Machu Picchu Boston — Restaurant in Somerville

We had a reservation for an early dinner here. It was surprisingly lively even before the typical dinner rush, with several large families/groups gathered.

The food was meh to begin with. I ordered the ceviche de pescado, which comes atop a piece of lettuce and has cancha (corn nuts), choclo (corn kernels), and a piece of sweet potato on the side. As is quite typical at Peruvian restaurants, the table is served with cancha as an appetizer (similar to bread at Italian restaurants or tortilla chips at Mexican restaurants).The best part of it was probably the hearty hot stone plate that the food came on. The ceviche itself was okay but relatively bland, while the accompanying sides were generally unappetizing. It certainly wasn't worth $23 by any stretch of the imagination. But what really knocked it out of the park was that there were HAIRS in the food. I found the first hair after a few bites, then set it aside and tried to ignore it - until I found more hair throughout the meal. Anyone would have trouble enjoying dinner after that!

The other dish was the lomo saltado (stir-fried steak with onions and tomatoes), which came with rice and fries. The stir fry was fine, and the sides were basic and what you'd expect.

The service was just okay. For example, when we entered, we weren't greeted by anyone (even though there were a few employees standing at the kiosk near the door). Nobody really checked in on us throughout the meal, but the staff took our order, so I guess they fulfilled the basic requirements of the job.

The family-friendly environment is probably the most appealing characteristic of this place. The ambiance is nice enough, with décor that evokes Peruvian icons - like my favorite animal, the alpaca. Combined with the lackluster food and service, this restaurant could've been 3 stars, but having hair in my dish definitely lowered it to 2 stars. If someone in my life is dying to come here, I wouldn't refuse to return, but it's definitely not on my list of places I'd like to...

We visited on Sunday around 3–4 PM. The place was clean, nicely set up, and the service was attentive throughout our visit.

We started with pulpo al carbón and anticuchos — both were flavorful and well-prepared. For the main dishes, I ordered the chaufa con mariscos and my friend had the ceviche mixto. She ended up leaving half of her dish, and I had to ask the waiter if there had been a mistake with mine.

What I received was not the traditional Peruvian-style chaufa. It was very moist white rice with boiled shrimp, lacking flavor, salt, or any of the usual elements like soy sauce or oil. When I asked, they mentioned that location doesn’t use oil in the kitchen. While they offered soy sauce to help, the dish was far too wet to pass as fried rice.

I ended up switching to ceviche, which was okay, though we had to request salt to bring out more flavor. The pisco sour didn’t have much pisco taste and felt a bit watered down.

The appetizers and dessert were definitely the highlights. However, the main courses were underwhelming — we noticed other tables also leaving food behind, which might suggest the Sunday chef’s dishes aren’t quite up to par.

Overall, great service and a nice atmosphere, but for nearly $70 per person, we expected more consistency and flavor in the main dishes.

Environment decoration 10/10 Food size: small portions Drinks:...

Let's get some things out of the way. Decor...crisp, elegant, elevated, modern. Service...cordial, attentive, prompt. Food: the following was ordered... Seco definitely not from the North. Lacking flavor and salt. Bistec a lo PobreTough cut. Para Picar TrioAuthentic corn. Yellow sauce on point. Anticuchos excellent! Yucca fries ok. Tamal was NOT excellent as initially thought. For the price, almost no meat and a sliver of egg. DO BETTER! Salchipapawhere are the sauces!? If you are Peruvian you know what I'm talking about. Regardless, flavor was good. Empanada suggestion, provide lime cut in gajos not rounds...better experience. Flanthis item was comped after we provided feedback regarding steak being too tough to eat. Delicious. Cost: way too much for the quality of the food. Now...because this is Boston and well...Peruvian joints of this caliber are not as common, I can see the prices are...