I’ll start this review off with some disclosure: I mentioned Pisco Latin Lounge in passing back in August and linked to their web site with a warning about the background music. A representative of Picso Lounge got in touch, apologized, and invited me out for food and drinks on the house.

For the record, I actually quite liked the music itself; I just really hate web sites that play music unexpectedly, especially when I happen to have my speakers turned up or am in a public place.

The first thing you’ll notice is how easy the bar is to find. Going inside you’re presented with a long, narrow space with a bar running along the right-hand side. The decor is modern, in mostly black and white. The music was pretty decent but I really didn’t care for the two giant TVs behind the bar. At least they were showing music videos or something and not sports (although they didn’t seem to match the music that was playing).

In keeping with the theme, I started out with a Pisco Sour while Sarai had a Pisco Punch. Both were quite good, especially the Sour, which was made with just the right amount of bitters and with nicely fluffy egg white.

Our second round of drinks were a Caipirinha for Sarai and the El Carajo for myself. The El Carajo was interesting — it’s made with açaí liqueur, St. Germain, and ají pepper.

Being a big fan of tapas, we didn’t skip the food. There weren’t many vegetarian selections — unfortunate, but not really surprising — but we did find a few things to try out. We tried the frituras de yuca, queso fundido, and bolitas de quinoa frita. That last was our favorite but it was all very good. That was all we ordered but our server wouldn’t let us leave without trying the Alfajores, their house-made dulce de leche butter cookies. Yum.

The food and drinks were both great and overall we had a good experience, but the place itself, in terms of the crowd and general ambiance, didn’t really do it for us. It’s a little too “hip”, for lack of a better word, and not really our style. I’d go back if invited by friends but wouldn’t choose it for myself. Don’t let that stop you though — if you’re in the mood for Peruvian tapas and Pisco, definitely check it out.