Date Night: Costanera Authentic Peruvian Cuisine #Hosted | Simple LOTN

 

I kept my look simple because I didn't want to be overdressed.

Dress

Belt: J.Crew

Heels: Jimmy Choo

Headband: J.Crew

Earrings: Procure (local)

We had the pleasure of being invited out to Costenara Peruvian Cuisine in the Carrolwood area of Tampa to try some authentic Peruvian Cuisine.

Much to my surprise what I thought was going to be a quick and simple dinner turned into a long and enjoyable experience at Costanera. A lot of nights they have live music and tonight a husband and wife were performing and they put on a great show and performed for the whole duration of the evening.

We got there when the sun was still up and left late at night because we had so much fun!

                

We started off dinner with some popular drinks in Peru.

Alchohol free Inca Kola is the national drink in Peru.

I also tried this drink made from black corn. You may notice the corn and the drink in some of my photos. They make that drink in house as well from purple corn and it is called Chicha Morada Fresh traditional soft drink made by boiling natural purple maize, cinnamon and cloves. It was very sweet to me so they brought me a Sangria which was delicious.

Cevichito de Camarones

The starter was the Peruvian ceviche which you know I had to try. It wasn't high and forward with acidity like most ceviches and it wasn't made with a coconut milk like some are. It was very different and loaded with whole shrimp. That alone was a lot of food and enough for a table of four to share.

We tried a lot of the most popular dishes which you will see below as well as this off menu item which is cooked at the table. It contains some type of Peruvian wine, scallops, and parmesan cheese.

I tried a few of the popular and authentic cocktails, however I found the Mojito to be my favorite. I must say, it's well made and it packs a punch because I had 2 over the course of 3 to 3.5 hours and ate dinner and somehow it sneak attacked me by thr time I got home.

This is the dish that I had. Lomo Saltado. Lomo Saltado is traditionally served with French fries and white rice. I opted for a side salad because I was unsure I they had a mixed use fryer for all items. Honestly,  I have never had a cilantro rice that impressed me so I ordered that instead of white rice and the cilantro rice was the best I have ever had.

FYI: So, I did feel like I got glutened here, I was checking the menu and it was probably the Cilantro rice: Cilantro base and Peruvian beer infusion. OMG, how was this missed?!

So, yes, I did inform everyone I had a gluten allergy (that is why the Lomo Saltado was made with gluten-free soy sauce). How did I end up with rice made with beer? This is just as much my fault as it is theirs. I was asked if I wanted white rice or cilantro rice when ordering. I asked for the cilantro rice not looking at the menu be uase 1. I would never expect rice to have beer in it. 2. I have had cilantro rice before and it was literally rice, cilantro, spices etc so to me, it's always been gluten-free. and lastly, Since I had I formed her I had a gluten allergy I wouldn't have expected to be offered something that clearly contained gluten in it in the same conversation. There is a possibility they didn't know beer contains wheat, rye, and barley. I know that sounds crazy, but 10 years ago this happened to me at a restaurant called Aqua with PEI mussels cooked in a beer broth. It was the same exact situation and when I questioned them about it they said they didn't know beer had gluten.

So, I am not going to change my review or my opinion of this place. I should have looked at the menu when I was asked did I want that rice. I have been sick for about 5 days and I had been going through everything in my mind trying to figure out how I got glutened. I ate there Thursday night, Friday morning I was sick.

So, I am going to say, please exercise extreme caution if you have Celiacs like I do. I really tried to make sure the meal was free of gluten. I avoided the French fries, I avoided the fried nuts, and I know one of their  chili  asked sauces also contained gluten and I avoided that. I didn't even think to suspect this rice. The good thing is I didn't eat a lot of my food because like I said, I have to exercise great caution when eating out. 

Now, the Lomo Saltado is not gluten-free because it contains soy sauce, but they had gluten-free soy sauce and so I was able to have it. This dish consists of a soy sauce base with tomatoes,  filet, and red onions. It basically has Chinese influence, you may notice it looks a lot like Peppersteak. It is also cooked in a wok as well. 

Peppersteak is my absolute favorite and I haven't had it since P.F. Chang stopped making it gluten-free years ago so I was excited and pensive to try it out. When I tell you WOW WOW WOW. It was amazing, better than Peppersteak actually! I will be a returning customer if not just for that! 

Special Peruvian Salad

An authentic Peruvian salad, lettuce, grape tomatoes, cucumber & onions, house dressing.

Pescado a lo Macho 

The fish filet is topped with thick sauce made with assorted Seafood.

This is the dish my husband had. This is also one of the most popular dishes and it co tains calamari, Mussels, fish and shrimp in a fragrant yet spicy broth. We got to see and taste all the Peruvian spices they use like actually the chili's and this dish was one of the ones with a nice heat level.

                      

It was a pretty long and fun night so we didn't have time for desserts. We spent a lot of time chatting with the manager and his wife and pretty much everyone stayed until the band played their last set. I highly recommend this restaurant if you are looking to: 

🌼Try something new experience or food

🌼Want authentic Peruvian Cuisine 

🌼Want to have a date night

🌼Want to have fun, dance, and have strong cocktails with friends

🌼or a Girl's night out.

It's easy to find and not far from the Carrollwood Whole Foods if you are familiar with that area. It's located in a little plaza on the right when you turn.