Kotosh UPDATE - Lomita

I often forget how much I like Kotosh. It often gets bypassed in favor of faster options, but once in a while, I get to sit down and smell the sushi. 

When it comes to sushi, Kotosh's is clean. It's good, upper-middle quality, fairly reflected in the price. 

A neat line of hand rolls rest in crispy nori, spilling with spicy tuna, scallops with roe, and creamy crab. 

The Tuna Tataki Roll has stripes of red and green, a fresh and lean tuna with avocado over shrimp tempura. 

My favorite specialty is the SLUR, sweet salmon and avocado over asparagus and crab. The white sauce looks like mayo, but it's actually white wine, and the creamy texture is nice. 

The Eel & Masago Roll and the Waterpillar are the same-same but different; one has the eel on top, the other, underneath. The eel is prepared properly, with none of the rubbery aftershock.

For those who can't get full from sushi, a generous portion of Chicken Fried Rice should fill you up. They make it properly, and they make it well. I prefer their lomo and pasta, but there's something for everyone on this monster menu, and I can't get enough. 

Kotosh UPDATE - Lomita

I often forget how fond I am of Kotosh. Where else can you get fresh sushi, satisfying ceviche, stir-fry, pasta, and everything in between?

They do a solid ceviche here. Cebiche Pescado is cold and fresh, chunks of white fish squelching with lime. 

Cebiche Mixto is more of the same, with shrimp and octopus added to the mix. Both are good, but I'm partial to the pescado.

If you'd have your food extremely cooked, the Chicharron Mixto Al Ajo is the other end of the spectrum. Deep fried every kind of seafood, with a thick and pungent garlic-butter sauce that will stop you in your tracks. 

If you don't order Lomo Saltado, did you even order Peruvian food? Try their iteration of strip steak stirfry with wilting wedges of tomato and fries double-fried. Pleases all, offends none, ideal for picky eats and those with significant sensitivities. 

Shrimp Saltado is the shellfish variation. Same stuff, sub for shrimp, just as good, though I prefer the beef. 

Tallarin Verde is Peruvian pesto, made more robust with spinach in the mix. The spaghetti is al dente, the sauce is a noodle-clinging slurry, and the sauce is refreshing but balanced with cheese. Top with chicken katsu or beef for best results. 

Tallarin a la Huancaina is my favorite. Spaghetti in aji pepper cream with a topping of juicy steak. The pasta is perfect, and the steak cuts the cream. Didn't think this combination could work, but I love the balance. 

One-of-a-kind Kotosh, a little restaurant that does a lot. Another little Lomita gem, worth at least a long look.  

El Pollo Inka - Torrance

I know, I know, it's a chain. But it's a Socal chain and I love their lomo! It's Peruvian stir fry, and what's not to like? A fusion of Peruvian potato with veggies and fried Chinese-style, it's my people's cultural contribution on a plate, a melting pot in a wok. 

My favorite is the Saltado de Camarones, though the fish is quite good as well. The fish is more fishy so make sure you like that, otherwise stick with the shrimp if you want some seafood. They're not stingy with the shrimp, which are pretty tender and fresh. The red onions are sauteed sweet but still have some crunch and bite. Tomatoes are tangy, peppers are crisp, and I love that they throw in the french friess. 

Lomo Saltado is the standard, and they do a good job cooking the meat through without making it tough. Throw on some green sauce no matter what you're eating. It'll add a little singe, but it'll make your stir fry sing. 

Wow, the Pollo a la Brasa! Tender, juicy oven-roasted masterpiece of a chicken. Get all dark meat if you can - it compounds the flavor and seals in the savor. I rarely order chicken, and it's hard to do a roasted chicken well, but El Pollo Inka has earned their name. 

A side of Platanos because I just have to. They do a decent job on these, though I prefer them more gooey and theirs is the firm and starchy approach. 

The Ceviche Mixto will make you cry. SO much lime juice, too much. The fish, shrimp, and calamari are fine, but there's just so much acid they burn your mouth, and it actually takes a moment to recover your sense of taste. 

I'm curious about a few other items, and I may have to try the beef heart next time the craving hits. I would probably avoid the other apps after my misstep with the ceviche, but I won't stay away from the lomo for long. 

Ichu - Central, Hong Kong

Ichu: Peruvian food. Elevated and inspired.

Lima's Central is chef Martinez’s playground, a place of constant innovation. Ichu is not that, but Ichu is special all the same. Ichu is not so his place of experimentation; it's his wonderful world of tradition woven with whimsy. Ichu is his home away from home in Hong Kong, a home that is sexy and hip with a little bit of fusion and a whole lot of vision.

You get to glimpse his flavor-play in the cocktails, composed of components quite uncommon. The Vida is a seafoam green delight of smooth gin, and earthy bites of roots and bark. The chlorophyll is the opposite of borophyll, and it feels like it's flowing from a leafy tree.

The El Niño Effect is powerhouse of pisco and sake, and the bitter gentian is an enhancer.

When in Peru, you must have a Pisco Sour, and Ichu makes a good one. They use corn for syrup, eucalyptus for bitters, and pisco-infused saffron for genius.

Why choose a single ceviche when they offer you a whole Colleccion? Three of their faves; the Classico with my favorite sauce, a tang that keeps it fresh, and a texture that rides the line between acid and cream. The Tomate has a lighter sauce, and the Pez Limon comes with the creamiest, meltiest hamachi. The highlighting citrus sauce keeps things light and pure. 

I demand the Uni but the scallops steal the show. They’re sliced so thin; silky and smooth, cold and coated with citrus. It’s a softer, subtler sauce that lets the scallops shine, and they almost override the uni with their sweetness.

Skewers of Corazon rest red and tender on the grill. The veal is savory and full of juice, but be sure to eat it quickly as the charcoal won't keep it warm.

Their kitchen has one heck of a saucier - this TacuTacu Chupe makes fireworks. The calamari and prawns are perfectly cooked, a feat easier said than done. But it's all about the rice and beans here. They soak up seafood drippings and a creamy wonder-sauce, a tomato-based smudge of velvet.

Cerdo Amazonico. Giant slabs of the fattiest of the fat-fat in the middle of a hot stone massage. The server tilts an earthy urn of pour-over sauce that sizzles as it runs down the rocks. The cacao makes an otherwise-ahi Amarillo taste like a mole. 

Dessert is next and last, the closing conclusion to something quite spectacular. We start with the Tres Leches, a sweet indulgence. The spongy cake is moist and immersed in a slickly sweet cream.

The cake of the day is a coffee and cocao, rich and dark and not too sweet. The icing is rich cream, and the balance of sugar makes it a perfect slice.

The Ecosistema de Peru is enough for four people, and food imitates art in an edible pod of unsweetened, milky cacao. Ruby chocolate mousse provides the sugar, and a gentle scoop of banana ice cream provides the passion. 

I wasn’t sure a Peruvian restaurant could hang in Hong Kong, but I should have known better than to underestimate Virgilio Martinez. Here he brings the best of Peru and presents it in a way that is artistic and absolutely delicious. Most minds will never go where his can, and here, he dreams up sauces to a caliber I couldn't imagine. 

I don't follow movie stars - I follow chefs. I would follow this guy to the ends of the earth, and I’ll never tire of his eye for detail and his mind for unprecedented creativity.

Kotosh - Lomita

The best of Peru cooked hand-in-hand with the best of Japan is clearly a recipe for success. So different but so much the same.

Cebiche Mixto, for example, isn't much of a stretch from sushi - just a lot more marinated. This mixto of tender tako, irresistable ika, and gigantic kernels of Peruvian corn is perfect.

From the other side, the Tuna Tataki Roll rocks seared strips of tuna with ripe avocado and crispy tempura shrimp.

And then the Chupe de Pescado, OMG the CHUPE DE PESCADO. The heavy, ricey stew brings tears to my eyes it's so good, and the description of "fish chowder" does it no justice. This stuff is hot and heavy, and the rich, savory chunks of fish spread through the soup.

I never thought I'd see pesto and katsu on the same place, but the Tallarin Verde makes it work. The pasta is great, but the lightly-battered and brilliantly fried katsu completes it, like the other half it didn't know was missing.

Peruvian and Japanese...I would love to hear how they met. But how they met is far less important than how they mesh. Mixed marriages make the most beautiful food-babies, and Kotosh delivers one heck of a hybrid.