Sunday Brunch at Tamari (Warrendale)

I maintain a restaurant wishlist on Urbanspoon which currently stands at 159 restaurants, 99 of which are in the Pittsburgh area.  Clearly, it is going to take me a really, really long time to get to them all!  So earlier in the summer I created a mental wishlist of the top 5 Pittsburgh eateries I'd like to hit up before the end of the year, and Tamari was one of them.

As luck would have it, R.'s step-uncle was in town several weekends ago and staying in Cranberry Township.  He wanted to meet up on Sunday, so we met at Tamari's Warrendale location for brunch.  Located in the Strayer University complex near where I-79 and I-76 cross over, Tamari occupies a comfortably large space and offers a mouthwatering brunch menu featuring a wide variety of options, including Latino or Asian twists to standard brunch items (e.g., Chorizo Biscuits and Gravy, Bulgogi and Eggs).  I, however, had been dying to try Tamari's sushi, so that's exactly what I went for: a Tamari Roll, featuring white tuna, crab meat, a sriracha aioli, topped with scallops, scallions, caviar, and panko flakes.  It doesn't look very hefty, but this roll actually has eight pieces, so it is quite filling.  I wish I had the stomach space to try another sushi item, because the Tamari Roll was fresh, tasty, and left me wanting for more, but alas, a girl can only eat so much in a single sitting!

Tamari Roll ($18)

R.'s step-uncle had a Curried Burrito, with pork belly, potato confit, ancho mole, and a fried egg and chives on top.  He was nice enough to let me snap a photo and take a bite, too.  Delicious!

Curried Burrito ($9)

I didn't get a photo of R.'s meal, but he loved it.  His Corn Pancakes with ancho syrup and raspberry compote was a "small plate" item, but actually came with three pancakes.

We all enjoyed our food and had a lovely time catching up.  Ahhh...what more can you ask for?

Restaurant info:
Tamari
701 Warrendale Village Drive, Warrendale, PA 15086
(724)933-3155
On the web: http://www.tamaripgh.com
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tamari-Warrendale/128044107313971
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tamaripgh


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Chicken Latino (Strip District)

This is a long belated post on Chicken Latino in the Strip District.  My first visit there was back in December, after receiving positive recommendations from multiple sources.  I recall trying to decide between something with rotisserie chicken and the weekend ceviche special, but given the name of the restaurant I had to go with the Quarter Chicken (dark meat), while R. had the Chicken Quesadilla.  Both were mouthwatering delicious.  In fact, I didn't expect much of the chicken quesadilla, and it turned out to be quite good.  Not pictured is Chicken Latino's special green sauce that's quite spicy but very, very good.

Quarter Peruvian Style Rotisserie Chicken

Chicken Quesadilla

I didn't post about my first trip right away because I had hoped to be back soon for the ceviche and figured I would combine both visits into one post...only "soon" didn't happen until four months later for one reason or another.  In any case, I finally made it, and on this particular weekend the special was a Shrimp and Fish Ceviche, which also didn't disappoint.  The flavor was strong but not overwhelming.

Shrimp and Fish Ceviche

Chicken Latino is a great, casual place to grab a bite during weekend "Stripping" trips, or any other time one happens to be in the Strip.  They are also great about announcing their weekend special on Twitter and Facebook.

Restaurant info:
Chicken Latino
155 21st Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412)246-0974
On the web: http://www.chickenlatino.com
On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/chickenlatino
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chicken-Latino/145153807143


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AJ's Peruvian Restaurant (Oakland)

Update (5/20/2013): AJ's Peruvian Restaurant is closed.

As someone who is interested in cultural diversity and world cuisine, I have found myself paying more attention to Latin American restaurants in the city ever since I learned of Señorita Cibulka's project.  To my surprise, there are actually quite a few of these restaurants in town, several of which are recent additions, with more to come soon.  So when my friend and I were looking for a place to do lunch the other day, I suggested AJ's Peruvian Restaurant.  It was a sunny and warm fall day, and we were also glad we could take advantage of it by hitting up a place with a decent amount of natural lighting.

The hostess, who I believe is the owner, sat us at the booth closest to the entrance.  The decor of the restaurant is casual yet inviting.  While American restaurants serve bread before a meal, at AJ's we got some yummy sweet potato chips:

Sweet Potato Chips

I decided to try their Ensalada Rusa with Rotisserie Chicken.  The salad is made of corn, beets (yum!), peas, and mayonnaise, served with Peruvian rice which is flavored with something (garlic?), and the customer's choice of 1/4 rotisserie chicken, grill chicken breast, or grilled pork chop.  I went with the 1/4 rotisserie chicken, with all its crispy skin and juicy meat glory, and rubbed with a flavorful seasoning.  It was delicious!

Ensalada Rusa with Rotisserie Chicken ($8.99)

My friend enjoyed her 1/4 rotisserie chicken with sides of sweet potato fries and sweet plantains, but not before we did a little switcheroo: I had been served with white meat and her dark meat, but I far preferred dark meat while she slightly preferred white meat, so we switched our chicken.

This being my first visit, I couldn't resist ordering some Fried Plantains for myself as a side, which turned out to be a  good choice.

Fried Plantains

I actually came back less than a week later when another friend and I decided to do dinner before a show at the Petersen Events Center.  I ordered the Ensalada Rusa with Rotisserie Chicken again (though I made sure to specify I wanted dark meat) and it was just as good the second time around.  My friend had gotten rotisserie chicken and loved it.  During this second visit, I ran into a colleague who is from Peru who verified that AJ's is as authentic as it gets.  He was so excited to see that we were enjoying his cuisine and generously let us try his ceviche and beef heart - both of which were awesome.  I think I might just have to go for some beef heart myself next time. In the meantime, it makes proud to have introduced two very happy friends to AJ's.

P.S. To be honest, I have no idea what this restaurant is officially called.  Urbanspoon calls it "AJ's Burgers Fries and Peruvian Rotisserie" and Yelp as well as the restaurant's Facebook page calls it "AJ's Burger & Peruvian Chicken," while the restaurant's website refers to itself as "AJ's Peruvian Restaurant."  So I guess I'm probably simultaneously right and wrong here, but I decided to just go with "AJ's Peruvian Restaurant" for simplicity's sake.

UPDATE 1/20/2012: Thanks to a tip from a reader, it appears that AJ's has a new website URL which I have updated.

Restaurant info:
AJ's Peruvian Restaurant
3608 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
(412)586-4382
On the web: http://www.ajsincaperuvianrestaurant.com/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/AJs-Burger-and-Peruvian-Chicken/328754675500


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Alma Pan-Latin Kitchen (Regent Square)

Update: Alma will be closing as of November 3, 2013.

Since the summer when I had heard about its impending opening, I had been closely following the news (i.e., Twitter feed) about Alma Pan-Latin Kitchen.  After it opened, Señorita Cibulka and I had also talked about going there, and we both finally had the opportunity to check it it out a few weeks ago.

Alma sits at the corner of Forbes and S. Braddock Avenues, at the site of the former Calli's.  I had never been to Calli's (or to this part of Regent Square...or Swissvale or Point Breeze, whichever name you prefer to call the area), but it seems every time I mention Alma, I am told that it used to be Calli's, so I thought it would be worth mentioning.  I'm not sure what the space used to look like, but I like what Alma did to the decor, which is bright and comfortable.

I had browsed the menu online beforehand so knew exactly what I wanted for my entree:  the Arepa de Vegetales con Plátanos Maduros, or arepa (corn pastry) topped with cabbage, cilantro, beets, and avocado, along with sweet plantains.  Mostly because I recently discovered a love for beets.  What an awesome dish with a great combination of veggies...at an awesome price, too!

Arepa de Vegetales con Plátanos Maduros ($11)

I also love that Alma's menu states the country where each dish is from.  For someone (like me) who enjoys learning about different cultures, this menu is a great tool.  My arepa entree is from Colombia.

And apparently, I like Colombian food, because for dessert I chose something from Colombia as well:  Flan de Coco con Caramelo, or coconut flan with caramel sauce.

Flan de Coco con Caramelo

Yum!

I think it would be safe to say that everyone in the group I was with enjoyed their meal.  The service was also top-notch.  They were more than willing to accommodate our large group, and when they messed up one of the entrees at our table, they apologized profusely, corrected the problem promptly, and took the item off the bill.  It was, all in all, a great meal.  Alma is a nice addition to the Pittsburgh food scene, for sure.

Check out Señorita Cibulka's perspective on Alma on her blog post here.

Restaurant info:
Alma Pan-Latin Kitchen
7600 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15221
(412)727-6320
On the web:  http://www.almapgh.com
On Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alma-Pan-Latin-Kitchen/172826542774927
On Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/almapgh


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Aji Picante (Squirrel Hill)

Update: Aji Picante is closed.

Do you know Señorita Cibulka?  She's a high school Spanish teacher in West Mifflin who came up with the fascinating idea of having her students explore authentic Mexican/Latino restaurants in the Pittsburgh area for extra credit in her class.  (She is even planning a trip to Spain for interested students!)  She recently started her blog Señorita Cibulka Savors to document her own experiences at various authentic Mexican/Latino restaurants for her students and for anyone who is interested.  I have a soft spot for educators, particularly innovative ones who think outside the box and who find new ways to engage students, so I have been following Señorita Cibulka's blog with interest and to learn more about authentic Mexican/Latino food myself, which I'll admit to knowing little about.

Señorita Cibulka and I had also exchanged a few conversations over Twitter, and it was through one of these conversations that we decided to meet up for dinner at the new Aji Picante that had just opened up in Squirrel Hill in the old Panera space across from Silk Elephant and next to what is now Razzy Fresh.  Like La Feria in Shadyside, Aji Picante serves Peruvian cuisine and is owned by Pittsburgh staple Pamela's Diner.  Although I have yet to try La Feria, I had heard great things about it, so I had pretty high expectations for Aji Picante.  Besides, if their Peruvian food is half as good as Pamela's hot cakes, then this would promise to be a great meal!

But first things first:  What does "Aji Picante" mean?  According to our Spanish teacher here, it means something to the effect of "spicy chili."  Good to know.

On to the menu.  Most of the items looked intriguing, but we tried to look for the most authentic dish possible, and this is where I looked to Señorita Cibulka for guidance.  To start, her and I shared the Torrejas de Choclo, or "crispy corn fritters seasoned with aji amarillo and cilantro."  As Señorita Cibulka pointed out in her blog, aji amarillo is a Peruvian yellow chili pepper.  Three different sauces came with the corn fritters: mint, guacamole, and hot red pepper.  We were both pretty happy with the corn fritters which were full of flavor, and the sauces were good.  We both agreed that the mint was a little less flavorful than we preferred, but the other two were tasty.  My personal favorite was the hot pepper sauce.

Torrejas de Choclo ($7)

The entree was a tough choice.  I was really curious about the purple potato ravioli, but that didn't sound very Peruvian to me, so I went with the more authentic Chupe (minus the poached egg).  Señorita Cibulka did the same (though with the poached egg).  The chupe is basically a stew with rice, veggies, and an assortment of shrimp, mussels, clams, and calamari, "in a flavourful tarragon infused broth."  Bonus points for including the "u" in "flavourful." ;)  I'm pretty sure this was the first chupe I've ever had, and I gotta say, it has set the bar really high for future chupes.  Although the picture makes the soup look somewhat creamy, it is actually a pretty light broth.  Every bite of this was full of rich deliciousness.  They weren't kidding about it being flavourful with a "u"!  I had asked Señorita Cibulka if she thought the poached egg added much to the chupe, and she didn't think so, so I guess I didn't miss out.  Finally, the serving was massive, and both of us had to take about half of our chupe home.

Chupe ($22)

We were, not surprisingly, very full by the time we gave up on our entree.  But when the waitress came by to see if we wanted desserts, we decided to ask if we could see the menu.  As soon as we said it though, I knew we were in trouble.  And we were.  The menu was too tempting.  After several moments of indecision, we decided to share a Mazzamorra Morada, which Señorita Cibulka aptly described as being like "jello Sangria."  No, there is no wine in this dessert, but it is a mesh of tarty fruity goodness in a jello form made with purple corn, apples, pineapples, dried cranberries, and apricots, and topped with cinnamon and cloves.  It was very refreshing and didn't feel heavy at all.  And after all, it's made with fruit, so it's good for you, right? ;)

Mazzamorra Morada ($5)

The food was fabulous.  The atmosphere and service were also very pleasant.  In fact, our waitress was very attentive and gave us solid recommendations.  Needless to say, both Señorita Cibulka and I enjoyed our Aji Picante experience a lot.  (See her blog post for more of her thoughts on our meal.)  Great food, great company...what more can you ask for?

Restaurant info:
Aji Picante
1711 Murray Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
(412) 422-0220
On the web:  http://www.ajipgh.com
On Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/AjiPicante
Bonus: BYOB


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