El Ancla

Food is delicious. But ordering/​delivery is slower than MTA Sunday service. However long you think it might take to get your food, triple that.
The person on the phone doesn’t speak very good english (and I don’t speak any Spanish) so communication is not a highlight.
But if you’re patient and not super hungry when you place your order… you’ll be stellar when the food arrives.

had cebiche again and it rocked… place is clearly up and down. Gotta keep on them or they’ll take advantage. But when it’s right, it’s the best Peruvian in NYC. However, their tamales are always dry…

My parents and I went to El Ancla last Saturday night. It was empty but my dad swore by its authenticity. The food was great, my mom and I had llomo saltado and chicha, my dad had ceviche and papa a la huancaina.
The food was excellent! Being Peruvian ourselves, we tend to be overcritical. Snobbish even when it comes to our restaurants. The beef in the llomo saltado was of good quality, the french fries were hand cut and the sauce was just right. The chicha morada was home made, not the bottle variety, which means it took a long time to make and was just right. I didn’t get to try the ceviche and the papa a la huancaina, but my dad really loved it.
There were some alfajores (powdered suger butter cookies sandwiches with dulce de leche in the middle) by the cashier that I tried. Excellent as well.
I did take off 1 star because the staff had just cleaned the seating area with some powerful cleaning solutions. It took us a few minutes to get used to it.
The place was empty but I’m puzzled as to why exactly. The food here was on par with Tu Casa in Metropolitan Ave. Judging by the dates of the bad reviews, it might have been a change in chef. It’s a shame because good Peruvian restaurants are hard to find (Pio Pio’s only saving grace is the chicken, otherwise it’s crap) and I feel this place deserves a shot. I highly suggest you try the llomo saltado.

Solid Peruvian food. Some of the best polla a la brasa (rotisserie chicken) around. You really can’t beat the price either. Taking 1 star off because the décor/​music/​ambiance could definitely be improved upon. I see some of the negative reviews stem from seafood so I’m just going to avoid that and stick to their delicious chicken options or bistec encebollado!

If I can put 0 starts for this restaurant I would do it, this place sucks. I made an order for delivery at 1:25pm, I just called them to find out what happened with my order and they have the balls to say they haven’t prepared anything yet because they were to busy and on top if that computer didn’t work. Am I a customer or what??? does my money not important at all for these people that they couldn’t prepare my food in one hour and half??? I hope one day Unilocal can give the customers the opportunity to give 0 starts to such irresponsible and low class places like this one… Ancla peruvian you suck!!!

I’ve had mixed experiences from El Ancla (all deliveries), but thankfully my latest experience was a home run!
We ordered the Combo #2 — it comes with an entire rotisserie chicken (with green sauce), green salad with sliced avocado, white rice, roasted sweet plantains, and french fries with cut up hot dogs. SO GOOD! Pio Pio is usually our Peruvian go-​to, but El Ancla is a solid neighborhood choice!
We’ve had their fried rice as well, which is also a really good choice. Combo #2 is enough for 2 people to gorge with leftovers for the next day!

Bad Sunday night decision. I love Peruvian food and was excited to try more Peruvian places in Astoria. Although this place is a whole in the wall with pretty terrible location we decided to try it — total fail!
The ceviche was terrible! I felt sick after eating some of it. The quality of the fish was really bad and the it was served in diluted lemon juice. My boyfriend ordered the seafood in Peruvian sauce. Not as terrible as the ceviche but a flat dish in terms of flavor of the sauce and the seafood.
The restaurant although decently spacious, does not have much setting for parties of two, the only tables for parties of 2 were right next to the door or next to the bathroom. Although the majority of the restaurant was empty they wouldn’t let us sit elsewhere.
When in doubt do not get the seafood here I spent all night feeling ill.

Es la peor comida peruana que puede existir. No deberia llevar el nombre de Peru deja muy mal a la comida peruana. El pollo a la brasa seco como si fuera de hace dias igual la papa y la ensalada desabrida ni el aji tiene gusto es una verguenza para la gastronomia peruana. Lo digo yo una Peruana.
Peruvian food is the worst that can exist. Should not bear the name of Peru makes very poor Peruvian food. The grilled chicken is dry like it was made just days, potatoes and salad were ugly. I am a Peruana. This is not a Peruvium food.

What happened to this place?
Every time we walked into this place was always empty not even the waiters were around. The wait was always at least 10 minutes before someone took our order…
Food was not so good, salty the last time we went.
Anyways…

Food is better than any other peruvian rest in astoria, but it would help if they keep up the schedule, Unilocal say some hour times and they close whenever they want

Great spot for dinner! Enjoyed the Lomo Saltado along with Peruvian chicken and salchipapa. Didn’t fail but to enjoy the amazing taste of the dishes. Great spot definitely will come back for a nice dinner out with friends.

(take-​out order)
it was alright. I ordered the Chicken Pollo Saltado.
Rice was hard/​undercooked
the potatoes were also very undercooked and about 50% of the veggies.
on the upside the flavor was great, if only the potatoes were roasted/​fried and the rice was fresh and not stale wouldve been solid
— delivery took almost an hour
I wanted to see what other Peruvian restaurants had but i think ill stick with my go to. Tu Casa. Always had amazing food there

Had a full chicken from here via seemless and it was amazing, better than Tu Casa, so I will be definitely going here in the near future since I live close by. Also had the plantains which were perfectly cooked. The rice and beans were nothing special but for take out it this was really good and assume it can only be better in person.

Yummy food! I had the pollo saltado, my husband the lomo saltado & my brother in law the parijuela. All of us were very happy with our choices. We also had their lemonade which was delicious! The only disappointing item was the maduro, it was extremely dry.
**I have to make a side note, although we enjoyed our food, both my husband and I became extremely ill last night through this morning. We both ordered saltados however with different meat choices. My brother in law who had the seafood dish was just fine. I guess we just had bad luck.

I must say this is my most disappointing experience with delivery. I ordered delivery for 1 Ceviche and 1 half chicken combo with fries and salad. First, it was more than one hour since I ordered so I called the resturant to check on my order, the lady said the delivery went out and it should be by my place soon. I waited another 20 minutes. NADA. I called the restaurant and she told me to be patient because there were many orders. I told her that my order is Ceviche which it is supposed to be a cold and fresh delivery otherwise the dish can be poisonous as seafood are not supposed to be warm. 5 minutes later she calls me saying the driver is ringing the bell and no one is answering. I tell her I am downstairs and I dont see anybody. It turns out she gave the wrong address. I waited another 5 minutes to find the guy.
Up until this point I waited 1 hour and 30 minutes to get my food. HORRIBLE. anyways i go inside to check on the food and I instantly notice that the cold dish is packed with the hot dish. AND the lime juice sauce from Ceviche was spilled everywhere. so, all of the napkins and the rest od the food had the ceviche sauce.
At this point I am getting upset because I read Unilocal before ordering and had a good feeling but I realized people were just lying.
I dig into my chicken to eat and voila, the chicken is not cooked fully. RED area with blood all over. UGH. Ceviche was warm. WARM CEVICHE? I never eaten that and I am frOm Lima. disgusting. Fear of food poisoning I stopped eating the Ceviche.
in the end my food cost $ 25 and I only ate the fries and vegetables. NEVER GOING TO ORDER FROM HERE EVER. and if you dont want to waste your time and money, you shouldnt either.

Got the mussels, Lomo Saltado and some maduros with a friend and everything was amazing. The Lomo Saltado was so well seasoned, a smidge overcooked thought. The mussels were topped with a great pico de gallo and the maduros were caramelized to perfection. The restaurant also has a great vibe and the three tables that are almost outside are great to sit at in the daytime.

Came on this rainy Tuesday and were the only customers in the place!
It was a very homey atmosphere especially with the novelas playing on the tvs. The one thing this place lacked was an ac/​fan so it was very hot and humid and since the front and back doors were completely open it started to smell like garbage for a bit.
The service was good, she got our orders quick and we didn’t wait long for the food. We got the causa rellena de atun, it was good not the best or worst i’ve had. I got the aji de gallina (which is not on the menu) and my boyfriend got the lomo salteado. The rice was really crunchy, some of it seemed like it was not cooked and the aji de gallina was good but it was missing something (I just can’t put my finger on it).

Low key spot on busy 21^st Street. There is a lot on their menu from roast chicken, rice dishes and ceviche. I got the seafood fried rice which was a huge plate full of rice, peas, carrots, onions etc with pieces of calamari, octopus and one shrimp. There were a lot of calamari which is good but only one shrimp? Come on!
I liked that there was a lot of seafood but some pieces were a bit chewy. For $ 16, I thought it was overpriced for a bare-​bones place especially since the half chicken with rice and beans was only $ 9.
If you’re in the mood for something different in Astoria, head here. Also, the waitress didn’t really speak English but you can just point to what you want on the menu.

I was in the mood for some Peruvian chicken and this place did not disappoint. Yes, it’s a bit off the beaten path, but it’s well worth the trip. I ordered the half chicken. It came with rice and beans. Now I went with the half chicken because in my experience with Peruvian restaurants in the city that’s about the size i needed to fill me up. That’s where El Ancla is different. I received a giant piece of chicken and a good portion of rice and beans. I took one look at the plate and thought I’d be taking some home. I was wrong. It was so good I cleaned the bones. The beans also had an excellent flavor. I forgot to mention this was only $ 9. You should come here.

So, this was my first time trying Peruvian food and it was AMAZING! This restaurant makes some damn good food. As a fellow Latino I am used to several spices and flavor in my food. Whatever they used here was absolutely delicious!
Me and one of my friends ordered from here and we were starving so we ordered a bunch of stuff… can’t remember the dishes exactly but it was all great. And for all the food we got, the bill was so cheaper than I expected! Seriously, we stuffed our faces and had enough for hours later after returning from the bars.
GREAT FOOD, GREAT PRICES, definitely trying this spot again very soon!

Let me start by saying that nobody does Peruvian better than La Mar (despite the fact it’s pricy). I went there at least two times a month for several years. Too bad they closed down in NYC.
Anyway, craving some Peruvian food I tried this place based on Unilocal reviews. Tiny whole in the wall… but they do seafood really well! Seafood soup, ceviche, and fried rice!!! I get these once a month! Lol