Peruvian in Dallas

If pizza's lame, Chinese is out and even Mi Cocina's starting to get old, Gran Machu Picchu's traditional Peruvian cuisine is an ideal adventure for the bored Dallas diner. The meal starts with a chunky, spicy salsa that warmly complements Gran Machu Picchu's Peruvian tamales, a perfect appetizer that is a little heavier on the corn than their Mexican cousins. Entrees are served with boiled egg and salty Peruvian olives. The aji de gallina, a shredded chicken stew, is a must-taste for anyone who wants to sample traditional fare without venturing too far into the wild. But there's plenty for the daring diner, especially in the seafood department, as Gran Machu Picchu offers a cultural mish-mash of native and European flavors, often combining rice and potatoes, a Peruvian staple, in the same dish. So it's only fitting that the restaurant itself is inside a remodeled Long John Silver's-vive la différence!

One of the most upscale Peruvian experiences is one of the best, too. Lima Taverna is all the more surprising for its location, one enormous parking lot away from the half-empty Collin Creek Mall in Plano. Seafood lovers will be in heaven with a bowl of pescado a lo macho — salmon buried in shrimp, scallops, clams and more seafood — or one of the several enormous Peruvian-style ceviches. There’s a huge fried seafood platter worth trying, too, while landlubbers pig out on what is truly one of the best grilled pork chops in town.