Selva Verde

We were really in the mood for pollo a la brasa so I stopped in to pickup some takeout based on the 4.5 Unilocal stars rating.
I love to support mom and pop business, but today was my first and last visit here. The staff is friendly, but the food is portion and quality is questionable.
I ordered the steak red onions lunch special and the pollo a la brasa (whole chicken). Let’s begin with lunch special. The steak and red onions was flavored ok and served in a appetizer portion and that was it. Let me repeat… It was only steak and red onions! No rice, no fries or anything to eat with the steak and red onions. SMH… It sucked that it wasn’t a lunch portion and top it off no rice came with this lunch special. NEXT… Pollo a la brasa. This place took whole chicken to a new level. They literally served the whole chicken cut in half. Two big chunks of chicken lol. The skin was also loose on the chicken and had no crisp. They also served with beans which was good and a cup of white rice that was grainy.
In the end the beans were good, but boy oh boy those were some pricey a$$ beans for $ 25. We won’t be back. If you decide to go, I hope you have better luck than I did.

So my friend and I were looking for a local Peruvian restaurant since NYC’s First Annual Peruvian Restaurant Week was barricaded behind an hour’s worth of holiday traffic (worst time of the year to hold a restaurant week in regards to people living outside the city).
After taking a look at a few places, we ultimately decided to go here due to its proximity to other bars.
From the street at night, this place looks like a bodega only opened during the day. Getting a closer look inside, it really doesn’t look much better unfortunately. A few tables in an open space (open is an understatement) and a TV showing cartoons was almost enough to make me turn around and go into the neighboring Cuban spot.
Fortunately, we decided to press on and get some Peruvian food. The owners were very hospitable, offering up the dishes they had available (no causitas that night). Instead, we got papa la huancaina, tallarin verde and lomo saltado.
The papa la huancaina lacked flavor. Needed both more spice and more salt. Luckily, I love potatoes and the slices were of good size.
The tallarin verde also lacked flavor. Again, more salt was needed. Luckily, again the portions were big. Lots of linguini. BIG piece of steak on top. Took half of it home for a full meal. Added hot sauce for much needed flavor.
Now for the lomo saltado. LOTS of flavor. Maybe a hair too much soy sauce, but there were plenty other ingredients that weren’t too overpowered. They also offered 3 types of hot sauce — green, orange and red — which were all very tasty. The orange one being the hottest.
So to sum up. Points off for the empty atmosphere. Hospitality is a plus. Food is bland, but very much salvageable with a little salt and hot sauce. Portions are enough for two whole meals.
Overall, I’d probably go here often if I was local. Pick up some good eats and have a couple days worth of food.

First time in this place and the food was amazing. The special they had was so fresh and good. I tried the carapulcra and my friend had chaufinita which was really good. The drive was worth it.

first impression, place looks a little sketchy and the décor is very dated. once you get past that, the Peruvian bread is pretty good and the lomo saltado is up there with the best I’ve had. very juicy and flavorful. their salsa verde is very tasty and got good kick. definitely worth trying again.

Just tried out some Peruvian food here and I have to say the Lomo Saltado was as good as when I had it on my trip to Macchu Piccihu a few years ago. Very authentic and staff was friendly. Welcome addition to the neighborhood and I can’t wait to try the lunch specials.

Walked in here unexpectedly for lunch and food was amazing! They have great lunch menu so was tempted to try. So glad I did! It’s a brand new restaurant and so happy I gave it a try. Will be coming back.