By Ava Stryker-Robbins
Pollo a la Brasa is a wildly popular Peruvian dish first created in the 1950s by Roger Schuler, a Swiss immigrant to Peru. It is so well loved that on the third Sunday of July, Peruvians have a holiday to celebrate it.
Flor de Mayo’s Pollo a la Brasa is an utterly delicious spice-rubbed meal. It is marinated and then cooked on a rotisserie, giving it its moist texture and delicious flavor. The skin is slightly crispy while the meat is tender and cooked to perfection. It is served with a vinegar-like sauce on the side that has a strong kick but brings a sharper edge to the uniform taste of the chicken. This dish can come with plantains which are served warm and are incredibly sweet and fresh. The consistency is similar to that of a banana, but the flavor is much more developed and delicious.
Flor de Mayo is a Peruvian and Chinese restaurant on the Upper West Side. It has multiple locations and has a cozy and comfortable feel. According to its website, Flor de Mayo was started in 1977 by Chinese immigrants from Peru. They used their knowledge of Peruvian cuisine and Chinese cooking techniques to develop a restaurant that has been a longtime neighborhood favorite.
The Pollo a la Brasa dish can be purchased as a full chicken, a half chicken, a half chicken with rice, plantains, or fries, or a half chicken with mixed fried rice. A half chicken with plantains costs $14..50
The Dish: Pollo a la Brasa
The Restaurant: Flor de Mayo (2651 Broadway between 100th and 101st Streets, 484 Amsterdam between 83rd and 84th Streets).
Read all our Here’s the Dish columns here.
You can also get their green rice as a side. It is amazing!
I’ve often said that I were about to be executed and asked what I wanted for my last meal, it would be Flor de Mayo’s Pollo a la Brasa with red beans, yellow rice and fried plantains. Truly to die for!
Agreed! And the yellow rice is de rigeur. Although it’d be a tough choice between that and V&T’s eggplant parmigiana…. Followed by a couple of cookies at the Hungarian Pastry shop, of course!
Absolutely the best!
What a joy to read a restaurant review that is 100% accurate!
I go to Flor de Mayo about twice a month. Always order the half chicken and sweet bananas, which are never anything but delicious. And the people that work there are very courteous. (Que mas? During the summer the Amsterdam branch took 10% off the bill if you paid in cash.)
The only rival to Caridad.
And now that Caridad is no more, Flor De Mayo is the king.
Great choice, Ava! I’m a fan of that dish and of the restaurant. I also love this appetizer that I don’t think is on the menu anymore, papa relleno. It was mashed potatoes stuffed with a picadillo-like filling and then lightly fried. Does anyone remember that, or even know where to get it?