Chicha por Gaston Acurio — Restaurant in Arequipa

Unfortunately we didn't like the food and for the price we paid we can't recommend this place (also because I am writing this review while I am still in the bathroom with stomach problems 🤢 due to our dinner there! Not the best way to celebrate your anniversary)

As a positive, the waiter was very attentive and tried his best to make our night better when he noticed we were very displeased with the food and the fact that they forgot to bring us a starter that came right after we have finished the main course. He brought us a small pisco sour to compensate for the mistake which was a lovely gesture BUT the Pisco Sour was terrible! (We had already ordered 2 before at the start of the meal and we didn't even finished them because they were really bad. I am not an expert of Pisco Sour but I have drink them a lot , so for sure the one at Chicha was not for our taste buds. It tasted like fake lemon, which I am sure it is not and it is just the brand of Pisco that was too strong, but overall I would not recommend ordering a Pisco Sour here)

The terrible experience started right after they forgot our empanadas and brought our main dishes which were not good. The Alpaca bife I assume is an acquired taste so will not talk about it, the only thing I will say is that it wasn't for me. However, the Causa was a disgusting experience!

Again not an expert in Peruvian cuisine but a Causa is a Causa and I do know a big deal of it since I eat it almost every day! Well in this restaurant they put shrimp cocktail sauce all over it and to top it they put some cheese! Pink cocktail sauce + cheese on top of shrimps! That is not a cause! That is an American shrimp cocktail dish with some smash potatoes on the bottom! Really disappointed 😞

A Causa is acidic, fluffy and light! This one was heavy, hyper sweet and really really gummy! I don't know who thought putting shrimp cocktail sauce was a good idea (maybe to try to appeal to some foreign palates?) But the combination ruin the essence of a Causa and send me straight to the toilet! Even the waiter notice how unhappy we were with that dish and that I was feeling quite sick already! I will not recommend that...

There is a minimum of both profesionalism and service that you expect when going to places such as Chicha. Well, regretfully my boyfriend and I decided not to even have dinner after the following: 18th Aug '22 18:00. We enter the restaurant and kindly ask to book a table for 19th Aug '22 20:30. The employee managing the reception, apparently very kindly, tells us that a) they normally do not make reservations, b) they have system down and cannot make it anyway (shows us the laptop screen) and c) they have been lately having plenty of no-shows which is therefore reinforcing the no reservation policy. So against this explanation and her invitation to come back on 19th 19:45 as "we would for sure have a table", we feel OK and decide to plan our dinner here for the next day. 19th Aug 19:30 we arrive to the venue (15 minutes in advance). We greet the same lady and say that, as promised, there we were. She does not even remember us and tells us if we had a reservation for 19:30 (oops, first surprise!). Immediately after being told to wait, an avalanche of people with reservations start to fill the venue (ooops, second surprise!). We kindly go and ask the lady the expected waiting time to be seated as well as why we had been told a complete different thing less than 24h before. We immediately observe her being very uncomfortable and referring to being busy when she told us so. Guess what: she was speaking to us for more than 10 min with no interruptions neither customers needing of her attention.

No honesty, no profesionalism, no care for customer base. Getting lied to the face means we are no customers neither of Chicha, nor of any other place linked to Mr....

We were a bit disappointed with the food; first time in Arequipa but not the first one in Chicha. It started with a juice of chicha de X and the waiter describing it as acidic and not sweet at all. The juice was too sweet and far from being acidic. We could not feel the fermentation. First disappointment. We then tried the chebiche de erizo, which was totally unexpected and a really excellent surprise to find erizo, fresh and flavory. We definitely recommend this appetizer. One note though... too many onions, way too many. As a main dish we tried the local "camarones" or river shrimps. I tried that for the very first time in Congo, Africa and their taste reminded me of those days. Absolutely delicious. The portion is generous for the chupe de camarones and feels like a real meal. The soup tastes really good. The celadores de camaron is an antique dish where shrimps are served cold which brings a very different flavor... really nice as well. Note that the portion is more appetizer size. Finally we ordered a grilled octopus served with a chimi-churri sauce. The mix of flavors was interesting and original. Unfortunately the octopus was not soft... kind of hard and chewy in the center. I had much better octopus... hoping this was a one-off.

The place has a good vibe, clean setup and not too noisy even when full. We ate a luch time during the week days and mostly locals.

In overall the experience was good but this is the first time.we had some upsets with one of Gaston Acurio's restaurants. This is not a cheap place compared to any other restaurants in Arequipa or Peru, but you will get a service and dishes prepared like...