OKC Food Writer Lunch at Inca Trail

10848-A N. May Ave
Oklahoma City, OK 73120
405.286.0407
Dollar Factor $$
Taste Factor $$$

(Photos by Nancy Jackson)

What do you get when you put together 6 food writers/bloggers in one new restaurant in Oklahoma City for lunch?

A bunch of really cool people, cameras and some awesome food, that’s what!

This was the scene earlier this week at Inca Trail, a new Peruvian restaurant in Oklahoma City.

All us local food writers and bloggers finally met up somewhere other than Twitter and the result was fantastic.

Except we may have scared off some other diners.

It was a funny thing walking into a restaurant to meet people who you’d never met before.  I recognized the guys from EatAroundOKC.com Tim Wall and Sam Lee because I’d seen their pictures on their site.

And Greg Elwell from The Corner Booth looked just like his Twitter cartoon!

Also, in attendance, the man everyone affectionately referred to as The Godfather…Dave Cathy from the Oklahoman.  The man knows his food, I tell you.  And even more impressive…he can pronounce all the foreign names beautifully as well.

And also, Vivian Boroff from Island Dreaming in Oklahoma.

Due to Vivian’s passionate nature towards food, I didn’t get a picture of her without her camera up to her face.

We each ordered something, and then we all tasted.  It was like a dream come true.  My family isn’t always so willing to share.

Here are some shots of the great food we had.

This is what I ordered…Picante de Mariscos.  Mussels, shrimp, whitefish and calamari in a somewhat spicy and creamy sauce.  And the white rice, we all determined was better than the rice we make at home.  It has something special to it.

Papa a la Huancaina.  Sliced potatoes and sliced hard boiled eggs smothered in a yellow pepper creamy sauce with a hint of spice to it and also some sliced olives.  This version was served cold and I’m glad Dave warned me as I was expecting it hot like Mama Veca’s was.

Vivian ordered this – the Pollo a la Brasa – rotisserie chicken!

You haven’t had rotisserie chicken until you’ve tried this magnificent plate of bird.  Marinated in something wonderful and coated in spices, it quickly became my favorite thing.  And for $15.99, it was served up with a large plate of fantastically crispy fries and a nice dinner plate-sized salad.  It could easily feed 3-4 people.

Lomo Saltado -stir fried beef with a soy based sauce with peppers, onions and tomatoes.  This is a very popular dish in Peru.

I can’t remember who ordered this one but it was a grilled steak served over fried rice and was topped with fried plantains.  Fellow bloggers? A little help with the name please? (thanks to Dave it’s Tacu Tacu!)

Their Ceviche Mixto was fresh and hadn’t been marinated too long.  Delicious.

This dish called Salchipapas is the Peruvian version of sausage hot dogs and fries and it was actually delicious.  Kids would love this.

I think Sam ordered this and I can’t remember its name…fellow food writers..someone help me out? Aha! It’ s Arroz con Pollo!

It was a green fried rice with two rotisserie drumsticks tucked down inside of it and it had that always present delicious yellow pepper sauce on the side.

And then Owner/Chef Niel Zambrano came out and insisted that we try this.

A Chicken Tamale that we all agreed we’d like even without the chicken. The masa dough in this was incredible.

Then Neil also insisted we try these.

We seriously tried to resist him…but just look at this…Peruvian ice cream called Helados and it was made with tropical fruit (Lucuma and Chirimoya)- none the like of what I’d ever tasted before.  I had to look them up…

Here is Lucuma.

Lucuma, is sometimes called “eggfruit” in English because the flesh of the fruit resembles a hard boiled egg yolk in texture and the flavor is often compared to a cross between a sweet potato and maple syrup.

And here is Chirimoya.

This fruit has a white flesh with a great amount of seeds inside of it and was referred by Mark Twain as “the most delicious fruit known to men.”  The flavor ranges from mellow sweet to tangy depending on the variety.

Both of these were served up in a custardy decadent ice cream that we all enjoyed.

And then was flan…regular and coconut…

Needless to say, by the time we left Inca Trail, we were all fat and happy.

It was crazy to sit at a table with 5 other people who were as passionate about food and adventurous about cultural dishes as I am.  I didn’t want to leave so soon.

We all decided we wanted to meet regularly and when we can spend some more time obsessing.

It was a great day at Inca Trail.

I’ll be going back for that chicken again.

And soon.