Tasty Tuesday: Inka Grill Peruvian Cuisine

The flavors of multiple countries collide at Inka Grill Peruvian Cuisine

ROANOKE, Va. – After World War II, people of many different nationalities settled in Peru, making it a worldwide culinary destination.

Lucky for us, we don’t have to travel far to get a taste of what makes it so special. Anny Hernandez and her friends opened Inka Grill Peruvian Cuisine in downtown Roanoke just months ago.

“There were no Peruvian restaurants, and the closest was like 2 hours so people had to drive.”

When you take Chinese, Italian and French food and use Peru’s natural resources, you get the best of all worlds.

Hernandez says, “It’s very flavor[ful], it’s very healthy, it’s very tasty.”

Clyde Evely and his wife decided to give it a try and could tell right away that it was fresh.

“This is not open a can, dump it in the microwave and take it out of the freezer. This is good cooking.”

We went back to the kitchen where chef Eddie showed us how to make three kinds of Ceviche and their Tacu Tacu con Lomo. Eddie’s been cooking ever since he was a kid, combining the foods of different nations into many flavorful dishes.

Peru’s diverse weather and elevation allows Peruvians to grow many varieties of peppers, corn, potatoes, etc. As for the corn, Hernandez tells us, “It can be white, can be yellow, can be purple. It can be all different colors and different flavors.”

When you extract the juice from pineapple and purple corn, you get La Chicha Morada. It’s unlike any drink you’ve ever tried; sweet, but not overbearing and refreshing. Pair that with the beef tenderloin in the Tacu Tacu con Lomo, and your taste buds will have ventured into paradise.

“Big flavors, spicy but not hot spicy, and kind of comfort food,” says Evely who was impressed by the variety of new flavors Inka Grill has to offer.

Soon, they will offer Prisco Sours, an alcoholic beverage that has similar popularity in Peru to that of a margarita. You can also stop in for their Monday-through-Friday lunch special, when you can get their smoky rotisserie chicken, sides and three dipping sauces for less than $8.

If you have something different for us to try, send me a message on Facebook or to my e-mail. You can find those next to my name at the bottom of this article


About the Author:

Meteorologist Chris Michaels is an American Meteorological Society (AMS) Certified Broadcaster, forecasting weather conditions in southwest Virginia on WSLS 10 News from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays on Virginia Today.