Restaurant Review: Se Llama Peru, of Provo, Utah.

Should you be ambling down West Center Street in Provo, Utah, some day, and suddenly stop to slap your forehead and say "By gadfrey, I'm in the mood for some fried guinea pig!", you will undoubtedly start looking for a Peruvian restaurant where such delicacies are to be had. And, being on West Center Street, you will immediately spot Se Llama Peru, give a screech of joy, and dive into the place like gangbusters.

It is a homey little place, about the size of a suburban living room. The tables and chairs are mismatched, and there's a soccer game narrated in Spanish on the big screen TV in the back.

The name of the restaurant, Se Llama Peru, roughly translated, means "We don't have it". They didn't have the first three items I asked for on their menu. And needless to say there was no guinea pig on their menu at all -- kind-hearted Provovians would never allow the execution of such cute little rascals just to satisfy their baser appetites.

So I started with their Sopa del Dia: Aguadito Sopa -- which is a heavily salted chicken soup with rice and some frozen peas,carrots,greenbeans, poured straight from the bag into the soup. The chicken pieces had some life to them. No bread or chips or tortillas are served with the soup, or with any of the meals. Must be an old Peruvian custom.

As the lunch time crowd moved in, the one lone waitress had to scramble to keep up with the orders. But she just kept on smiling -- which was more than I could do when I asked for a glass of water to soak out some of my soup's saltiness and didn't get it until fifteen minutes later. 

I'm afraid I can't comment on the ambiance of the decor, since it was all covered up with Halloween cutouts of skeletons, witches, and vampires -- unless that's how the place looks all year round. Maybe Peruvians have a ghoulish streak, I don't know . . . 

But I digress. Next on the menu was a plate of  Lomo Saltado

This is steak strips fried with tomatoes, onions, and french fried potatoes. Rice on the side. It's basic and hearty; the kind of dish that sticks to your ribs like a lamprey eel. As an ensemble dish it was decent, except for the potatoes. I'm afraid they were soggy and bland and tended to make the whole concoction sullen. Left out and replaced with a few carrot slices, the dish would be well-received anywhere. But I'm afraid the potatoes make this dish demi monde.

Will I be recommending this place to my friends Jim, Larry, Rob, Robert, and Nathan?

No, I will not.

My bill for a glass of passion fruit juice, bowl of soup, and the Lomo Saltado, came to $22.00.