Inca's, Darlinghurst

Peruvian cuisine is quite unique in Sydney. Have you been to Peru before? Have you been craving those South American flavours? I've had exposure to South American flavours but haven't had Peruvian food before.

Inca's is located in Darlinghurst and aims to bring all those bold flavours to Sydney. Inca's has been in Newtown for over 20 years but more recently has moved to Darlinghurst. Matt and I head here for lunch on Saturday.

The headchef and owner Marco Handabak talks about all the Peruvian ingredients that are not locally available so he imports a lot to ensure authenticity in his food.

The restaurant is cosy and open. I notice these Inca masks at the back of the restaurant. I ponder what the Inca empire life was like before Spanish conquered.

There's two key menus that I have a look at. There's a platter menu and an a la cart menu. I'd probably describe the menu as an up-market Southern American. Today, we are trying one of the options on the platter menu.

But first, let's have a drink. Matt and I cheers to a Cusquena golden lager. This beer is quite refreshing and will come in handy to complement the food.

We end up with a Fuente Marina which is a platter for two ($79, with a free glass of wine per person). Matt's allergic to shell fish so he's only able to eat one of the three dishes as part of the platter.

The Fuente Marina has three key components. The first is the scallops a la chalaca which are scallops marinated in fresh lime juice, peruvian yellow chilli, finely diced onion and herbs and is served chilled. It's also topped with a white giant corn kernel which comes from Peru.  The scallops are served on big spoon in a very zesty lime juice broth with a moderate spice from the chilli. The broth is quite tasty.

Next up is the Arroz Con Camarones which has king prawns cooked in a peruvian yellow non-spicy chilli and coriander sauce with rice paella style. The rice is really enjoyable to eat with a number of king prawns and peas. There's a generous amount of prawns in this dish. I also squeeze some lime over the prawns which is really nice to eat. I also eat the red capsicum but I stupidly also eat some of the orange chilli.

It's incredibly spicy and my tongue is temporarily on fire.  I drink quite a bit of water and beer to subside the spice. The owner tells me it's not intended to be eaten as it's garnish, so unless you can really handle your spice then definitely stay away from that orange chilli.

The last component of the platter is the Ceviche Clasico. This has a premium orange roughy fillet which is sliced and marinated in fresh lime juice, peruvian imported yellow chilli and fresh coriander and is served with Peruvian Andean dry corn and sweet potato. Matt really enjoys the fillet which is in a similar marinate as the scallops which is quite zesty from the lime but is balanced out with the onion, chilli and crunchy corn kernels.

Summary: If you're looking for a nice dinner and are craving South American flavours, in particular Peruvian food, you should head to Inca's.  Peruvian food is very rare in Sydney so no doubt, you'll experience unique flavours and ingredients.

Don't eat any chilli unless you are a chilli master. The Peruvian have CRAZY spicy chilli. I really enjoyed the King Prawns and the paella style rice, it was delicious and moreish.

Price: Platters vary from $55-90 for two

Location: 71 Stanley St, Darlinghurst

Opening Hours: 
Closed Monday
Tuesday to Friday 5 - 10:30pm
Saturday 12pm to 11pm
Sunday 12pm to 4pm

Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of the venue or their representatives. All photos, opinions and words are my own.