Friday, February 27, 2009

Peruvian Chicken in Arlington/Falls Church

I don't know how many other metropolitan areas have Peruvian chicken, but I first encountered it here in Northern Virginia. Peruvian chicken joints roast beautiful little chickens slathered with spices (heavy on the cumin) rotisserie style. Two sauces accompany the chicken, one hot green pepper sauce and one mayonnaise based sauce. They are often hole-in-the-wall places and each has it's unique attributes. I hope to enlighten you on a few here.
In general, I've found that the best Peruvian chicken joints tend to be in the Arlington/Falls Church area. When I was living south of Alexandria, I tried a number of them down there and found nothing that compared to the Arlington/Falls Church places. There's only so much area I've been able to cover, so please comment if you have your own favorite.
Edy's Chicken and Steak: Bailey's Crossroads, Arlington. This place is pretty big and always busy. You'll wait the longest at this place too for your order, but it's still only a matter of 5-10 minutes until you get your food. They have one of the biggest menus, featuring chicken and steak items. The green sauce is generally milder here. I usually get the sandwich here because it's not available at many of the other places. Sometimes the lettuce and tomato are good, and sometime they are disgusting. The salads are not worth bothering with. The other sides are simply ok--yucca, rice and fries.
Chicken and Steak: Seven Corners, Falls Church. The interior isn't much, but I've consistently had good chicken and chicken sandwiches here. Again, the sides aren't much to speak of.
El Pollo Rico: Kenmore St between Wilson and Fairfax in Arlington. This is probably the most highly acclaimed place, featured on Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" show on the Travel Channel. It's good and consistent, but I don't find it a heck of a lot better than the other places in this list. They have super fast service, but they also have very little on the menu--no sandwich and the only sides are fries and the ubiquitous iceberg salad in a styrofoam cup that's probably sat for a week before you buy it. Cash only. Some of the spiciest green sauce here.
Crispy and Juicy: Lee Hwy and N Glebe Rd, Arlington. Also highly acclaimed. Great chicken, no sandwiches, few sides that are again undistinguished.
Super Pollo: Wilson Blvd and George Mason Rd, Arlington. Just tried this tonight on the recommendation of a friend and it was well worth it! I had the 1/2 chicken which comes with two sides. Here's where this place rises above the competition: not only is their chicken great (I prefer their seasoning to all others) but they have many, many sides, some of which are delicious! My friend had recommended the chick peas and hallelujah! finally a side worth getting excited about! I chose plantains as my second side. These are not the best plantains ever, but I really enjoy plantains and having them on the menu at all is a big plus. This place has sandwiches and steak items as well. I will go back and try the sandwich for sure! Even with the bigger menu, it took a mere minutes to get my food and be out the door. The green sauce was not as spicy as some places, but I really enjoyed the flavor. It may have been tomatillo mixed with green chiles. Still spicy, but with a fuller tang. I'll definitely be back here to try out all the options!

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