Fresca

(415)759-8087
24 West Portal Ave.
(bet. Ulloa & Vicente)
San Francisco, CA
(West Portal district)
  and
(415)695-0549
3945 24th St.
(bet. Noe & Sanchez)
San Francisco, CA
(Noe Valley district)
  and
(415)447-2668
2114 Fillmore St.
(bet. Sacramento & California)
San Francisco, CA
(Upper Fillmore district)

$-$$$
Rating: 8 (Rating & price key)
08/12/06

Sarah & I happened in here more or less randomly as we looked for eats in West Portal before a movie at the CineArts @ Empire, and are very glad we landed here! The interior is small and cozy, with terra-cotta tiles and bright colors everywhere. I would imagine, given how full they were at 2pm on a Sunday, that they get extremely busy and noisy on Fri/Sat nights.

We were seated after a brief wait, and perused the self-described Nouveau Peruvian entrees, many of which were foreign to us, as we've only had a couple of peruvian meals previously. Sarah decided on the loma saltado ($12.50) and me on the aji de gallina ($13.50).

Sarah's dish, a stir-fried steak with onions and other vegetables served with a soy sauce-based sauce atop a pile of french fries was pretty good, but rather salty. Strips of steak on top of french fries is a fun take on meat and potatoes, and other than the aforementioned saltiness, the flavor was good. On a later visit when we sat at the bar, this dish was a clear favorite, as perhaps 30% of the dishes coming out of the kitchen were this one.

My aji de gallina was outstanding and I've never had anything quite like it. Around a central mound of steamed rice, wedges of hard-boiled egg and rounds of boiled potatoes sat atop a creamy bed of pulled chicken and walnuts. It sounds perhaps a bit odd, but the combination of flavors and textures really worked for both of us. In fact I was enough inspired by this dish to hunt down a recipe online and try my hand at it (happily mine turned out nearly as good, although it's pretty time intensive to make from scratch).

The second time we visited (also for lunch), Sarah had the aji de gallina and it was again very good, although she said she prefers my version (from the Two Hot Tamales cookbook) now (blush). I had a delicious seafood bounty of a snapper fillet breaded and pan-fried, mussels, clams, octopus, calamari and jumbo scallops in a heady tomato broth - yum! A side of rice made a good vehicle for sopping up the broth, but by the time I finished the seafood, I was quite full. Although it was $15, given the amount of seafood, it's a fair price.

On both visits, was a bit rushed, but very friendly. My Cusqueña beer ($4) was a nice accompaniment, and Sarah's glass of sangria ($5.50) wasn't the best I've had, but was pretty good. $5.50 seems a little on the expensive side for a glass, however. Our bill was $38.52 including tax, but not tip. We felt this was a pretty good value for the quality received. All in all we had a lovely lunch and look forward to returning or trying out their Noe Valley or Upper Fillmore locations.