I’m a fan of José Andrés, and have consistently enjoyed exciting and unique fare at all of his restaurants. I remember when I first went to Oyamel (Mexican) and Jaleo (Spanish) and was so impressed with the quality of the fare, and then Zaytinya (Mediterranean), where I was blown away by the creativity and execution. Andrés continues to up his game, as evidenced by China Poblano in Las Vegas(Mexican and Chinese) and now China Chilcano (Peruvian, Chinese and Japanese).

China Chilcano is new enough on the scene that we were not able to land dinner reservations, but many of the same dishes offered in the evening are available during lunch. And what a cheery place to start the day! The decor is eye-popping and the sun streamed in the windows, necessitating the donning of sunglasses.

This is definitely the kind of place to go with a group that likes to share. Four of us ordered ten or so dishes and passed them around the table for all to enjoy.

The breadth of the menu was a bit overwhelming, but our server did a great job of walking us through it and offering suggestions as to how to maximize our dining experience.  Accordingly, we ordered at least one dish from each of the various sections so we could enjoy all of the different cooking techniques employed in the kitchen.

Here’s a visual rundown of what we ate:

California: Potato causa, jumbo lump crab, tobiko, spicy mayo, cucumber, avocado, huancaína sauce

Sánguche de Chancho Nipón Fried pork belly (Heritage Farm, Silver Spring, NC), fried lotus steam bun, pickled daikon, sweet potato, miso, ají limo, hoisin sauce

Tam Tam Hand-cut wheat noodle, spicy pork, peanut, ají panca

HaKao Steamed glass dumpling, shrimp, pork, soy sauce-rocoto

Peruvian street barbecue Chicken thigh, potato

Aeropuerto Fried rice, egg noodle, crisp sweet potato, 20 vegetables, soy sprout, “airplanes

Concolón Crispy fried rice pot, pork belly (Heritage Farm, Silver Spring, NC), Nikkei broth, pickled turnip, egg, lap chong sausage, shiitake mushroom, bok choy, chi-racha

Every bite was a revelation. When  the parade of plates had stopped, we seriously contemplated ordering more, not because we were still hungry; we certainly were not, but rather because we wanted to keep exploring the offerings. We will definitely be back.