Fusionista - Modern Peruvian Cuisine — Restaurant in Montclair

I'm honestly a little surprised at how high the reviews are for this place; maybe we just had an uncharacteristic experience, but my gut says this is a slightly inflated rating based on the Montclair food curve and the novelty/uniqueness of the dishes offered. I came here with my chum two Saturdays ago for lunch. It was empty when we first arrived but filled up pretty dramatically throughout the meal. The vibe is weird; the building very clearly housed a small diner here before, and there probably wasn't a lot they could do about the interior because of it. (And to be clear - that's a tough spot for them. I'm sure it's not easy to grab commercial real estate in Montclair these days, but because this was the spot they picked, they're kind of pigeonholed in some respects). Since Fusionista is putting itself out there as a higher-end restaurant than a diner, it's an odd look. And the minute more than two dining parties were in there, it felt pretty cramped. I did love the llama décor though; the vast majority of art on the wall and a few other accessories highlight them. Fun theme at least but this space just feels off and not very comfortable.

Both of us loved the beverage situation. We thought the Chicha Morada sounded interesting and gave it a shot, which was the right call. Very refreshing with a lot of perfectly paired ingredients. It was a gamble to get a full-on pitcher but we came pretty close to demolishing it. Huge highlight and hit the spot.

We were pretty hungry but the entrees looked insanely filling so we opted to hang out in the tapas/apps area. Even then, these dishes were gigantic so I can't even imagine what the main courses looked like. We split three apps, which was still way too much - two might have been pushing it. We got the Aji de Gallina Croquette, Yuca a la Huancaina and the Causa de Pollo. The Croquette was my favorite. Very tasty with good flavoring and decent moistness within. The Yuca (essentially edgy thick French fries) were good and we kept munching on them, but the sauce cooled very quickly (or was cool to begin with - we couldn't decide) and lost some points for me there. The obvious Americanized comp is cheese fries, which I don't think I'd particularly enjoy if the cheese sauce was nippy. Debatable though at least. The Yuca itself were cooked well and not soggy despite being mostly covered in a sauce. Not an insult, but it feels like something I would have loved to have eaten in college circa 2AM.

The Causa de Pollo for me was the low point. The description on the menu indicated same had avocado but it wasn't evident to me based on appearance, and I didn't like the consistency of the dish or the taste. The potatoes were much softer and the mayonnaise was much heavier than I was expecting. But all of that can be attributed to personal preference - I'm sure there are plenty of people into this but it gave off too much of an egg salad situation for me.

The service was pretty uneven. Our waiter was VERY nice and friendly; top marks in that regard. My chum mentioned it several times throughout our meal. But once we had our food, he disappeared and was very difficult to hail down. Some of that can be attributed to the additional patrons that had stopped by in the interim, but getting the check was a process and he seemed to get easily distracted on his way back to our table. Not a huge deal, and we weren't in a time crunch.

This wasn't a bad meal by any stretch, but when the best item you had was the beverage (and it wasn't a...

I found out about this place on July 7th and immediately made a reservation for Sunday, July 9th. I've been salivating all weekend waiting to eat here. It was a dark and stormy night, but this food made it all better!

FOOD: 5/5. We ordered a pitcher of the Chicha Morada, and it was a nice, refreshing beverage that we both very much enjoyed. My GF and I split an appetizer, the Aji de Gallina Croquettes (Crispy Shredded Chicken Croquettes). They were perfectly crispy on the outside and the shredded chicken inside was savory, and the sauce that was on top was also quite tasty! My GF got the Arroz Chaufa with Chicken and let me have a bite--delicious! It was a pretty big serving and she wanted to save room for dessert so she only ate half, but I could have easily shoveled the entire plate into my mouth-hole. I got the food that I think is the barometer for rating Peruvian food: the Lomo Saltado (swapped out the side of white rice that comes with it with Vegetarian Arroz Chaufa). The steak was perfectly medium and mixed with a perfect ratio of red onions, tomatoes, and french fries, coated in a luxurious sauce. That sauce is something I could bathe in. I drizzled what I could on my side of Chaufa as well as my GF's Chicken Chaufa. Had I been given a straw with my drink, I probably would have drank up the rest directly off my plate. The last time I had Lomo Saltado this good was when I was in Lima about a decade ago (haven't been able to find a Peruvian spot in Manhattan to equal that experience). Dessert, we split a Tiramisu Affogato. Nice version of tiramisu that I never would have expected, but it too was delicious!

SERVICE & AMBIANCE: 5/5. Music was at a low enough level that you could hear your table. Had a diner-car type of ambiance. The more people in the restaurant, the louder it gets, but that's to be expected with the type of place it is. Service was attentive, friendly, and expeditious.

CONCLUSION: EAT HERE! Support a fantastic, new local business! I'd make the 20-30 minute drive here if I still lived...

So being very familiar with Peruvian culinary, the food was extremely disappointing. Like I felt so sad after I was done eating because the flavors of Peruvian food are so vibrant but these dishes were missing so many ingredients. It was not inedible but there was nothing Peruvian about these dishes. The only thing modern about this restaurant is maybe the presentation of the food but that’s about it. It’s a very small restaurant and the tables seem to be only two inches apart. Very low ceiling as well.

I ordered the aji de gallina croquettes and it didn’t have aji de gallina sauce inside the croquette or over. The chicken was very dry and there was no aji sauce mixed into the chicken. There was a very thick cream, more of a mousse of top of the croquettes, but that didn’t taste or look anything like aji de gallina which is a bright yellow sauce. It definitely didn’t have any of the seasoning and aromatics that make the sauce and it didn’t look like it even had aji paste which is the highlight of the sauce. It tasted more like blended bread and milk. I wonder if they make it that way to save on cost because it really lacked a lot of the ingredients.

Next I ordered a ceviche mixto and it was $30. Never have I seen a ceviche priced at $30. the shrimp wasnt standard size regular shrimp with the tail on- it was baby shrimp used in Chinese fried rice recipe (again trying to save on cost but charge a premium price). The fish which on the menu they list as catch of the day which again I doubt was fresh and more so frozen was definitely tilapia( again a very cheap white fish). Lastly there was barely any squid like maybe three small remnants from another dish. The ceviche marinade also tasted water down and had 0 flavor. So when I do the math that plate of ceviche should have been at most $17

I believe this restaurant doesn’t follow the baseline recipe for Peruvian traditional dishes therefore not making it Peruvian. I believe they don’t add all the ingredients to save on cost and charge premium prices. Would not...