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Chifa Peruano
Categories: Restaurants Asian Fusion Restaurants Peruvian Asian Fusion, Peruvian [Edit]
5173 Mission St(between Geneva Ave & Rolph St)
San Francisco, CA 94112
Neighbourhood: Crocker-Amazon
(415) 586-1206
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:30 am - 10 pm
Sat-Sun 12 pm - 10 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Ambience:
- Dive-y
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
19 reviews for Chifa Peruano
19 reviews in English
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Review from Clarence A.
Daly City, CA
8/18/2011 1 Check-in Here
4 stars looks from the outside and inside are deceiving but the food is legit here at Chifa Peruano
we sampled there Lomo Saltado their take on it was a little different they had the fries, onions, the meat was similar to the kind you would get with beef and broccoli tender and juicy, we also sampled the special of the day I dont recall the name but I know the meat was Pigeon, yes folks pigeon which in understand may sound gross but in several other countries it would be considered a regular eat haha like chicken, flavor wise for the pigeon it was deep fried lil dry but still tasty, and since you all know pigeons don't get huge, it would be enough meat probably for one person to have. the last item we tried was their duck fried rice this dish was excellent, I would go back just for the duck fried rice haha
spot is not expensive, looks on the outside and inside are a lil grimey, thing I thought was most interesting is the servers look asian but they speak fluent spanish, and chinese.
food **** duck fried rice, excellent
service ****
price $
ambiance ***
on the tv I believe they were playing some channel primarily showing stuff from Peru, and it was in Spanish -
Review from Sheri N.
San Francisco, CA
12/9/2011
i've gone past this place for eons, and never blinked an eye to the chinese restaurant that has resided there for so long. the way we found out about the joint was when the fella did a search on nearby peruvian restaurants, and became intrigued by the peruvian/chinese mix of cuisines.
the ceviche was not quite stellar for me, but we did enjoy the salt and pepper calamari and the lomo saltdao. the star of the show was the duck fried rice!
i still forget that this place is close by, but i'm sure we'll be back again one day. -
Review from Cherylynn N.
San Francisco, CA
9/19/2011 6 photos
Chinese Food in the Hood?
Chifa Peruano is a prime example WHY Yelp exists. If it weren't for Yelp who would have ever known that Chinese-Peruvian food ever existed? Well, I sure didn't...
On Wednesday, 9.14.11, we came to Chifa Peruano for a post-HH, late night dinner at 9 PM. One of my friends and I were at John Collins and Eve earlier that evening and in a buzzed state, I suggested coming to Chifa Peruano after seeing it on Yelp a while back.
F O O D
Curious about how Chifa Peruano came to be, I asked the owner. She said, she was born in China but lived in Peru for 30 years and authentic Chinese ingredients weren't available there so they had to use what was available.
*HOT & SOUR SOUP ($5.95) - 3 STARS
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
Though comforting, the Hot & Sour soup lacked a distinct sourness and heat. The soft tofu and tender scallops were a nice touch though.
*PEPPER SALTED CHICKEN WINGS ($7.50) - 3.5 STARS
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
Deliciously crisp on the outside, the wings were moist and juicy. However, it lacked proper salt and pepper seasoning.
*PEPPER SALTED CALAMARI ($7.50) - 2 STARS
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
The calamari was very dry with the texture almost like cardboard.
*LOMO SALTADO ($9.95) - 2.5 STARS
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
I've had authentic Lomo Saltado twice before and I wasn't keen on Chifa Peruano's version. Traditionally, Lomo Saltado is made with strips/cubes of sirloin that's marinated in a soy sauce, vinegar and spice mixture and then laid on top of french fries.
Chifa Peruano uses thin slices of beef and like Earl G. said, it's like the beef from Chinese Broccoli Beef. It lacked tang and any hint of acidity and the fries were soggy and tasted stale.
*CHICKEN w/ Black Bean Sauce ($5.95) - 3 STARS
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
Tender chicken pieces with crisp bell pepper and onions. The sauce tasted more soy based than black bean base though.
*DUCK FRIED RICE ($6.95) - 4.5 STARS
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
The HIGHLIGHT of dinner was the duck fried rice! I rarely order fried rice when eating at Chinese restaurant but decided to after seeing the rave reviews (Thanks, Earl G.) about it on Yelp. The rice was perfectly wok-fried to a soft al-dente and interwoven with crisp, savory duck skin pieces. Each bite was sublimely rich and comforting.
S E R V I C E
Fast and efficient; just like any other Chinese restaurant.
A M B I A N C E / D E C O R
Old school, worn and dated décor.
P A R K I N G
Street parking. Easily accessible with Muni since it's located in Mission/Geneva.
As much as I love my hole-in-the walls, nothing really stood out except the Duck Fried Rice and I would ONLY come back just to get that. BOMB-DOT-COM!Listed in: HELLA CHINESEY!, ASIAN FUSION: My Love-Hate…
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Review from Earl G.
8/16/2011 7 photos
Wow. Talk about fusion. Located near the always busy Geneva/Mission intersection lies a Chinese/Peruvian dive that serves up some cheap and tasty Chifa. (http://www.yelp.com/bi...)
Chifa is basically, a style of Chinese cooking in which ingredients normally found in Peru have been substituted for those originally used in China. Thank you Wikipedia. Imo, this cuisine should evolve again since now the ingredients reflect to what we have in California, not Peru.
Ordered from the specials off the wall.
* Lomo saltado $7.5 - The beef reminded me of the type you would get in beef with broccoli. The sauce was watered down and pretty bland. The fries were ok. Nothing mind blowing. (http://www.yelp.com/bi...)
* Pichon frito $17 - Deep fried pigeon w/fries.Wish they served it with chili cheese fritos instead. First time having pigeon and all I could think about was payback for all the pigeons that have ever pooped on my car after getting it washed. The pigeon didn't have much meat to begin with but the morsels I did get were irony and very lean. The meat was duck colored but not oily. It also didn't help that it was fried to a level just below cremation. I suggest ordering rare. (http://www.yelp.com/bi...)
* Duck fried rice $8 - Heartwarming. Not greasy and I wish they would have added more duck since they cooked it perfectly. My favorite dish of the day. (http://www.yelp.com/bi...)
Inexpensive, a unique set of dishes, an overall cool experience. I wouldn't mind coming back to explore more of their menu.
3.5 star and rounding up because I like dives like this.Listed in: Like Chinese Food?, Non-Mexican Latino Food
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Review from cindy p.
San Francisco, CA
9/1/2011
I was excited about a little peruvian food, but I didn't see any on the menu... all I saw was Chinese, maybe that's all they serve at lunch time?
We arrived about 1pm on a Thursday and were the only two in the restaurant. The server came quickly, and we asked for a little more time. Then I proceeded to watch her start to eat lunch in the back room and couldn't quite get her attention. So several minutes later the cook told her to come over.
The food came out in good time, but the orange chicken had the thickest syrup I've ever seen and the broccoli chicken wasn't all that great either, though I will saw the broccoli was cooked perfectly.
Took forever to get our check at the end and the fortune cookies were stale. -
Review from Hong K.
San Francisco, CA
4/25/2011
Wow. This restaurant looks like a complete and utter dive from the outside, and on the inside it also looks like a complete and utter dive. It says, "Asian Restaurant" in both English and Chinese on the awning, with "Chifa Peruana" in very faded letters on the side. As you head inside, Spanish television is blaring. The menu doubles as your place mat.
However, don't mistake this for any other Chinese dive. The reason to come here is to get you some chifa - Chinese Peruvian cuisine. We tried the chaufa de pato (duck fried rice), ceviche and salt and pepper calamari. It's dirt cheap and tastes great (especially the duck fried rice). I also ordered in Spanish from the Chinese hostess, which was a novel experience. Definitely planning on coming back here and trying their other chifa takes on Chinese food.
If you have an adventurous date, then this is the place for you. If you want something a little cleaner, head up the street to Inkas for a little more refined chifa/cocina peruana.Listed in: Chimpun! Callao! Peruvian Food…
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Review from Nicholas F.
Oakland, CA
Peruvian food is becoming ubiquitous. You can usually find Peruvian in overpriced venues in any SWPL neighborhoods around the city. Yeah, Noe Valley, I'm talking about you.
But chifa is another story. Chifa is the gritty adopted cousin of Peruvian cuisine, the one who's really interesting when you get to know him, but generally not the first thing his parents like to talk about at family gatherings.
Chifa is Peruvian Chinese food, about as common in Peru as Indian food in England, apparently a tradition begun by the Chinese immigrants in Lima who used available Peruvian ingredients in their familiar Chinese dishes.
The people at Chifa Peruano are Chinese Peruvian, and the food is definitely somewhat of a deviation from your typical local Chinese fare. You can take your pick of ordering in English, Spanish or Chinese with the staff. A TV plays Spanish channels in one corner - they courteously offered to change the channel from Spanish local news to something a little more gringo when we entered the customer-free restaurant late on a Wednesday night, but little did they know that we prefer the sound of Spanish TV over the familiar retardation of most English-language broadcasts (at least you can build vocabulary watching Spanish TV). We told them not too, but they were so concerned about our perceived linguistic sensibilities that they changed it anyway (:::sigh:::)
Most of the menu is very familiar, with only a smattering of true Chifa dishes. We actually ended up ordering only items without a distinctive Peruvian origin, but they were still a little different from what we are used to.
The egg rolls had a heavy heartiness to them that I remember from eating Chinese food when I visited Peru... without the painful stomach aftermath. They were greasy, but in that delicious way that helpfully manages to keep you from overeating. We also got sweet and sour chicken, which was not too different from S&S chicken you can get elsewhere. The fried rice, or "chaufa" in Chifa speak, was also hearty like the egg rolls were.
I'd go back for sure. -
Review from Helene K.
7/15/2010
Chifa Peruano is a great place for true "fusion" in the sense that it's a Chinese restaurant owned by Peruvian-born Chinese.
Here is how the environment goes: The menu is in three languages (English, Chinese, and Spanish) and the staff speaks all three languages. The place is simply decorated with pictures of Machu Picchu,other Peruvian sights, and the Eiffel Tower as well (I believe so, anyway). Latino television is on the two TV sets in the restaurant, but the volume isn't too loud to distract from a nice meal here.
Despite the uniqueness of the whole place, the menu itself is rather ordinary in terms of other Chinese restaurants, with only a small section of Special Chifa plates (Peruvian-inspired Chinese food). These items are the most expensive, which isn't saying much since the special dishes top out at $9.95. The ice cream flavors they offer also sound delicious and appealing: Guava? Mmm!
The plates are all a decent size to where you can share easily with 2-3 other people in your party. Also, seems like they can serve up a heaping bowl of soup or noodle soup for a good price as well (I saw a male customer with a huge bowl of food in front of him).
Chifa Peruano is pretty simplistic in decor and whatnot (maybe a hole-in-the-wall in some ways), but it's a nice change especially when in mixed company. The staff is friendly and accommodating. The menu items may be basic but hey, the food portions work for family-style. This is certainly a nice little neighborhood gem.Listed in: From My People: Chinese…, Latino Madness
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Review from Juliette R.
San Francisco, CA
10/12/2010
Just as everyone has touched on, this restaurant is a chinese/peruvian fusion of flavors and dishes.
My girlfriend is peruvian and we've been planning on going here for 3 years, and after 3 years, we found our way here.
We ordered the Combination Chow Mein and the Lomo Saltado--both compliment each other well!
The chow mein was by far the most flavorful that I've had and the lomo had just the right amount of flavor and the meat was tender (a bit chewy).
The portions are great for their prices; the only thing that I would say is a "con" is the service. It isn't bad, you just have to keep flagging them for their attention.
Overall, the food is absolutely delicious, the restaurant itself is interesting (concerning its decor), and the prices are amazing.
We'll be coming back :) -
Review from Tai M.
San Francisco, CA
3/19/2009
Last year I had an obsession with Peruvian food. I went around the city looking for any place that served ceviche. So as a seasoned expert, by comparison, Chifa Peruano isn't bad at all. It's a little far out and the decor isn't that of a 5 star hotel but it's definitely affordable in terms of what you'll find around the rest of the city for what you're getting!
The food is good and the service seemed attentive. We went with a group of 8-9 people and the server kept coming over to ask how the food was. Oh yeah and I looooved the ceviche. I wasn't a fan of the inca cola (too sweet for my blood) but we had some really tasty soup and vegetables with mushrooms. The pepper salted spare ribs were also good. I'd eat there again to get my Peruvian fix. -
Review from Bruce N.
San Francisco, CA
3/22/2010
First of all, for those of you who don't know what CHIFA means:
"Chifa is a term used in Peru to refer to a style of food produced by the fusion of creole Limean (Lima) food with Chinese food brought by Chinese immigrants mainly from the southern province of Guangdong and particularly its capital city Canton in the late 19th and early 20th centuries."
I had no idea that there was a Chifa-Peruano in the city, and the location surprised me - tucked away at one of the ends of mission. The place would look just like your everyday hole in the wall chinese restaurant, except for the words "Chifa" on the awning outside. I was amazed by the selection and that they also had their version of a famous Peruvian dish "Lomo Saltado". I immedaitely had to order the Arroz Chaufa (Fried Rice), and it was AWESOME!!! The Lomo Saltado, definately had its own spin, but was delicious anyhow. We also had the tallarin (chow mein), which was also very tasty.
Overall: Surprised and impressed by the food at this little place near Geneva. Will start to spread the word to my Peruvian network here in the Bay Area.. -
Review from Toeknee T.
San Francisco, CA
7/14/2010
Chinese Food with Latin Flare. What's not to like!
I went there couple years ago. Yearning for some Ceviche. I remember ordering some Fried rice as well. It's interesting. My brother wasn't a fan. I will probably try the Lomo Saltado. -
Review from Melanie V.
San Francisco, CA
12/29/2008
So the service here is pretty terrible but the food is not bad at all.
We ordered:
seafood soup- very tasty, lots of seafood and tofu
spicy chicken with garlic- not bad, kinda like general cho's chicken
Veggies with mushrooms- mostly bok choy and some kind of mushroom
mongolian beef- didn't try this
combination chow mein- a little bland but not too bad
Be forewarned though, the BF and I ordered diet cokes and she brought us caffeine free diet coke *shudder* the most pointless of all sodas.
I'll probably be back since it's walking distance from my parents house and the food wasn't bad at all, not great, but not bad either. -
Review from hiroshi k.
San Francisco, CA
This is a Chinese Peruvian restaurant. They serve regular Chinese food and Chinese Peruvian (Chifa) food. The place looks like a cheap hole in the wall Chinese restaurant, except they have pictures of Peru on the wall and the Chinese waitstaff speaks Spanish. Customer service is fast. The hot tea they serve is pipping hot. The cuisine might be fusion, but the prices and the restaurant decor is not. The prices they charge are reasonable. I paid way more for Peruvian food.
I tried the Lomo Saltado and the Sweet & Sour Meat and Fried Wantons. The Lomo Saltado was fine. It consists of strips of beef, tomatoes, vegetables, and french fries. It did not have a strong flavor, I would not call it bland. It did have a interesting texture. I'm not used to eating Chinese food that is topped with french fries. It was an interesting dish. I would probably order it again, and have them increase the spiciness.
The Sweet & Sour Meat and Fried Wantons (Kalu Won tons) were good. It is a assortment of different types of meat (beef, BBQ pork, shrimp) topped with Sweet & Sour Sauce and Fried Won Tons. The fried Won Tons were crispy and tasty. I like this dish more than the Lomo Saltado.
This place is a nice change from the regular Chinese food that I usually eat. I will go to this place again. -
Review from Hans H.
South San Francisco, CA
10/12/2009
So this place is a Chinese Peruvian fusion restaurant. This place looks like a hole in the wall. When I walked in to this place you'd think it was the 1980's. It was dark, dim, and empty in here during lunch hours. The workers and chefs are Chinese from Peru. The menu is in Chinese/ English/ Spanish.
I ordered lomo saltado. It's stripes of beef, onion, tomatoes, french fries, and with rice. I've had lomo saltado before and I loved it. The lomo saltado here tasted bland. The beef didn't have any kick to it. It just tasted like bland chinese food. However, for a Peruvian dish, it was cheap at $6.50. If I come here again, I'll probably have chaufa arroz, I heard it was very good. -
Review from Phillip T.
San Francisco, CA
9/10/2007
I walked by this place all the time then I notice the sign outside, "Chifa Peruviano." After coming back from Peru recently, I had a craving for some chifa (Chinese-Peruvian cuisine) and lomo saltado which is beef tenderloin strips, french fries, chopped onions and tomatos sauted together served with white rice. The food was meh, it lacks flavor unlike the one I had in Lima but it was cheap at $6.50. I'd go back and try a different dish. The restaurant looks dated, probably last renovated in the 80's. You should check out the menu, it's in three languages, English, Spanish, and Chinese.
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Review from Bobby K.
Livermore, CA
12/21/2008
Now here's a new concept. A Chinese Perviaun fusion cuisine. They serve regular Peruvian style, they server regular (Americanized) Chinese food, and they have a bunch of dishes with a taste of both. They can make food spicy if you want, which is a plus. Today was a rainy day. I don't think their heater was working because there was cold air blowing on us the whole time. The food was piping hot though and so was the tea. They specialize in bland overcooked Peruvian food, but they are also pretty good for bland Chinese food. I was amused how the menu would say "fish" but not what kind of fish, and once it just said "meat" with no elaboration. I ordered the fried fish, which was soggy chunks of mystery fish with bell peppers, onions and a heaping portion of white rice. It wasn't bad, just bland. I didn't leave hungry though, and the wait staff speaks fluent Spanish. The bathroom in the back after a long twisting maze is way up on the list of nasty bathrooms I'd rather not use again.
The storefront is actually on Rolph St. and like everything in SF, it's Parking Jihad! Make sure you lock your doors and keep your valuables out of sight.Listed in: Peruvian restaurants
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Review from Renzo L.
Foster City, CA
4/30/2009
Personally I'm a big fan of this place. I've been coming here for years, I always take it to go so I'm not exposed to the "poor customer service" Every time I take someone here they love it. This what I do, get some BEEF FRIED RICE with CHIJAUKAY CHICKEN mix those together and you will be in heaven!!!
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Review from Ken M.
Berkeley, CA
3/13/2011
This is place is excellent for the price! The portions are really big, the food is tasty, and the service is friendly. It is NOT a fancy restaurant, so do not expect too much. I am just saying that a $18 dinner for 2 (soup, appetizer, and entree) is amazing!
