Micas Rancho Cucamonga — Restaurant in Rancho Cucamonga

guess I have finally reconciled with the fact that is very unlikely I am going to find a 5 Stars Peruvian restaurant, but it certainly will not keep me from trying. Yesterday we drove an hour plus to try one more Peruvian place called Mica's, located in Rancho Cucamonga. Our persistence to find new Peruvian eateries was commendable on our part, avid consumers that we are, and Mica's did not disappoint our expectations, but neither brought tears of joy to our eyes for having found the ever elusive Peruvian place. Food selection: Papa a la Huancaina, $6+?. Not a bad version of a classic Peruvian termed appetizer. Better than most, really. Their yellow sauce over warm potatos (freshly made?), slice of boiled egg, black olive, lettuce, nice and tasty. 4 Stars. Tamal, $4.50. Ordered 2 for the 3 of us, Pork in our choice. Decent, not exceptional, but certainly easy to eat. The fresh onion marinade type salsa adding an enjoyable dimension for it was well made. 4 Stars. Empanadas, $6?. Small in size pastry dough filled with 3 respectively: chicken, beef, and cheese. Nice and hot, decent but nothing to fall off the chair. 3.5 Stars. Anticuchos, $11. Made of beef heart, expensive but very good compared to previous offerings if this same dish. Meat nicely marinated, soft not chewy, and two skewers with 3 morsels of beef heart each. Grilled potatoes on the side, home made sauce. 4 Stars. Fried Tilapia with Rice&Salad, $8.95. Tasty all around, good job on the frying process. 4 Stars. Aguadito de Mariscos, $10?. Seafood soup, dark green cilantro based, with plenty is assorted seafood, good bargain for the money, but a little on the heavy dark concentration of Cilantro, perhaps? 4 Stars. Water tasted fine, no funny smells in this case. Service, at the hands of the very capable Patty, efficient and prompt, and was rewarded accordingly. Place clean, bathrooms specially, and the bill came to the tune of $54, plus 18% gratuity. Overall a positive outing, and I am not going to get into the additional purchases for some Peruvian goods, but I will knock down their home made alfajores. Truly disappointing, but hey! most Peruvian places serve blunders, do stay away from these disasters (1 Stars). Mica's is good enough, noticed their prices on the average are more kind. Wish it was a little closer to us, but what can a Peruvian loving food admirer...

It was 11/24/2024. My wife suddenly wished to eat Peruvian food. The closest restaurant we have was Mica’s. I ordered by phone two dishes to take out: “Bistec a lo pobre” and “Arroz chaufa Vegetariano”. Ordering was very simple and fast, 20 minutes and my order was ready. Pay at the register: simple and easy. Walked into the restaurant: The atmosphere isn’t my taste. Poor lighting. A restaurant should have so much light that you can see very clear what you are eating; then back home. And then Food , oh my God that food. If my wife would say her wish much earlier I would cook for her and , you can bet , I would have a much tastier dish. When you are Peruvian and have eaten those dishes prepared for your grandmother, you can judge any Peruvian food. But that’s life. I will keep cooking following my grandma’s way(no recipe, there’s not such things in Peruvian food), and I will be happy. For those who never taste a Peruvian grandma food, well you all have to keep paying very expensive price for food that...

This was our first time having Peruvian food! We ordered the: -tacu tacu de pollo - mix of rice and beans with chicken -bisteck a lo pobre - steak, rice, fries, plantains, egg, salad

Both were good, but we especially lovedddd the tacu tacu! I'm sure it wasn't healthy, but that rice & bean mix was soooo flavorful and such a nice soft texture that we'd never had before! I didn't know rice and beans could be that good!! The bisteck a lo pobre I wouldn't order again.... everything was good, but it was such a random combination of foods (french fries?!).

A week later, we got take-out: -chaufa de pollo - fried rice with egg and chicken

Also good!

Unfortunately the staff we interacted with didn't speak very good English and it was hard to understand them, which didn't help when we were asking questions about the menu and foods we were unfamiliar with. I guess that means it's...