Mancora

Appears to have closed down, went there Wednesday night, no sign, no nothing there anymore.

The seafood here is great! You can order the food as spicy as you like it. I’m really glad to find this little gem.

So fantastic. My uncle’s wife is from Peru, so I had a high standard, which this place certainly met. Ceviche to die for, and don’t skip the jalea or the mussels. Just bring all your money.

This place is the first Peruvian restaurant I’ve ever been to, and I have no exposure to Peruvian food, so I really have no basis for comparison. But if I eat something and it tastes good, hell, that’s all I need in life!
I’ve only tried the Lomo Saltado, which is apparently a popular, traditional dish in Peru (according to Wikipedia). It is sauteed beef and vegetables on a bed of rice and french fries. Everything on the plate is seasoned perfectly. And it’s amazing how well the fries surprisingly go with the beef, rice and veggies.
They also serve the same dish in chicken.
I will be back to try other things on the menu, for sure!

UPDATE: Went back and it is SO much better than I remembered. The ceviche is tops and my husband ordered a platter of all the dishes we picked from the menu and found ourselves sopping up all the amazing sauces with the fried yucca. The limeaide is so fresh and clean tasting. Love love love it!

Discovered this little gem recently. The food is incredible & so surprisingly unique. The staff is very helpful & friendly. I can’t wait to try something else… new obsession is definitely peruvian.

3 stars is definitely generous, not sure this place could even stay afloat in a real city. I believe the main problem here is that they were a bit too ambitious with the menu. With such a wide array of offerings, it’s not surprising that it’s hard to make any specific item stand out. I’m convinced the fish included in the tiger’s milk was likely past it’s expiration date although luckily I didn’t get sick afterwards. The seafood included in the pescado a la macho dish was very obviously from frozen stock and probably overpriced at 18 dollars. The owners should seriously consider a visit to Pio Pio in nyc to get an idea of how peruvian chicken should be prepared. The chicken they served was overcooked and had a peculiar over salted seasoning. Again in most cities this place would probably get one to 2 stars, but they deserve some credit for attempting to bring some diversity to a city that soo desperately needs some.

I order the mix ceviche which is very different than the Ecuadorean ceviche or the Mexican Ceviche but is very tasty and good. The restaurant is small and simple but it has a really good atmosphere. Very nice staff

I fell in love with Ceviche in Queens, New York of all places. I have since had it in different areas, including Cartagena, Colombia, and have come to the conclusion that «Peruvian» style ceviche is the best or most imitated.
Upon a recent perusal of Groupon for any local deals, the one put up by Mancora caught my eye because I truly did not expect to find a Peruvian restaurant in El Paso of all areas. I did some quick research and although the establishment is relatively new, it already had some nice remarks about its food. I bought the Groupon and anxiously awaited to use it.
It took a couple of weeks before I got around to using it, because unfortunately not a lot of my Army buddies were that interested in sampling this new cuisine. Since I was anxious to try the ceviche and jalea platter, I did not want to go alone. I finally found a friend that was interested in trying the place out and we both ended up enjoying Mancora very much. I had never had Chicha Morada (a fruity, sweet punch made from purple corn), but decided to give it a try. It was absolutely delicious. My friend had sampled this drink elsewhere and agreed that it was very good. I kept commenting how good it would be as a mixed drink! Oh, and on that note. Mancora does not yet (10−24−11) have a liquor license, but it appears that you can bring your own wine and they will gladly serve it for you and hold it in the fridge. Call to verify they are still doing this.
The décor to this place is somewhat lacking, but don’t let this distract you from trying the food. We went on a Saturday and only a few couples were there. We ordered our drinks and platter after a couple of minutes of waiting. I did not know what this was, but my friend requested some Cancha (toasted large corn kernals that are not as hard as you would expect) and they were a delightful snack. When our ceviche and jalea (mix of fried seafood), we noticed it was perfect for us two. The menu claims it feeds four, but I would say that only as an appetizer. The waitress had initially asked us if we wanted the food non-​spicy, medium, or spicy. We chose spicy. The platter came with normal ceviche, which is a mix of fish, shrimp, squid, octopus, and clams (tasted fresh — 4 stars). There was also some fresh clams on the shell that had a lot of ceviche veggies (similar to mexican pico de gallo) on them and were cooked with the fresh lime juice (also good — 3 stars). The third ceviche dish was some type of fish fillets that were covered in a spicy, tangy marinade that seemed to dance on the tongue upon first sampling it (awesome — 5 stars). The 4^th and final dish was a mixture of all the previous seafood mentioned, but these were lightly battered and fried (alone 2 stars, dipped in the sauce 3 stars). At the center of the dish was a cup of the famous Peruvian «Tiger’s Milk» that tends to accompany ceviche dishes. This dipping sauce (more of a marinade) is actually what is used to cure (cook) the fish in the actual ceviche and tends to be whitish in color. Because we ordered our dish spicy, it was more of an orange color since it contained more spices. The entire platter was delicious and was thoroughly devoured. I loved it all, but was particularly impressed by the strangely yellow/​orange colored fish ceviche that had a tang that both danced and fought with my taste buds. It is the only way I can explain it and it was awesome! I cannot wait to come back and try some of the other dishes.
Update February 2012: Have gone back a couple of more times and it was still great. Unfortunately the prices have gone up a bit, (I imagine due to the good reviews and fact that they are getting established now), but it is still a great spot to visit. Had the Lomo Salteado one time to go and I did not want to leave the parking lot with it still uneaten after I sampled a bit. I also went back for their platter and it was just as good, except that this time asking for it spicy, was actually very spicy. Still tasty, but I might go with medium next time to be on the safe side and enjoy the great flavors without the much needed heat.

Came in on a Friday night and the place was packed was pretty packed. Had to wait a few minutes to get a set but well worth it. Waiting for a table, I saw another guy come in with a bottle and assumed that it was a BYOB. Other restaurants allow you to BYOB, so I didn’t think it was all that unusual. After being seated we were told that we couldn’t open it and they don’t serve any aclohol. :(Anyways, they only had 1 server for about 8 tables or so. While she was friendly and all, it took forever to get water and our food. Good thing we had great company.
My wife ordered the Pescado a la Macho, which is a fried fish filet, topped with mixed seafood in a delicious Peruvian sauce over steamed white rice. Very tasty, the fish was light, crispy and flaky and not at all greasy. I have not idea what was in the sauce, but it was good.
I had the Mancora Ceviche, which is a large sampler plate of a variety of Peruvian Ceviche and Jalea (fried seafood). One the platter There was: 1) a shrimp ceviche, which was good, but I am not convinced it was fresh (3 stars); 2) fish ceviche, non-​traditional, they were cutlets of some fish (no idea) smothered in some yellow peruvian mix of spices (very good, 4 stars), 3) razor clams topped with picked red onions and cilantro (2 stars), 4) fried seafood: fish, clams, squid, shrimp (4 stars). Overall, decent, giving me an idea of what peruvian cuisine was about.
I was able to sample one of my friend’s dish, the Chaufa de mariscos, a seafood fried rice with a fusion of Peruvian and Chinese flavors. I am Vietnamese and know fried rice… It was good. Can’t vouch for the seafood though.
As for the décor, they really didn’t waste any money fixing the place up, standard diner tables and chairs. You definitely are not impressing your date with ambiance. However the food is makes up for it, and if they can keep the overhead down and food cheap, I’m all for it.