Misky Misky Cocina Peruana

🇵🇪 PERÚ / HISTORICAL: The Quechua word for delicious must be used twice to properly name this San Gabriel Valley favorite.

🇵🇪 PERÚ
📍 125 N. Fairway Lane,
West Covina, San Gabriel Valley.
🅿️ Private parking lot
🥤 Beer and wine

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📆 Original Article 29 April 2020

When you exit the 10 onto Grand Avenue and head north, you may notice a nondescript building more suited for an El Torito hiding down the hill on Fairway Lane. This is the suburban home of Misky Misky Cocina Peruana, an almost six year old establishment created by a Peruvian couple who came to Los Angeles in the 1980's.

The husband and wife team quickly opened a Peruvian pollos a la brasa-style restaurant called Mr. Pollo in West Covina (which is still around, three exits to the west), but over time wanted to also provide the complex seafood dishes they missed so much from back home.

Two things are immediately apparent right when you open the door. The first is on the board above, a list of ceviches that are the pride and joy of the restaurant. The second is an enjoyable atmosphere and energy that can almost make your skin tingle in anticipation when walking in.

During the last meal enjoyed here, that energy was already ramping up at 13:00 on a Sunday. Plenty of people were already into second and third rounds of sangrias, made either traditionally or with chicha morada.

Much of the menu and dish descriptions here go out of the way to focus on and promote the products and culture of Perú. You will see "Peruvian" in front of many items you thought you already knew, like passion fruit and corn. One of those distinctly Peruvian corns comes before any meal in the form of cancha (above), a toasted snack that pairs well with just about any drink and really gets the taste buds ready.

The ceviche selected from the big board on this day was ceviche de mango (below, may no longer be available as of early 2024), which combines shrimp, mussels, scallops, and squid with the fish of the day in a marinade kissed by aji amarillo. Somehow the chunks of mango hid from the camera, but you can see both hominy and more cancha, as well as a big hunk of sweet potato that almost tastes of pumpkin pie. Those that have had Peruvian ceviches before will recognize the seaweed, which is also imported from Perú and very distinct.

While the ceviche menu up front reigns supreme at Misky Misky and is meant to steer you in the right direction, there is also a good selection of Peruvian favorites that might not be available at the local pollos a la brasa.

One quintessential dish that always brings back wonderful memories of eating in Perú is aji de gallina ($16, below), which is actually shredded chicken despite the name. No matter, the creamy sauce made of aji amarillo, milk, and parmesan cheese is the star here. While not ever particularly spicy, you can add dolops of the green salsa that comes at the beginning of the meal if you would prefer a kick in there.

Fried in oil and garlic before adding water, South American arroz blanco often has a distinct and wonderful oiliness to it, a cup of which is the perfect companion to many things, but nothing more than aji de gallina.

If you were wondering about the double misky in the name, this is the word for "delicious" in the indigenous language family of Quechua. The language of the Inca empire is alive and well in Perú, the primary location of its 8-10 million speakers.

Perfect to accompany any learning about Peruvian culture that might happen as well as all of their dishes, are glasses of red and white wine sangria ($5 each, above), brilliantly combined with chicha morada and passion fruit, respectively.

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