Perched above Pamela’s in Shadyside is a Peruvian store and restaurant going by the name of La Feria. It claims to be a sister restaurant to Pamela’s, which is strange considering the utter lack of Peruvian in Pamela’s menu, but there it is. And despite the lack of guinea pig and alpaca on the menu, I was eager to see how Pittsburgh would do Peru.
The menu wasn’t too big, but I decided to go with the combo platter and picked Ropa Vieja (shredded beef) and Latin Flag (more ropa vieja, garlic rice and black beans in stripes like a flag). The dish came with salad or sweet potato chips, plus a couple pieces of bread and I obviously chose the chips. By mistake, the dish came out with a salad, but they did bring me my chips and the salad didn’t get in the way of the meal.
As for the meal itself, I was a fan of the ropa vieja, but didn’t find it as flavorful as I may have liked. The black beans were pretty tasty and the rice was, well, rice. The same goes for the sweet potato chips.
I really enjoyed the meal, but I couldn’t help but think La Feria needed more items to bolster the menu. They did seem to have a nice rotation of specials, but I’d need a bit more to make it a regular spot.
