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Café Limón
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
5 reviews for Café Limón
5 reviews in English
-
Review from Bryan J.
Layton, UT
2/5/2012
It's not often the local coupon book directs us to a nice new restaurant experience, but that was our visit to Cafe Limón and introduction to Peruvian cuisine. The strip mall location (in a Syracuse bedroom community) isn't anything special; despite their framed autographed Guy Fieri apron, this place doesn't even have a quaint divey level of atmosphere. Neither impressive is the lack of seating - I think there were five tables. But Amparo (who owns the restaurant with her husband Ron) made for a very friendly welcome and the food was very delicious and fairly priced.
We tried the Lomo Saltado ("jumping beef") with is the Peruvian fusion of a chinese stir fry, fajita-type ingredients, flambe preparation, and served over fries (I went for fried sweet potatoes). Amparo pushed upgrading to Tacu Tacu, a bacony crisp patty of fried rice, instead of the white rice. After tasting the pleasant Aji pepper spiciness of the Lomo Saltado I was glad to have stayed with the mild rice as an accompaniment.
My wife did get the Tacu Tacu with her "Food Network Award-Winning Peruvian Roasted Chicken" (hence the reason for the Guy Fieri apron). The (smallish but no cornish hen) half chicken was mega juicy and falling off the bone, the marinade infused the meat with flavor fully. We found the yucca fries with their plantain-like texture very enjoyable, with or without the delicious huancaina (spicy cheese) sauce. The real star of the plate was the chicken and the yellow Aji pepper sauce that is surprisingly more nuanced in its flavor than I expected with hints of sweetness and mustardlike notes along with expected spiciness.
We found the Tacu Tacu too greasy, tasting like it was fried in a touch too much bacon fat. As I understand from reading up on this African-Peruvian fusion recipe that it should contain mashed beans, and often bacon and/or ham in the patty of crisp seasoned rice. It is often served with a fried egg and plantains, and sounds like it would be a more satisfying main dish than scaled down as a side dish as Cafe Limón was serving it (only seasoned rice fried in bacon fat). Their Tacu Tacu wasn't terrible, but didn't serve as a comforting balance to the spicy chicken like I found the plain rice served with the Jumping Beef. My wife felt like the flavors competed.
My son got the $8 double cheese burger and was very pleased with its large soft bun, twin patties, cheese and a generous portion of bacon. Based on my taste of it they do serve a nice burger, reasonably juicy, but I wish that it were prepared with more Peruvian fusion, say with a hand formed patty seasoned with some of the delicious spices they use for other Peruvian dishes. They do serve a "Peruvian Burger" which has bacon and fried egg with the patty, but my hunch is the patty does not pick up any distinct Peruvian flavor, but I can only guess. At any rate, my son thought it was a touch better than most burgers.
While we found the $12 main dishes of a generous but not over-generous portion, for a lighter appetite in sandwiches I'd probably lean toward recommending the Jumping Beef sandwich. You know that's not going to taste like sandwiches you can find readily elsewhere. That's why I'm eager to mention this place: Peruvian food is very uncommon hereabouts.
For lovers of potatoes, while their fries are not hand made Belgian fries level of wonderful, Cafe Limón does them flavorfully. We liked the sea salt and herb mix they dust them with. They also have an appetizer of imported Peruvian yellow potatoes topped with the spicy cheese sauce that we would like to try in a future visit. One of our nearby table mates, once-a-month regulars, raved about them.
We'll definitely be back again to Cafe Limón with its many homemade style touches. We didn't make room for trying the homemade Dulce de Leche filled shortbread cookies nor the incredible (based on the reviews we heard) Tres Leches flan or warm rice pudding. The Inca Kola soda sounds like a dessert-meets-energy drink level of sweetness, but to look at the tables of our fellow patrons it seems others enjoy that they carry this regional favorite among their other Peruvian flavors. -
Review from Jason D.
10/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
I came here with a friend who is familiar with Peruvian cuisine and I, on the other hand, am not. That being said, the place was featured on the food network and supposedly is really good. The owners were very friendly and the service was great. However, I wasn't a huge fan of the food.
I got the empanadas with the half chicken combo. I did like the empanadas, but I didn't really enjoy the chicken. I thought it was a bit dry and I didn't really like the seasoning. This was also my first time trying yucca and I didn't like that either. My friend really enjoyed his meal, but he has had a lot more exposure to Peruvian food than I.
Despite all that I'm willing to give this place another try. -
Review from Nate S.
11/1/2010
Limon is not a lemon, but neither is it the Peruvian paradise I'd hoped for. Ever since El Chalan closed I've been a shadow of my former peppery self, so I was insane to try Limon as soon as I heard of it. The owner is super friendly and very proud of her food. She runs Saturday specials that definitely up the awesome factor. She had banana leaf wrapped tamales when we visited, but she also said that she recently did anticuchos (thinly sliced, marinated and grilled beef heart).
Mostly, though, the menu strives to balance between Peru and Syracuse, UT. Not an easy feat. It leads to calling lomo saltado "jumping beef," which is pretty close to jumping the shark as far as cultural food betrayal goes.
Anyway, we sampled the lomo in two forms: sandwich and tallarines (spaghetti). It was decent. Notably, the beef was very tender and the onions were red. However, it relied too heavily on soy and lacked the signature aji bite. Salt was the governing seasoning.
The chicken is not pollo a la brasa. Understand that. It's closer to a poached chicken with Peruvian seasoning. It was nicely cooked and apparently has won awards. I was happy to eat it, but have no awards to offer, and I'm not convinced the Food Network notoriety is worth noting.
Starch choices abound at Peruvian restaurants, and we chose tacu-tacu (a beans and rice mix) and yucca fries. The yucca fries were great, and they come with a cheese sauce (huancaina) that is happy to be smeared on everything.
This last bit is mostly for Peruvian food fans and lovers of the late Chalan. The defining ingredient of this cuisine is the aji pepper, and the signature form of that pepper is the house aji sauce. Limon's owner has strong opinions about said sauce, and she was happy (and quick) to denigrate green varieties like El Chalan's. Those, she hinted, include bastard chiles like jalapenos. Hers relies only on aji peppers, garlic, and a few other basic ingredients (vinegar and limited spices, I imagine). Also, she said that she gets her peppers from an LA based outfit that brings them directly from Peru. The result is an aji sauce that is predominately yellow and peppery-tart with a short finish. It is tasty, bright, but also limited.
It may brand me as a neophyte philistine twinkiephile, but I vastly prefer El Chalan's aji sauce (once lovingly referred to as frog sauce, since the owner's wife joked that the secret ingredient was Kermit based). I dream about it. I am making it my personal mission to recreate it at home. It added a depth and zing that was definitely missing from Limon's. In fact, my strange sense after leaving Limon was that everything tasted much the same. There were lovely notes and some tasty moments, but not much excitement.
For now, I would choose K-Rico in SLC as my Peruvian stand-in. -
Review from Liz B.
San Francisco, CA
6/18/2010
Walked into this little place not knowing what to expect. It turned out to be one memorable place. The restaurant is family owned. The owner was incredibly nice. She too is from San Francisco.
On to the food. The menu wasn't vegetarian friendly however they did have chicken sandwich which was supposed to be the winner of some Food Network competition. I had an egg/avocado/tomato sandwich. It was delish!!!! I ordered it with sweet potato fries.
Anyway, overall experience was pretty good. Owner definitely has a vibrant personality. If you're in the area, this is definitely a great place to check out. Support the locals!!! Hehe. :) -
Review from Rob W.
Ogden, UT
10/14/2010
Café Limón is a little bit different from the usual in the area and the owner is wonderfully warm and hospitable. The food, however is just ok -- it's pre-cooked a heated to order, and unfortunately that shows, especially the Peruvian Grilled Chicken, which was rather dry. The yucca with with Huancaina sauce was as good as any I've had though.
