CJ Peruvian Bar & Restaurant - (Pollos a la Brasa CJ) — Restaurant in New London

Fantastic peruvian fare! Had a parihuela (seafood soup) and a jalea (fried seafood platter) and both dishes did not disappoint. The parihuela is easily the best I've had. Not especially spicy, but served at the perfect temperature JUST short of scalding. The jalea was also great, the fried seafood portion was a little on the salty side but I can live with that. The onion salad that comes with it was on-point; refreshing and acidic to combat the oil of fried seafood. I recommend also asking for aji verde on the side (milky green sauce, cilantro and tiny bit of heat.) The aji verde was a bit thin in consistency, relative to what I've had, but it was still excellent in flavor.

Whatever they did to the fried yucca transformed it into something otherwordly when it came to consistency and flavor, in a good way! Usually yucca is pretty bland; not this time! Creamy, robust, everything I'd want it to be.

My partner had lomo saltado a la CJ, which included fried plantains. Once again, there wasn't a thing to complain about. With that said, CILANTRO HATERS TAKE NOTE: TELL THEM AHEAD OF TIME TO NOT USE CILANTRO. Rice, beef, plantains... Everything cooked to perfection. Tomatoes used were fresh as can be, not a hint of mush or that fermenty-aroma when they get a bit overripe.

Lastly, for dessert: pumpkin doughnuts with fig syrup. Never had it before, will enjoy again! That fig syrup is the perfect complement to the fried dough. The dough is FLUFFY, and it takes a minute to soak in the syrup. Delicious.

The building itself is nondescript, but once you enter you realize it's actually nice inside! Clean, spacious, and tastefully furnished/decorated. Service was notably friendly and accommodating. But man, it's hard to outshine that FOOD!

Prices are a bit higher than most other peruvian places I've been to, but not excessively so. You certainly won't leave hungry. For a BIG bowl of parihuela, a very generously portioned jalea, a similarly large lomo saltado, and SIX doughnuts with fig syrup the subtotal was $67. It was just the two of us, but we could have fed another two folks pretty easily.

They have their own small parking lot on the side of the building, but if it fills up there's plenty of street parking as they are on the edge of a suburb.

I'll be back...

A great Peruvian restaurant in the middle of New London. Started with a jar of refreshing purple chicha. Sweet but not overly so, with a cinnamon spice finish. We had a steak served with rice, two fried eggs, fried plantains and Peruvian corn. Sounds weird but it was delicious. We also ordered a plate of their fried seafood called jalea. Delicately fried tender fish, Shrimp, calamari and baby octopus served with their cabbage salad and golden fried chunks of tender yucca(cassava). What impressed us all, was the fact that the seafood was NOT greasy at all. Barely any trace of oil on your plate as you finished. Also it was definitely good quality fresh seafood. Which takes us to the next dish. The mixed seafood ceviche. It was delicious. All their dishes are plentiful. The ceviche needed a deeper slightly bigger plate to contain all the juicy goodness. We tried all three desserts. All top notch and homemade. The flan is creamy and silky, the leche frita is the Peruvian version of creme brulee but the overall winner was their homemade, fresh made as you wait, donuts. You get 5 in an order and they're a pretty decent size. Our waitress was EXCELLENT. Knowledgeable and helpful. She was pretty much on top of everything and had a very genuine friendly personality. I give it 4 stars because of the prices. All 3 dishes were around $18. Now they're not unreasonable prices considering the quality of the food and that the portions were generous as well. But just a heads up. BUT not to say there weren't other varied options both in price and variety. ALSO, we were there at lunch time and we failed to notice the big white board behind the register with tons of specials, some almost half price of their menu. Like their famous rotisserie chicken a half chicken special was $10.50 ... We shall look for it next time. The ambiance is a nice family place. Clean and spacious. They have booths and tables. And two dining rooms. Definitely...

Family run, friendly, and very budget-friendly. We ordered a whole roasted chicken, which was absolutely delicious. It came with a huge plate of fries (you can also opt for rice and beans), and a big salad. At $16.99, this is one heck of a deal and great value for a mom and dad wanting to feed themselves and two kids on a budget. My boyfriend and I got almost four meals out of this dish.

I've been here a number of times and also had the Lomo Saltado CJ which is a thin pan fried steak, fries, sauteed plantain, stewed onion and tomato, and a fried egg on top. It is simple and quite tasty. You feel like you're having some kind of authentic experience at this place, which is often hard to find nowadays.

I always make sure I get the criole salad because it is so so yummy. Very thinly sliced red onion and tomato with a lime juice dressing. Ridiculously good.

The final thing I love is it's byob, so bring a little rum, order some passion fruit juice, and have a scrummy meal out on the cheap while supporting a nice,...