Jarana New Jersey - Peruvian Cuisine & Pisco Bar — Restaurant in East Rutherford

We were at the American Dream on an casual date night/games with my wife. We wanted to eat at Mozzarella. But was lured past Mr. Beast Burger to Jarana. We werecurious by the menu. The dining room wasn’t very busy but the attentive hostess was quick to seat us.

menu was big and a little intimidating not knowing Peruvian cuisine so we decided to do the $52 per person “Jarana Experience” 5 course tasting menu to see what this restaurant could provide.

We started off with “Tuna Wantacos” and we very good. For people who are curious it is a very approachable dish. Very Craveable I could easily take down 4-5. Very safe option for their tasting.

The next course was “Cebiche Classico” The waiter offered us some Hot sauce to eat along with it. We tried it without it first. Very acidic dish. Wakes you up. The fish was nice and tender, the Leche de Tigre was nice and acidic. Soft corn, hard corn, tender sweet potato provided all provided texture to the dish. The hot sauce was incredibly hot. Providing new flavors to the party if you get tired of the dish. Not easy to share on flare plates since the dish is “Brothy” but overall a tasty dish.

Chicharrón de pollo. Another “safe” dish. Solid tasting fried chicken nugget pieces. The Rocoto Mayo served along side it was good. There was also a watery sour dipping sauce served along side it. It kept the dish interesting and light even though it was a heavier fried dish.

“Tacu Saltado - Beef Tenderloin” was our Main course. It was Good. Beef was tender, vegetables Al dente had some Vite to it, but Nothing exciting though. Nothing that would separate it from other stir fried dishes I have had. I know the dish is celebrating Chinese influence on Peruvian Cuisine, just wasn’t as exciting as the previous dishes. Don’t get me wrong it tasted great, but I personally wouldn’t have picked it out of the Menu if given the choice. Knowing that other Chinese restaurants are opening nearby or are already there, it is interesting that this is on the menu and served this way. Again my knowledge of Peruvian food is limited so this is just my Opinion.

For dessert we were served “Torta de Chocolate” The cake was flavorful. The chocolate sauce and Pisco syrup kept the cake moist and tender. The flavor of the Lúcuma Ganache was subtle. Solid piece of cake if you are into that for dessert. Another “Safe” option for a tasting menu.

Overall the tasting menu was definitely designed for New Jersey and Out of town folk curious about the mall and looking for something out of the ordinary yet don’t want to go completely out of their comfort zone.

The drinks Pisco Sour and Chilcano Classic were refreshing drinks. The Pisco sour with the egg white in the drink made the texture like drinking eggnog. Deceptively easy to drink.

The ambience is what I would expect of a mall Restaurant. Everything was clean and fresh still since the restaurant is still new.

The service was very attentive. Even though the lady bussed outrage table and forgot to place new share plates and silverware on the table before our mains. Our server Juan was very good. Attentive without being too overbearing.

We would definitely...

If I could give 0 stars I would!...First of all I would like to say that I was a server for years and I still work in the costumer service industry Lest begin with the hostess (don't know her name) we were running behind because of the hike parking/mall situation so we called to let the hostess know that we were running late and she said "you only have a 15 mins grace period" we got there at exactly 4:44 and our reservation was at 4:30 we had to wait 15 mins to get the table because it wasn't ready, I had to leave my baby's stroller outside in the dinning area they have in the hallway of the mall and carry all the stuff I had in the stroller to the table.

We finally sat down and we our server Luisa approached us I ask before any drinks or appetizers that please that if she could bring my baby's food first I would appreciate it before any drinks or appetizers (I ask for the simplest thing, grilled chicken and a potatoe or broccoli and a sealed bottle of water, she said she was going to ask if the can make that in the kitchen and also check it they had sealed bottles of water) we end it up ordering just a potatoe and broccoli because they pre-marinate the chicken with beer, then we ordered the drinks and the appetizers, the drinks came, appetizers 1 (which had meat that takes time to cook) came, then appetizers 2, and even after that I had to call her again and ask again for the baby's food because it hadn't come out yet. We finally got my baby's food and we I go and try the potatoe and the broccoli the broccoli was raw (if you have a baby you know you cannot give that type of food to a 1 year old baby) I end it up letting it go and just gave my daughter the potatoe, call Luisa again and ask for the bottle of water, after all that she hadn't ask if they had a sealed bottle of water ( also this are thing that a sever should know or if they don't a good server tries to make it happen, especially something as simple like the baby's food)

Forgot to mention that I order a drink and ask for Tido's specifically and I took A sip of the drink and knew automatically that it wasn't Tido's, it was whiskey, I believe it was bourbon, I let her know and ask her to just get me a Cooke instead... when the bill came she charged me for the drink which was wrong and I literally only took A sip, not only that she also charge me $8 for the baby's food and put it in the receipt as "veggies chaufa"

I have to add that the food came all in different times, my sister's food came first, 10 mins later my mom's and 5 later mine, at the time to pick up the plates it took them 30 mins more or less to clean the table

I'm saying all of these because I know what it is to be a server and have a busy night but this was a disaster and honestly I love Peruvian food and we could've gotten way better food in other restaurants and way less money

Not worth it at all... I wish we could get our money back but we all know that's not possible

And here are some picture so you can see what I'm talking about...

The picture with the potatoes and the broccoli is what they charged as...

Jarana means JOKE in Spanish and that's what Jarana was for us---a sort of a bad joke. We visited JARANA at AMERICAN DREAM Mall in the late afternoon/early evening of Saturday, June 3, 2023. The place was busy and chaotic and EXTREMELY NOISY, with blasting music from the DJ playing two floors down and a live-act in full swing down the corridor. The MENU posted in Jarana's website is DECEIVING, as the current prices are MUCH HIGHER than it shows---a 'bait-and-switch' scheme (?) that is impossible to justify, considering the super famous Peruvian chef behind this project and the little time that would take to keep it updated. We found the menu to be quite heavy on meat (beef), chicken and pork and kind of light on fish and seafood, which is the opposite of what the Peruvian diet really is. We ordered one 'Causa Duo' ($14), one 'Chicharron de Pollo' ($18), one 'Quinoa Airport' ($24), one 'Jalea Mixta' ($29), and a bottle of 'Terraza de Los Andes Malbec' ($52). The causa duo, which is sampler of the chicken and shrimp causas, was very appealing to the eye but mostly mashed potato and very little chicken and shrimp. The chicharrón de pollo was crispy and juicy and came with two dipping sauces that were simply delicious. The quinoa airport, a vegetarian dish of fried rice made instead with quinoa and vegetables with a small egg omelet on top, was tasty and perhaps the best dish we tried. The jalea (at $29!) was a total disappointment, as it was super small, mostly fried yuca, with very little fried fish and seafood. We found the service to be disorganized and uneven. Our dishes were served in random order, and not as we had requested and anticipated. However, they were all well presented and visually appealing. The bottle of wine was ill-poured by the server twice: once when he opened the bottle and one second time at the end of our dinner. By the time we finished eating, we'd had enough of Jarana and were ready to leave this place, where it was almost impossible to hear the person sitting across the table from you. Although the indoor and outside sitting areas were buzzing with patrons (in large and small groups) we have to add that we saw a lot of 'long faces' everywhere we looked at, perhaps a reflection of the difference between what they had expected and what Jarana really was for them. Our TOTAL TAB for 2 came to be $165 (or $82.50/person), which is quite expensive for a restaurant that resembles (in terms of ambiance, at least) more like a fast-food eatery than the fine restaurant its prices suggest to be. I wish Jarana would have been a better experience for us and that I could recommend it to others but, sadly, that's not the case.

PS-In case anyone wonders, we are fans of Peruvian cuisine. We have visited Peru and dined at Acurio's other famous restaurants in Lima (Astrid & Gastón and La Mar), Cusco (Chicha), as well as in the now-defunct La Mar Cebichería in Manhattan. We love Peruvian food and dine very frequently at Peruvian restaurants in our local area...