Sea to Shining Seafood

Never part of a trend, much less a fad, Peruvian food has nevertheless slowly and quietly won favor among Orange County diners looking for something different. A few years ago I’d have been hard pressed to name even one quality Peruvian restaurant around here, but today I could easily reel off 10. One of them, the Inka Grill, has even become a small chain.

It’s not hard to see why we like Peruvian food so well. Like other Latin American cuisines, it uses a lot of the hot peppers we like (and some unusual ones). But there’s much more to the cuisine than peppers. With its significant Spanish, Incan and even Asian influences, Peru has one of the richest cuisines in South America.

When making your way through a Peruvian menu, you’ll notice in addition to the wide use of peppers the presence of cilantro and onions in many sauces. Many dishes include tomatoes, potatoes, hard-boiled eggs and black olives, either diced or blended into a salty paste. There also are a number of fried rice and noodle dishes that bring Chinese cooking to mind (this is no accident--many of Peru’s restaurateurs have been Chinese).

The Peruvian Grill, a small, festive place in Huntington Beach, doesn’t attempt to encompass all the diversity of Peruvian food; it focuses on its many interesting seafood dishes. Chef Renzo Macchiavello, a native of Lima who graduated from Culinary Institute of Los Angeles, obviously loves the ocean, and it shows in his cooking . . . and in the fact that he keeps a surfboard in a back storage room at the restaurant.

For instance, Macchiavello offers three ceviche dishes. These appetizers, all so large they might be small entrees, are served on dinner plates rather than in cocktail glasses, where we are used to finding ceviche at Mexican restaurants. His ceviche de la casa is a feast of chopped mahi-mahi, clams, scallops and calamari tossed in citrus juice with julienne red onions and cilantro. It’s perfectly fresh and tart, if a bit heavy on the calamari for my taste. To the side are some large shrimp, a mussel in the shell and a thick slice of sweet potato. The chef’s special ceviche offers an interesting combination of shrimp, button mushrooms, red onions and yams, but the ceviche de la casa is really more satisfying.

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The Peruvian Grill’s appetizer selection is reason enough to come here. Empanadas, though not on the menu, are available. They are filled with chicken or beef with potatoes and mild spices. And then there’s the inevitable papas a la huancaina, a treat of cold boiled potato slices topped with a spicy, creamy cheese sauce, black olive paste and a quarter of a boiled egg. It may not be for everyone, but it’s a solid example of the distinctive Peruvian way with the ingredients.

Like the appetizers, the soups, which come in quart-sized ceramic bowls, could make meals in themselves. One overwhelming choice is parihuela, a riot of shrimp, calamari, scallops, fish, mussels and clams in a clear, light peppery sauce. A little heartier and more flavorful is chupe de camarones, a bowl of shrimp, peas, corn and potatoes swimming in a creamy bisque, topped with cheese and boiled egg.

You also can see Macchiavello’s talent with seafood in his entrees, which show intriguing ingredients and toppings. It’s a little disappointing that these specials feature only one fish a day, which might be yellowtail during the week and either mahi-mahi or ahi on busier Friday and Saturday nights. Yellowtail, in particular, is not always the best fish for his specials--swordfish or sea bass might suit them better--but the Peruvian Grill is small, and Macchiavello might have budgetary constraints to deal with.

When I visited the Grill with friends one recent weekday, we had the odd experience of getting the same fish (yellowtail) prepared in three ways. With the pescado a la parrilla, the grilled fish was topped with a simple mix of onions, tomatoes, garlic and cilantro. It’s a nice dish, but the yellowtail had an overwhelming fishiness that drowned out the light flavors.

My dish, pescado a lo macho, topped with scallops, shrimp and calamari, didn’t have the same problem, possibly because of the powerful, spicy cilantro cream sauce. There were no complaints, either, with the pescado de la casa, which came with shrimp and scallops and topped with a tasty cilantro, garlic and lime sauce. Still, if you’re coming to the Peruvian Grill for a seafood entree, a weekend visit is advisable because the fish will be fresher.

Beef is also popular in Peru, and Macchiavello features a beef dish that would do his homeland proud. Saltados is strips of steak (you could substitute chicken, shrimp or seafood) stir-fried with onions, tomatoes, and cilantro and other herbs. Rice comes on the side. The preparation is definitely Asian in style, but the dish has a Latin American flavor all its own.

This friendly place, filled with the sounds of salsa music and the sizzle of meat and seafood on the grill, should have a more interesting wine list. The Chilean wines, Gato Blanco (white) and Gato Negro (red), are barely above jug-wine level--a shame because there are so many good Chilean wines. I’d recommend a Peruvian beer called Cusquena instead, a light, refreshing brew typical of quality South American beers.

The Peruvian Grill is affordable, with appetizers ranging from $4.25-$9.50; soups, $4-$8.95; salads, $6.25-$8.50; and entrees, $7-$13.95.

* The Peruvian Grill, 9606 Hamilton St., Huntington Beach. (714) 593-3883. Dinner, Monday-Thursday, 5-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 5-9:30 p.m.; closed Sunday.