One of my favorite things about living in the bay area is the food. I’m serious. We bay area dwellers are so spoiled with amazing food, both in variety and quality. It’s one of the reasons I have a hard time imagining living anywhere else (sorry, Mom).

Peruvian "Popcorn"

Anyway, my boyfriend and I recently came across El Hueco in Redwood City. El Hueco is a hole-in-the-wall (which is appropriate, since el hueco means “the hole”) Peruvian restaurant nestled in a small strip mall off Woodside Road. The restaurant is tiny; I think I counted a total of eight tables in the dining room. However, the food was INCREDIBLE.

El Hueco’s specialty is ceviche (also spelled cebiche), which is seafood marinated in lime and salsa and served cold. We ordered a mixed ceviche that came with octopus, shrimp, clams, mussels, fish, corn, and sweet potato. Yum. Sometimes the lime can be pretty sharp with ceviches but ours was milder than usual and I thought it was perfect.

For my main dish, I had adobo de chancho, which was pork cooked in chica de jora (corn beer). It was sooooo good. My boyfriend had carapulcra, which had chicken, pork, peanut butter, and chocolate in it, if I remember correctly. Both of our dishes were served with rice and potatoes, which is a nice change from the usual rice and beans fare of other Latin American restaurants.

I’m already looking forward to going back again soon so I can try out some of the other dishes. It is definitely worth a visit if you’re in the neighborhood.

El Hueco is located at 593 Woodside Road in Redwood City.