A Taste of Peru in Lake Forest

Renzo's A Taste of Peru

34354 Muirlands Blvd. 

Lake Forest, CA 92630

Whenever someone asks me what kind of cuisine I think will trend next, I always have it in the back of mind that it's going to be Peruvian food. Peru, much like the US, could best be described as a melting pot when it comes to the culinary scene of this South American nation. Besides the dishes of the indigenous inhabitants, Peruvian fare draws from Europe, Asia, and Africa to create its own mashup. Peruvian food is definitely ready for its moment in the sun, just like quinoa or rainbow-colored fads of the last few years. 

A quick Yelp search of Peruvian restaurants in OC yielded nearly 40 restaurants, which was more than I thought there would be. I feel bad I have not done my part to promote Peruvian food, as I've only reviewed two Peruvian restaurants during the run of this blog, both of which have since closed. On one of my recent days off from work, I decided I was going to remedy that with a trip to Renzo's in Lake Forest.  

Renzo's caught my attention with their very active Instagram account and their delicious looking sandwiches and plates that they feature on there. As you will see in a bit, their food can even make a subpar photographer like myself take good looking pictures. I excitedly called in my order on a Thursday before noon and hurried over there within the 15 minute time I was quoted. 

In case you were wondering, yes, there is a Renzo, and he's Renzo Macchiavello, owner and chef of this joint. He's from Peru but has lived in the US since he was 17. Renzo started out as a dishwasher in San Francisco and knew he wanted to become a chef after that. He moved to Los Angeles and worked in numerous hotels and restaurants in the LA area, and also graduated from culinary school in 1993. His migration south continued when he moved to OC and opened Peruvian Grill in Huntington Beach to wide acclaim. 

That restaurant closed, but now Renzo is back, taking over another Peruvian restaurant after the previous owner had passed away suddenly. Renzo's is situated in Lake Forest, near the intersection of Ridge Route and Muirlands, behind the Walgreens, and in the same center as Avila's El Ranchito and Burger Town USA. A little hard to find, but I was really looking forward to finally trying Renzo's take on Peruvian cuisine. 

The menu is small and compact, but full of what you'd expect to find at a Peruvian spot. There's six starters, including the national dish of Peru, which I learned is ceviche. There's five sandwiches, three salads, five entrees, and a trio of sides. No main dish will cost you any more than $20, and there's lunch and dinner portions depending on how hungry you are. I was pretty hungry of course, so let's see how well I liked Renzo's. 

I'm no Peruvian food expert, very far from it, but I'd argue that while ceviche is Peru's unofficial national dish, Lomo Saltado ($18) is the most popular, It's also so damn photogenic, as you can see from the pictures above. For those that don't know, this is a stir fry dish which combines strips of steak, french fries, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. It came with a big side of white rice also, which soaked up a lot of the soy sauce. Even though the steak was not the most tender I have had, and maybe needed a bit more seasoning added to it, when combined with everything else it was a very good plate of food. The fries stayed crisp almost all the way through my meal, the delicious aji sauce really tied this plate together wonderfully, and the three extra dollars I paid for the dinner portion of this really was a lot of food, even for me. 

 

For part 2 of my meal, I tried the Roasted Pork Loin Sandwich ($11), which is also listed on the menu as the buttifarra. This hefty sandwich comes with sliced roasted pork, sweet potato, onion, citrus salsa, lettuce, and aioli all on a french baguette. There was only one issue keeping me from loving this sandwich, and that was the roasted pork. It was extremely dry the day I was here, which is a shame because the rest of the sandwich was awesome. I loved the notes of citrus, the tang from the aioli, and the bread was top notch as well. I took off some of the pork and it made the sandwich better, but I was still bummed. I'm hoping they just had an off day, or maybe I'll try their Cuban or turkey sandwich next time. 

Even with the subpar roasted pork on the sandwich, I'd still suggest that you give Renzo's a try. The lomo saltado alone is worth the visit, and for ceviche fans, I hear you will not want to miss the one here. I found the price point to be more than fair, especially when you consider how big the portion sizes are. A regular person could easily split one of the dinner portions with a friend. Service was prompt, as they had my to-go order ready and waiting at the promised time. Renzo himself also thanked me for visiting, which was a nice touch. I'm still sure that Peruvian food will have its moment in the sun, and I look forward to having it more often, especially before everyone else finds out about it. 

Out of five alpacas, (because Peru is home to more than 75 percent of all the alpacas in the world), five being best to zero being worst, Renzo's A Taste of Peru gets 3 alpacas. 

For more information about Renzo's A Taste of Peru, head to their website here: http://www.renzostasteofperu.com/