Coming from a Hispanic background I’m always excited to try food from other Latin American countries. I had only tried Peruvian food one other time, and that was on one of my trips to San Francisco.

Turns out it was a great experience because I loved the food. I didn’t know of many Peruvian restaurants nearby, so I jumped at the chance of trying out Puro Sabor, a local Peruvian bistro.

Puro Sabor is located in Van Nuys on Van Nuys Blvd., right off the 101-north freeway. It’s on a busy street, which made it hard to find parking in front of the restaurant, so I decided to drive around the back to see if it had a parking lot; it did.

I entered through the back door and walked down a short hallway where I was greeted by the owner, a friendly man who quickly let my party know we could sit anywhere we liked.

It was a Saturday afternoon and the place wasn’t too busy, there were only two other families eating there. However, the place seemed nice, not too small but not big either.

All the tables were clean and there was good Spanish music playing.

The menu has a wide variety of selections available. There were appetizers, soups, chicken, steaks, seafood, shrimps, ceviches, and saltados.

The drinks consist of fountain drinks and a popular Peruvian drink called Chicha Morada, which is a juice made from purple corn. They don’t offer any alcoholic beverages.

When we were seated we were given menus right away and before we were ready to order, we were brought out bread and butter.

I was with two other people, so we made sure we each ordered something different. We ordered the Lomo Saltado which is strips of rib eye steak marinated in onions, tomatoes, and French fries, the Lomo Saltado Puro Sabor which came with rib eye steak, chicken, and shrimp which was also marinated with onions, tomatoes, and French fries, and the Pechuga de Pollo a la Parrilla (grilled chicken breast) which was served over a bed of lettuce, tomatoes, and olive-oil-drizzled avocadoes.

Each of these dishes was also served with white rice.

Most of the items on the menu range from about $9 to $25.

We were surprised and pleased to see how quickly the server (which was the owner himself) brought out our food, perhaps because there weren’t many clients in there.

Nonetheless, we were all happy with our food. The meats were tasty, well marinated and it was interesting to see that the saltados were cooked with French fries; it gave the food an interesting look. The portions were generous and the taste was great.

Another thing that made the restaurant eye-catchy and interesting were the pictures hanging on the walls of the restaurant. They all revolved around popular Peruvian sites, like Machu Picchu, a well-known symbol of the Inca Empire.

I also noticed that the sign at the front of the restaurant was red with white, bold letters, which are the colors of the Peruvian flag.

I would absolutely recommend Puro Sabor to other friends and family.

The experience was great and it reminded me how much I liked Peruvian food. The broad selection of food has something to satisfy anyone and I felt like it had a homemade taste to it, which is always nice. I think others will be happy with the service, like we were.

It was nice to see that once we were leaving, the owner asked us if we liked the food. It’s not everyday you leave a restaurant and are asked if the food was to your liking. Overall I was content with my experience at Puro Sabor and would recommend it.