Cuisines:
Peruvian
Inka, not Inca, is the traditional Quechua spelling of the word for the 15th-century empire that stretched along South America’s western shore. And despite the strip-mall location, tradition lives on at this tiny Gresham eatery, where Claudia Fernandez roasts up to 40 chickens every day in her massive, wood-fired oven. Served with three increasingly spicy Peruvian sauces—aji verde (dotted with ear-warming jalapeños—a.k.a. the “mild” option), aji amarilla (a spicy mayonnaise sauce full of fruity-hot yellow chiles), and aji panca (a delicious taste bud–burner featuring Peruvian habaneros; tender tongues need not apply). This is rotisserie chicken at its finest: juicy, tender, and infused with the smoky goodness that comes only from two hours in the oven. After picking the last morsels from the bones, you’ll wish you knew the Quechua phrase for “more, please.”
Updated 04/19/2013
Sign up for Our Free Email Newsletters
