Mochikas Peruvian Cafe (and Auto Detailing!)

Around Vancouver in 52 Restaurants > Americas > Peru

I heard about Mochikas Peruvian Cafe the other day and while I’m always on the lookout for new lunch spots,it was particularly timely while I explore Vancouver’s scant few South American restaurants. Nestled cozily inside an auto detailing shop (so you can get your car cleaned while you eat!), it can be a bit hard to spot but no less busy because of it. When we walked in for weekday lunch, a family of Latinos  were sharing a 2 L bottle of bubble-gum yellow Inca Kola along with their plates of chicken and rice.

Their weekend menu is posted online and looks a little more comprehensive but lunch features empanadas (beef or chicken), duck or chicken wraps with spices and rice, mini butifarras (a ham sandwich on a soft roll) and assorted lunch specials of pollo a la brasa (chicken served with french fries or rice, Peruvian hot sauce, & fresh green salad with cilantro/garlic dressing).

We couldn’t find room for the pollo a la brasa (or the stomach for Inca Kola) but we ordered one of everything else. The empanadas came out first with a side of homemade hot sauce, fresh and picante and delicious. Admittedly, I was starving, so I probably would have scarfed instant noodles as fast as that pocket of pastry and meat disappeared, but they were fragrant and did a great job of tying me over until the duck wrap and sandwiches arrived. The wrap was flavourful and would make a great grab-and-go lunch but the butifarras are what I’d go back for. White bread and ham is not normally something I’d find remarkable, but in this Peruvian version, the flavours come together for a tasty lunch.

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Mochikas Peruvian Cafe

1696 West 5th Avenue at Pine Street
(inside Platinum Touch Auto Spa)