Warique Peruvian Restaurant — Restaurant in Arlington

4:45pm, we walk in to a packed restaurant with live music in celebration of Peruvian Independence Day. There's a line for a table, so we sit at the bar. Excited to try a new peruvian restaurant, we sat down very optimistic. 5:00pm, we place our order with a very friendly server. We order Lomo saltado, ceviche, and Cao Cao de mariscos. 5:45pm, still waiting on our food. Noticing not many dishes leaving the kitchen in the time period. 6:00pm, we start wondering what the heck is going on. An hour wait is a bit wild, even for a national holiday. We ask about our food, they say they will check, then never report back to us. We start noticing other people coming up to the bar asking about their food. 6:15pm, a large table only ever received one dish in apparently 3 hours of being there and stormed out without paying. 6:30pm, still no food and I'm ready to walk out as well. We ask again, and they say it should be right out. 7:00pm, 2 hours after ordering 3 not too complicated dishes, and we recieve the ceviche. 7:10pm, the Lomo finally arrives followed shortly by the mariscos. LOMO: it was good. No complaints, but definitely not worth a 2 hour wait. Ceviche: husband said it was really good and he enjoyed it. Again, still not worth the 2 hours. Mariscos: the octopus was too hard and could not be eaten. The potatoes were not cooked, and they put crawfish, which doesn't really belong in this dish.

I will be giving this place another shot. I understand they just opened and it is probably the busiest day of the year for any peruvian restaurant. They marketed like crazy about opening and having a live band for Independence day. The marketing worked. Arlington doesn't have enough peruvian options, so of course we're excited about this spot! I truly hope the management can work out the kinks in the system to be efficient and the kitchen can run smoothly. I believe management and the kitchen are the root of the issue here. It was as if there was 1 chef cooking for the 30ish tables they have. It was a bit expensive. One of the pricier peruvian restaurants we've been to in the Metroplex. The servers were quick to move once plates came out. The kid behind the bar was whipping up pisco sours like nobody's business - best worker in the place! I will update my review after the next time we...

Friday night was pretty empty at this new Peruvian place. But it shouldn't be.

Overall a great experience. I'm not Peruvian so not sure how auténtico everything was, but it was all great food, and prices were not ridiculous. It's in line with other places I've tried, and I enjoyed it. I wasn't quite prepared to speak only Spanish when we walked in, and had to reach back quite a few years for the words I needed to order and talk about the menu items. It wouldn't have been too difficult for me that the server didn't speak any English, except I was ordering for the whole table and the TV was loud right behind me so I struggled to keep up at first.

Ceviche mixto - great. Get it all day every day. This was a dinner portion we ordered as an appetizer for 3. Perfect size. Yuccas fritas - the sauce was new to us, good but not sure what it was. We actually preferred the orange and green sauces that came out to put on the yuccas. They were starchy and needed a little kick. Tamal peruano con cerdo- the pork in this absolutely melted in the mouth. No exaggeration, literally melted. The tamal batter was also delicious and we kept putting orange and green sauce on everything. I found a peanut in it also. Not sure if that was intended or an accident, but be aware if you have allergies, and know how to ask in Spanish. Causa de atún - Everything was shared among 3, so we were not sure how large the tuna causa would be, because it's listed as a main dish for 1 person (everything was single plate except yucca and tamal appetizers). Perfect size for each to get more than one small serving. Arroz del mar - Saving the best for last. This was the largest portion, LOADED with seafood. Great flavors and spices (not spicy picante, though). I've never had a Peruvian rice dish like this, so the best way I can describe it is the best combination of seafood paella and jambalaya. Would go back just for this. Might even see if I can learn to make it myself.

Last but not least, the pisco sour was smooth and I could have had MANY. DON'T skip it.

New restaurant that needs a little time to get their legs under them. Give them some time and go prepared or with a translator. Service was great despite the language barrier. Less than $100 for all this for 3 very full people,...

So i tried the Fettuccine a la Huancaina Lomo Saltado plate. Well i got it to go Its pretty pricey for this dish But this was the best Lomo Saltado Ive tasted since Florida. I don't know what that Huancaina sauce is but its super good! The only bad thing is the to go box is super small for the price of the meal. I'm gonna leave a picture, but im curious to see what the plate looks like if i were to dine in. Is it the same quantity? Well then this would be to expensive to eat another time, maybe date night type of eating, maybe. It was like $28 after tax and no tip, but I left a tip, great service even for to go. With this economy,,i get it, lol But I will be back cause it was that good. Just maybe when i can get a little extra money. Dont worry Warique i will come back to visit and with more...