For a strange little town south of Los Angeles, Gardena packs a surprisingly diverse amount of food. Contributing to this diversity is a Peruvian place called El Rocoto. Its menu is vast and although neither alpaca or guinea pig are anywhere to be found on it, I had no trouble finding delicious-looking things to eat. But before ordering, the waiter brought us out a nice bread basket with their namesake sauce and another one to eat with the bread. It was an interesting mix, but I definitely enjoyed the sauces.
As for my order, I went with the Aji de Gallina. This dish consisted of shredded chicken and potatoes in a creamy aji amarillo sauce, with a side of rice. The menu failed to mention the half hard-boiled egg and the piece of lettuce, which I kind of think balanced each other out. Aside from those things, this dish looked straight out of an Indian restaurant, but the flavors were nothing of the sort. The chicken and aji amarillo sauce were really quite awesome. There was definitely a kick to the sauce, but it wasn’t too strong and certainly wasn’t enough to distract from the sauce’s overall flavor.
I was definitely happy with my experience at El Rocoto. It’s a little pricey to make a habit out of for lunch, but I plan on making some happy returns to get my fix of delicious Peruvian.
