Mama Inca — Restaurant in Da'an District

I found this place on a random Google search and marked it to go another time. We finally went there for dinner last night and the experience was somewhere between good and disappointing. I'll start with the best: the ceviche was delicious. The fish was fresh and the steamed sweet potatoes on the side went really well with the fish and the spicy tangy dressing. If you go to this restaurant, you should definitely order the ceviche. I ordered the beef in cilantro sauce and the description of the meal and the appearance were both very promising and after the first bite, I really did think it was pretty good. But as I kept eating it, I realized some parts of the beef were cooked well and melted in the mouth and other parts were chewy, overcooked(?) and tasteless. The potato slice that was part of the dish was not cooked enough. The most disappointing part was that the cilantro sauce didn't have the fresh, distinct taste of cilantro at all. In spite of all the evident greenness, the most discernible flavor was just salt. It tasted salty. My partner ordered the shredded chicken in walnut sauce and this was actually quite nice. There's a soup and a salad served as part of the "set meal". The soup is an excessively salty clear meat broth of some sort and the salad is just a bunch of green with a slice of tomato and a few slices of cucumber. Finally, I ordered the Choco maca, expecting it to be a rich, dark chocolate beverage such as the South American hot chocolate beverages that I had had before and what was served to us was frankly an insult. The 7 eleven hot cocoa is better. This was a primarily milky beverage with some kind of commercial cocoa powder mixed into it and at 180nt was beyond...

Hearty meal! Simplicity = Happiness. What an experience of authentic Peruvian meal!

Stewed Beef was tender, and the coriander sauce went so well with the quinoa rice.

The spicy grilled chicken was decently sized, tender and moist. The sauce was very unique, but was a bit spicy for me. So for people who can’t take spiciness at all, it’s best to avoid the nice sauce or just order a non-spicy dish.

Chicha Morada (Purple drink) was very interesting and defn worth a try.

Dessert combo was awesome. Both the rice pudding and the chocolate chia pudding were simple, with just enough flavor and sweetness that I could just keep on eating without getting sick of them. The quinoa cake was also unique, a bit dry on its own, but went well if paired with the pudding or a drink.

A touch of a Llama symbol shows that the chef has put his heart into making the food.

Service was friendly and prompt, especially from the adorable well-mannered staff “junior”.

I was truly humbled by how tasty a simple meal with healthy and natural ingredients can be. Makes you feel grounded, loved, and makes you miss your mom’s cooking back home.

Many thanks to a loving family for a...

We used to eat here quite often. On this last visit, we ordered our usual meals- 1/4 chicken and fries- a simple meal, and difficult to mess up… It was not good. Not at all. The quality has fallen VERY low- but the prices have gone UP!!?? It was obvious that the server was also preparing the food- all by herself! The chicken was obviously pre-roasted- and then brought back to heat in a MICROWAVE (there is no mistaking that it was definitely re-heated in a microwave as the meat was crazy hot, and had that typical dry and rubbery texture from a microwave). Also, the fries were pre-fried and reheated in an oven- they were stale in flavour and in texture. Also, if you want the fries, you have to order the set meal with salad and soup- the salad was tiny, made of razor thin shaves of veg, and the soup tasted like weak chicken powder flavoured water. It was sad. And it wasn’t cheap! We are very disappointed and dissatisfied with our recent lunch at Inca Mama. We will NOT...