grand scouring for a sign that hinted Mochica. To no avail, only the occasional warehouse was spotted, not a single restaurant in the near vicinity. I had to call them up. The location turned out to be a mundane  grey monolith of a warehouse that in no way could resemble an eatery. Unabashed, I entered the premise with high hopes. A mini wtf moment ensued...

A food court? Wait.. not even. It's more like a drug lord's storage center used to covertly stash drugs, but during the day converts into a food stall, a two vendor food stall. The mini wtf snowballed into blownup wtf moment.

No Alcoholic Beverages Allowed.

I drove 45 minutes for a food stall and not even a glass of booze to temper the situation. I was on cloud 9...
Being the perpetual optimist that I am, I stayed. We seated ourselves and proceeded to order from the scanty menu. It wasn't hard. We ordered 4 items which was almost half the entire menu.

The Seabass Ceviche is not your everday ceviche. The Peruvian spice, jumbo corn and yam makes it an ULTIMATE ceviche. My favorite of the night!!

I can't make heads nor tails of this salad, Papa ala Huancaina; roasted potatoes, boiled egg and huancaina sauce. Without sounding like a misanthrope, I'll just say this dish was left untouched.

The Oxtail Risotto; braised oxtail, barley huacaina risotto is meh.

Skip it and go for the Loma Saltado. You'll thank me for this, I assure you.

The beef is tender and spiced just right. The fries are crispy and fresh; no rancid oil noted

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With a 50/50 hit and miss ratio, I probably wouldn't recommend anyone driving deep into downtown LA just for this. Although the ceviche is probably one of the best I've encountered, it's still not enough motivation for me. On top of that, my fusion radar is sensing signals from here, albeit weak readings. If the mood for authentic Peruvian hits me, more than likely I'll make the trek to Hollywood and hit up Los Balcones Del Peru.

Mochica

3655 South Grand Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90007-4316

(213) 747-2141