Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: COSTANERA COCINA PERUANA RESTAURANT EXPERIENCE 2014!!!

Located in downtown Montclair,  NJ.

I was invited to attend a dining experience of upscale Peruvian cuisine in this uniquely decorated Peruvian restaurant along with my significant other, my significant other’s sister and a friend.  What a treat! We ended up eating something I never ate before.  However, before I get to that allow me to introduce you to Costanera Cocina Peruana Restaurant.

When we arrived inside the entire restaurant was packed except for our reserved table.

We began our dining experience with our gracious hosts /owners Tatianna & Andre dining alongside us.  We started off with a bottle of red wine, some toasted corn kernels and wasabi sauce.  The menu at Costanera is extensive and we left our sampling choices up to our hosts.

What you see above is a shot of leche de tigre or “Tiger Milk” which tastes outstanding!  We all took our shots of leche de tigre and toasted before tossing em back.  Next we had two different ceviches( not pictured here) along with a plate of mussels & calamari in sauce.  That was followed up by salmon on crustini, and chicharron de pescado which was insanely goood!!!  Try Costanera’s chicharron de pescado against any cornmeal crusted catfish you’ve ever had and see if Costanera doesn’t come out the clear winner.

Over the course of the next several hours plus we enjoyed glasses of wine and shots of Hornitos Silver 100% Agave Tequila which we brought for our meal since in this area of Montclair most of the businesses don’t have liquor licenses.  The staff of the restaurant was on point always ready to fill a glass that was low as  our conversation about the decor & ambiance of Costanera turned our attention to the walls and bar of the establishment before our next course was presented.

Our gracious hosts told us that the previous owners of this space told them no matter what they did to the interior, they had to keep the bar.  True to their word Costanera’s proprietors kept the bar intact while renovating the rest of the interior which was completely bare white walls.  All the design and color scheme were completely those of the owners.  And in case you’re wondering, yes that is real wood on the walls as well as the carved pieces across the room from where we sat.

Up next was what I alluded to earlier as having never eaten before.  Anticucho (Beef Heart). The heart was cooked well and skewered on kebabs.  Big kernels of corn and sauce adorned this dish and surprisingly it didn’t taste gamey or minerally at all.  The consistency of the beef heart was close to that of hanger steak and yes I finished all of my Anticucho. 😉

Speaking of Hanger steak that’s what you see above.  Again perfectly cooked steak served with fries, onions and red peppers garnished with a little cilantro if I’m not mistaken.  Delish!!!

At the top of the pic above you see Causas (Classic mashed potato cakes with avocado, and lump crab meat) topped with drops of Huancaina sauce.  Below the Causas are more Korn Kernels and roasted potatoes medley with crispy yucca also drizzled with Huancaina sauce.  Uh Yassum!!! We liked our starches.  The Huancaina sauce really brought everything together nicely.

Fried Sweet and Green Plantains followed. I’m a fan of both but the fried sweet plantain won out.

 Another round of tequila shots with lime wedges helped cleanse our palletes before we perused the desert menu.

Naturally we chose the first three deserts on menu to share between us.

That there above is Costanera’s Mousse de Chocolate with a scoop of chocolate icecream accompanied by bananas, blueberries, and raspberries.  Mmmm mmm Son!!! 😀

Next we had the Crema Volteada (Flan) that looked like a heavenly sliced piece of cheesecake topped in a rich caramel sauce.  The Tres leches is obscurred by the chocolate mousse regrettably, but it too tasted out of this world amazing!!!

In all honesty everything we sampled was beyond reproach.  I could find absolutely nothing that I didn’t like.  The ceviche’s were incredible, all the meats, and sides more than satisfied.  This truly was an experience to be had.  Costanera gets 5 out of 5 dinner plates in every category, taste, presentation, price, service and food quality.  OOOOO

This is a must  try restaurant experience!!! Thank you again to Tatianna & Andre our gracious hosts of Costanera.  Till next time this has been the Costanera Cocina Peruana Experience 2014 by THEJNSREPORT.