Panca

Great food! I believe this place is getting bad reviews from people expecting to find the old "Pardo's Chicken". But this a different restaurant: Great traditional peruvian food with sparkles of Novoandean style. The 3 dishes that I tried were very well prepared, including wonderful details that I have only found in Lima (ie the pecan touch over the "aji de Gallina" or peruvian Olives, so difficult to find!!). Probably the best Peruvian restaurant in NYC. ( I am not counting Nobu that is Peruvian-Japanese or Japanese- Peruvian) The drinks were very good. Although the Pisco Sour is not the best (this is because the kind of lime they have used), I strongly recomend the "Algarrobina", a northern peruvian Pisco based drink....Heaven!! Enviroment was ok. Plain decoration, open spaces. Few people, but It was heavy raining that day. Service was fast, very friendly but not state of the art. On the other hand, I was overhearing conversations in the other tables...Of course... people missing the chicken. Expect more angry reviews from chicken lovers, but do not underestimate this place . Food rocks!!!

I went to Panca last weekend because I was visiting a friend in NY and was amazed by their food. I had the best cebiche, the jalea was absolutely great, the watermelon mojito, aji de gallina and the causa trio too. I liked it so much that I went Sat and Sun too. Prices are good if you think of the quality of the food. Can't wait to go to NY again!

I just love this place, the food, the atmosphere. Im Dominican and I am a very picky eater, only like Dominican and Italian food. And now that I went to Panca, I like Peruvian food. I would totally recommend it to any body. A nice place to eat dinner after work or even lunch.

I too was very disappointed when Pardo’s closed, but then I saw Panca’s menu: Ceviches. I grew up in Peru and married a Peruvian and my mother-in-law is a fabulous cook, so you might guess I love Peruvian cooking and Panca lives up, in my view, to the best seafood restaurants I’ve been to in Lima. I adore the causa marina in trio. In fact I liked everything we ordered: the tiradito, the choros, the quinotto, and of course the pisco sour. The Lasagna Amazonica dessert is fabulous, as well. Our waiter was friendly and we got a chance to talk to the chef, who even made my daughter a vegetarian causa. It’s my second time and I’ll be back soon.

We've tried Panca numerous times, and we love it! The ceviches and tiraditos are delicious, and the entrees tasty, at affordable prices. Service is friendly, but needs a bit more training on the dishes. Overall, Panca is by far the best Peruvian restaurant in NYC.

I was in love with peruvian chicken, being from India, I love the proper use of spices, and to my delight all those ingredients were present in the now defunct Pardo's, I have tried other Peruvian restaurants before, and this new attempt falls short to deliver, latin food equals abundance, and usually at any Latin restaurant you would find this, except here, and some of the dishes lack that rich Peruvian flavor, my only favorite was the cuasa, but the portion too small, less than any appetizers, I guess good idea in the wrong direction.

I was born in Peru but have been living in NYC for 3 years now and I have to say Panca was a big disappointment. I am a tough critic since in Peru, I had a catering business and my sister and I cooked for many of the embassies and consulates in Lima. I cannot agree with the above posts that say the food was great because the dishes were almost average at best. I don't know if the chef is Peruvian or not, if he is, then maybe his palate has been tainted by being in the U.S. Granted, I understand that the owner is trying to be gourmet given the prices he's charging but that does not mean that you should abandon the root taste of the dish. Judging from my remarks, some may brand me a foodie or snob but some of the best Peruvian food I have enjoyed in the tri-state area are in small restaurants outside of Manhattan, The few Peruvian restaurants that do exist in the city are all trying to make money by taking advantage of customers that do not know what the true taste should be and therefore pass off dishes with a "nice" presentation and high prices but have nothing to do with what the authentic dish.