Latin American cuisine in Falls Church, Virginia

Causa Rellena

In my experience, the most reliable predictor of the authenticity and quality of a restaurant's ethnic food is the presence of a community of the relevant ethnic population in the surrounding area. Two local establishments offering Latin American cuisine which meet this criteria are Kampo and La Caraqueña Latin American Cuisine. 

Reina Pepeada

Kampo
5884 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041

While the overall quality of the dining experience at the  two restaurants I reviewed were similar, I thought Kampo scored higher with respect to authenticity. Kampo offers traditional Peruvian cuisine as well as Peruvian Chinese. We tried the Causa Rellena, a dish comprised of mashed potato and mayonnaise stuffed with tuna served with a sauce on the side. While I was unfamiliar with this simple, cold appetizer before visiting Kampo, its simple but strong flavors has made it a candidate for the title of my favorite comfort food. They also offered ceviche, which I thought was very close to what I tried in Peru. 

Seafood ceviche

La Caraqueña

300 W. Broad Street, Falls Church, VA 22046

La Caraqueña, was a slightly more upscale establishment than Kampo. The ambience was also, in my opinion, less authentic but offered Latin comfort good of similar quality. Along similar lines of Causa Rellena, we ordered the Reina pepeada, a chicken salad blended with avocado and mayonnaise and filled in a grilled cornbread. I had this dish with some habanero sauce on the side. For our entrees, we tried their tilapia with a lemon caper sauce served with steamed veggies and mashed potatoes, El Sabraso, a chicken breast sandwich with cheese and slices of avocado, and Pollo la caraquena, baked chicken with baked beans and white rice. Overall, we were quite satisfied with all the dishes, the flavors and textures of which are more likely to appeal to American palates than the more authentic fare at Kampo.