Before the ancient Romans invented restaurants, going out to eat meant wandering the streets in search of a cow's squishy, pink underbelly. Lock down excellent odds for edible success with today's Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of Peruvian cuisine and drinks at Mo-chica.
Mo-chica takes its culinary direction from executive chef Ricardo Zarate, a Lima native and veteran of high-end restaurants around the world, who oversees a menu of authentic Peruvian delights crafted from seasonal ingredients. Keep boisterous bellies from making menacing gestures by starting with the restaurant's acclaimed ceviche (market price) or papa a la huancaina, a mixture of roasted potatoes, boiled egg, and huancaina sauce ($4). Ring the stomach bell for main events such as the oxtail risotto ($13) or the aji de gallina, a combination of shredded chicken, bread sauce, and walnuts ($10). Carnivores can cool their meaty sweats with lomo saltado, a fillet of beef with fried potatoes ($13), or seco de cordero, which includes lamb, canario beans, salsa criolla, and a cilantro beer sauce ($13). Fish enjoyers can opt for arroz con marisco, a Peruvian paella loaded with treats from the sea and four-pound gold nuggets ($12).
Unlike black-tie Peruvian restaurants that keep the country's cuisine less accessible than a moat-enclosed castle 500 yards beneath the earth's outer crust, informal and friendly Mo-chica requires neither a bowler nor a bow tie. Place your order at the counter and grab a seat to await your food while sipping passion fruit juice ($2), the purple corn tea chicha morada($2), or another selection from the entirely non-alcoholic beverage menu.
This Groupon is not valid toward special events occurring on the last Thursday of the month.
Reviews
LA Weekly and Los Angeles magazine featured Mo-chica favorably. Eighty-seven percent of Urbanspooners like it and more than 150 Yelpers give it a four-star average.
- What Zarate is attempting is the professionalization of Peruvian cooking at popular prices, and the food he is turning out so far is sharper, more beautifully composed than any Peruvian food we have ever seen in Los Angeles. – Jonathan Gold, LA Weekly
- What Mo-Chica does offer—and the moment rarely lasts long in restaurants—is the unimpeded view of a talent and his food. – Patric Kuh, Los Angeles magazine
Groupon Says
The Land With 1,000 Nicknames
Peru has one nickname––The Land of 1,000 Nicknames––due to its plenitude of nicknames. Here are a few of Peru's most famous nicknames:
Land of the Incas: Peru was once home to the mighty Inca civilization. The Incas were keen engineers, and they used their skills mostly to build waterslides, as it was very hot during Inca times.
Land of the Danny Bonaduce Visit: Peru's tourism board still promotes their beautiful country by pointing to Partridge Family bassist Danny Bonaduce's 1981 visit as proof that "this country rocks."
Coke Zero Presents Peru: Coca-Cola recently bought the naming rights to the country of Peru, giving each citizen who promised to think about new Coke Zero once a day $100.
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