With movie award season in full swing, I’ve decided to join the fun and create a blog award for the best meal consumed in the last calendar year. To be honest, there are two places that I consider as best from last year, but pictures for one of the places just came out beautifully. So, for the reason of food pr0n, the winner for best restaurant in a leading role goes to the Peruvian restaurant Andina in Portland.
![](http://ifbth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/andina4-1024x683.jpg)
The meal started with some tapas, the first being the tres salsas con pan which are three salsas made from jalapenos, passionfruit, and peanut and a potato-quinoa bread. A nice start, I was hoping that the jalapenos would have a little kick after it was referred to as spicy, but it was unfortunately pretty tame. Thinking about it, spice tolerance in the city may not be the highest as I was underwhelmed by something deemed “spicy” on more than one occasion.
![](http://ifbth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/andina2-1024x683.jpg)
The next tapa was a pair of carne empanadas. The slow-cooked beef, raisins, egg, and olives inside were very moist and flavorful, the savory going with a touch of sweet. The salsa criolla provided a nice acidic contrast.
![](http://ifbth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/andina3-1024x683.jpg)
The last of the tapas was the best of them all. The anticuchos de pulpo is a grilled octopus served over caper mashed potatoes with a chimichurri sauce. The octopus was moist, not overly seasoned and perfectly cooked from end to end with a good char. The textures and flavors of the peppers, potatoes, and sauce combined and contrasted perfectly making the dish a true winner. I could probably eat a couple plates of these all by myself.
![](http://ifbth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/andina1-1024x683.jpg)
Finished the meal with the entree seco de res. A slow cooked short rib cooked in a cilantro and beer sauce, with stewed frijoles, garlic rice and a little more of their salsa criolla. The servers were wonderful, the food came quickly and altogether it was an award-winning meal. It will definitely be a place to go back to the next time I hit Portland.