Panka Peruvian Restaurant (Des Moines, IA) Review

3.5* (out of 5)

Food: 5*

Atmosphere: 4*

Value: 3*

Service: 2*

02/10/2023 Panka Peruvian Restaurant

This place has been on my Want to Go list for a while and finally got to try it last night. My wife was quite hungry, so we thought we would quickly resolve that and try out some $5 apps during Happy Hour. While the first external impression was a little negative (store front came across as a fast-foodish), we immediately felt better after stepping inside – very nice atmosphere and bustling with activity.

Long story short…we arrived just before 6pm on a Friday, didn’t have a reservation, were told it would be “5 minutes” – then proceeded to wait 50 minutes before we were seated. We thought we would help the time pass by enjoying a cocktail, so asked the primary server about ordering a drink (behind the bar seating area is food preparation only and no bartender). He said he would be back “in a second” to take our order, but never did return.

Other than cooking, bussing tables and table clean up, he was the only one doing everything else in the service area of the restaurant. While he was very friendly, pleasant and apologetic – he clearly could not keep up with all of the demands of the customers and made some mistakes. If he would have help on the service side, they clearly could move more people through (all told, we spent 2 hours and 20 minutes there) and increase their revenues while providing better service.

Now onto the good part – the food and drinks were FANTASTIC (see pictures for menus and food / drinks)! I did make one mission trip to Peru that was quite enjoyable and introduced me to ceviche and pisco sours – but have not have the opportunity to sample a lot of their cuisine.

For starters, I ordered a Pisco Sour (see picture) and it was delicious – very foamy egg white on top and the cinnamon / presentation was great! For appetizers, we ordered Chicharron de Pescado and Causa de Pollo (see pictures). I absolutely loved the Causa mashed potato / chicken salad / avocado stack and the Pescado was also very good.

For our dinner, my wife and I shared Cremoso Ceviche (see picture) and Arroz Norteno (see picture). As our 5* rating implies, we loved both of them – as the name implies, the ceviche sauce was a bit creamy and the Arroz dish was fresh and very tasty. If you read my reviews, you know I love sweets – so the meal wasn’t complete without Alfajores Peruanos (see picture) for dessert. Again, it is highly recommended – the soursop ice cream is best described as unique (the first word used by both my wife and myself) and the caramel cookies were great – caramelly, yet not too sweet.

Do not go here unless you have reservations (the place was packed and stayed so until less than an hour before closing when we were there) or go during a less-busy time. If you do that and are patient with the service, you will definitely not be disappointed with the food! As the pictures show, the presentation is fantastic and it tastes every bit as good as it looks – I highly recommend the food and cocktails! If you found this review helpful, please show your appreciation with a Like or a Follow.

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