Sardi's Fusion, Peruvian with Peruvian Fusion at 3418 Olney-Laytonsville Road in Olney

[ALB]

I am from Olney and recently returned from a trip to Peru- so my parents invited me to join them at Sardi's Fusion, a Peruvian "fusion" restaurant in Olney. The space is the recent home to Taste Gastropub.

We ordered solely from the Peruvian section of the menu, but I was impressed. First- they make their own chica morada, (a Peruvian drink made from red corn and warm spices.) It wasn't the best I've ever had, but absolutely acceptable and the effort is commendable.

We ordered the Lomo Saltado (skirt steak sauteed with fries, onions, tomatoes, with rice), Arroz con Mariscos (rice with shellfish), and Aji de gallina (chicken with aji sauce).

To be fair, I did not eat in mainly higher end places in Peru- but all dishes at Sardi's were really great and better in quality to many I tasted there. The aji de gallina was not a stewing hen as they have there, but a nice yellow aji sauce over chicken, rice and potatoes (Peruvian food never spares the carbs.) The lomo saltado was cooked REALLY well to a medium rare with a nice sauce and all the traditional additions. My favorite was the arroz con mariscos- fresh tasting seafood (mussels, shrimp, bay scallops, calamari) with a nicely cooked rice with red pepper, some tomato and a spices.

I would happily order any of the 3 again.

We did not explore the fusion section of the menu or veer from the entres, but there looks to be some good things there as well as some ways to appeal to all palates.

Note- we went at 6:15 wtihout a reservation and got a table. By 6:30 it was packed. 7- a few parties were waiting.

Here's the menu, a large .pdf file:

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[Pat]

[Don, could you merge this post in here?]

[Certainly. DR]

In the spirit of completeness Don values so much   , I will point out that the space occupied by the former Taste is now Sardi's Fusion, a Peruvian fusion restaurant.  (Is Peruvian fusion the new big thing?)

The official opening was apparently yesterday and the soft opening was on the 3rd (?).  The address is 3418 Olney Laytonsville Road.

The chef at Sardi's is José Luis Herrera, who was previously the chef at the Peruvian Embassy.

How do I know all this, you might ask?  I know this because the chef did a demonstration at the Folklife Festival on Sunday.  Very pretty food!  The translator must not be from this area because she had great difficulty recalling the name of the town where the restaurant is located.  So, I started digging around and found that it's at the location of the former Taste Mezze/Gastropub.

Given that the chef was trying to gain some visibility for his restaurant by doing the demo (the quinoa/avocado/crab dishes looked particularly interesting) and the information about it was not really getting across too well, I figured I'd write this as a public service.  The food was demonstration only.  We weren't allowed to sample it   .

[ALB]

Thanks for that great info Pat! I'll share with the family. Shame you weren't able to taste the food.. you'll have to make a trip to the metropolis of Olney

[Pat]

Thanks for that great info Pat! I'll share with the family. Shame you weren't able to taste the food.. you'll have to make a trip to the metropolis of Olney

It was quite tantalizing.  There we were watching all this food be made and we couldn't even taste it!

(For anyone wondering, my original post was from early July.)