Restaurant Review: Inti

On Saturday, I went to a quaint little Peruvian restaurant by the name of Inti. If you've ever been to Lauriol Plaza you've passed by Inti and probably never even noticed it. It's located in the bottom level of a brownstone next to Lauriol. 


When I say quaint, I mean quaint.  The place couldn't hold more than 30 people, maybe 35 if people stood at the small bar.  I went with a friend (who happens to be my ex).  He spent three months in South America including Peru and he raved about how good Peruvian food was so of course I had to try it.

We ordered some drinks he a Pisco Sour and me a Margarita, always my drink of choice. Both were delicious. We ordered CEVICHE DE CAMARONES (shrimp ceviche) for the appetizer, all I can say that was quite possibly one of the best ceviche dishes I have ever had.

For dinner I ordered PICANTE DE CAMARONES (spicy shrimp stew served with rice).  When it came out all I could think of was the Geico commercial and "Sometimes I feel like somebody's watching me" kept playing in my mind. But I digress, it tasted just like a Thai or Indian yellow curry dish but lighter and without the heavy curry scent. It was pretty tasty, but nothing to brag about.

My friend had the Pollo Saltado (Strips of chicken sautéed with onions, tomatoes, and french fries. Served with rice). It was nicely seasoned and very delicious.  Although I'm a sectional eater, I was adventurous and ate the french fries soaked in sauce combined with the chicken in one bite.


All in all, we had great service.  I loved the diversity of the crowd and the fact that the place was so small that they seated random people at one table, always makes for interesting conversation.  Will warn you they serve giant corn.  I've never seen anything like it. The kernels are a least 5X the size of regular but apparently it's something native to Peru.  The nice gay couple seated next to us saw my hesitation in trying it and decided to tell me I had to try it at least once, which I did.  We'll just say the giant corn tasted interesting.

I'm kind of surprised they actually have a website, http://www.intirestaurant.com/.  Warning it's very basic if you want to check it out.

Service: A
Food: A-
Atmosphere: B