Tanta

Tanta is delicious! I’ve been here twice (both times for Restaurant Week) and the food is always fantastic! My fiancé and I went to Peru last year, where my Peruvian friend took us to all the best local food spots, and Tanta’s food definitely lives up to that! That same Peruvian friend has been to Tanta with me, and she also agrees that Tanta is probably the best Peruvian place in the city (along with Machu Picchu the restaurant). We will definitely keep coming back here whenever we want to remind ourselves of our trip and the wonderful tastes of Peru.

Tanta… oh Tanta!!!
Been here 3 times. Hands down my favourite place to dine in the city! Their drinks are pretty amazing also.
My most recent dining experience at Tanta was after I vacationed in Peru and dined at Tanta in Peru. Honestly, Chicago Tanta takes the cake (compared to Peru). Everything about Chicago Tanta is real and authentic and delicious and tasty and amazing and everything… it is just everything! Just a little background — Peruvian food is a mix of South American cuisine and Japanese. You will see Japanese influences in all of their dishes.
Drinks: Pisco Sour and Pisco Punch. Punch is a less sour version of the sour. These 2 drinks are very authentically Peruvian.
There are a few items that we order every time we dine.
Tiraditos — Cremoso: do yourself a favour and order this amazingness!
Anticuchos — Pulpo: do yourself another favour and order this amazingness!
Cebiches — Tasting: we always do the tasting. In the tasting, our favourite is clasico and nikei.
Del Chifa — Chaufa Aeropuerto: pork fried rice. so delicious. They can make it without pork as well!
From the Earth — Pastel de Choclo: so yummy
Chefs Having Fun — Estofado de Cordero: braised lamb hind. So, this dish was revolutionary for my husband’s palate and lamb. Before this dish he was not a fan of lamb whatsoever. After this dish, his tastebuds definitely woke up.
Dessert– Mousse de Chocolate Fortunato: OMG! Do not miss this sweet!
I’m sure you see a theme here — YUMMY, DELICIOUS, FLAVOURFUL, AMAZING!
Tanta will definitely not leave you disappointed. But it will definitely leave you wanting to come back and try other items that you couldn’t try this time.

Excellent value, quality and portion for 2016 Restaurant Week Dinner ($ 44). Sauce adds pizazz to meals.
CEBICHE MIXTO — slightly spicy, about 3 – 4 shrimps, quality mahi mahi. G recommends dipping the free roasted corn into the sauce.
LOMO SALTADO — same portion as regular menu that retails for $ 30+. Lomo temp defaults to medium to medium well. Addictive.
CHICHERITO — a much appreciated unique dessert. I love meringue and it was so fluffy, delicate. The mazamorra morada bits adds texture and pizzazz into the delicious dessert experience. Addictive.
* * *
DRINKS — Pisco Sour is popular here with the Chili Red Pepper Ice Ball. MOSTO VERDE SOUR was smooth, tarty with an endearing egg white art.
SERVICE — G (aka Gerrardo) wants you to enjoy the dishes one course at a time, no matter how crazy busy they are. 5-​star fine dining service in a casual atmosphere.
FREE ROASTED CORN — comes with bar drinks. An excellent alternative to peanuts. Related to popcorn.
BUDGET-​Friendly – (1) For dinner, entrees are prepared as a meal as it has potatoes, veggies etc, OR, share an entrée with a side dish; (2) Brunch is the limited version of dinner that is cheaper with an egg; (3) special pricing, like Restaurant Week.

Delicious Peruvian style cuisine inspired by #LaMarCebicheria #Lima main venue for chef Gaston Acurio. I had the Restaurant Week menu. Ceviche was flavorful. Peruvian inspired Lomo Saldado. My husband ordered Polo a la brasa. This was a lot of food for half chicken. However tasty food. Liked the bean side dish.
The only critical note is for the noise, very high noise in this Saturday evening at dinner.

Love this place. Location is easy to access. Valet parking. Great atmosphere with 2 levels. Ideal for a nice dinner and drinks with friends.

I came here for dinner with some friends and absolutely loved it! I’ve probably only had Peruvian food once or twice so I don’t have much to compare it to, but everything I tried was so good. It’s actually kind of fusion-​y with a lot of Japanese inspired dishes which makes it even better.
One of the people we went with had been here before so she ordered everything for the table. They start you off with plantain chips and polleria sauce, which were really good considering I’m not even a big fan of plantains. We ordered several of the dishes so I’m just going to highlight my favorites: the Nikei, which was made with really fresh ahi tuna, the Pulpo, the Causitas tasting, and of course the Chaufa Aeropuerto which was a delicious fried rice dish. I highly recommend coming with a bigger group so you have an excuse to order several things off of the menu to share!
Overall it had great vibes, great food, and I’d come back again next time I’m in Chicago without a doubt.

I’ve been super excited to try Tanta, but it was a huge over hyped let down.
The décor was a bit off, not a fan of the chalk board bar, generally boring motif. I was a fan of the very big two top tables that provided lots of room. Another cool touch was the warm linen napkin that was at my table. Not sure if it was the napkin or the plate, but it was a nice touch.
The alcohol program is an utter joke and they need to bring someone in. The beer was lowest common denominator crap without anything remotely good to drink. I had an old stale Lagunitas ipa that was so malty I couldn’t drink it. The wines were amateur. The cocktails were basically 12 versions of a pisco sour. So uninspiring its laughable. Too finish it off, they have those terrible no stem wine glasses. Total fail across the board.
The food menu was another nightmare. It was if there were 30 dishes with all the exact same ingredients, except a slight variation. No creativity at all.
The plantains to start were nicely cooked with a big crisp and not greasey as most are. However, they weren’t seasoned at all. The couple chips that I found with salt were nice.
The tiradito ahi tuna nikei was a nightmare. The marinade was quite nice with huge asian influences. However, the fish was so cold it was inedible. It was just down right strange and on the border of almost being frozen.
The shrimp and scallop causito was also a mess. It was inexplicably spicy and the scallop’s texture was utter garbage.
The pulpo was a decent bite but this is where a touch of spice would have been welcome.
For my entrée I had the pescado frito, which was basically sweet and sour fried fish, which neither the menu or server explained it to be. I liked the dish and was a redeeming item on a bad meal. However, it was derivative of a better dish of sweet and sour whole catfish from Red Light, 5 years ago.
It was extremely loud in the restaurant. This mixed with very think accents on almost every server and buser, I had literally had no clue what any employee was saying all night. This was not enjoyable as when an item came, I had no idea what was going on.
Frustrating, boring, and miserable experience. At the least the prices weren’t terrible. Needless to say, I will not be back.

Excellent food and drinks! The Guapa, the chignon, the pisco sour! Delish!
The food was amazing too. My favorite was the whole fried fish and the chaufa rice with egg on top!!!

Mixed feelings about this place. Service was quite good. Food was good too, but I wouldn’t say that it was spectacular by any means compared to other Latin-​inspired cuisine. The menu was a bit overwhelming and I, along with some of my dinner companions, were a bit confused with all that they had to offer. Needless to say, we all took awhile before we could figure out what we wanted. We were informed by our waitress that the top half of the menu were smaller tapas style proportions while the bottom half tended to be more entrée-​sized. I ordered the carne de res empanada and the carne anticucho. The empanada was good, but I’ve definitely had better ones elsewhere (i.e. Tango Sur). The anticucho was pretty good… quite flavorful and tender. I tried some of the other dishes that my friends ordered which included the chaufa aeropuerto. The flavor was okay in my opinion, but that may just be because it didn’t suit my palette. I also had the yuquitas (wasn’t a huge fan of the texture — felt that they were overly mushy), the arroz criollo, and the salmon. All were good, but nothing to rave about. My friend who ordered the salmon dish wasn’t too much of a fan of the other ingredients that came with the fish. While everything was decent, I would say it was over-​priced for the quality (and some of them — quantity) of what we received in return.

Quite possibly the BEST Peruvian food I’ve had outside of Peru. As one of chef Gaston Acurio’s global chain of restaurants, Tanta lives up to its reputation for excellence and consistency.
Start your meal with Causita Anticuchera and Ceviche Criollo. The causita comes with octopus cooked to perfection, while the ceviche will hit you with the fresh flavor of its fish.
To drink, do yourself a favor and get a Pisco Sour. This is Peru’s national drink and it’s meant to feel you in the shores of Lima’s Pacific Ocean waves. The Pisco sour at Tanta is simply A+
For my entrée, I had the most-​talked about item in the menu: Arroz Chaufa al Aeropuerto. It’s one of the most delicious combinations of rice with seafood I’ve had in my life! If you like Paella, you will LOVE this dish!
Finally, I really appreciate that Tanta goes out of their way to make your meal memorable. I came here for my anniversary with my fiancé and they brought us a delicious dessert «Suspiro Limeño com Tres Leches.»
Can’t recommend this place enough!

I have never had Peruvian food before, although my sister swears by it. I came here with my sis and bro in law (vegetarian) on a quiet Tuesday night. I have seen this place on «Check Please» and heard from others that its a great new spot. The place was packed, and had a great vibe. Not messing around I ordered a Pisco Sour right away. Though many enjoy those, the egg whites in the drink made it not for me. Our sever did a great job explaining the menu, and how Peruvian cuisine is a mix of tastes from around the world. Everything we started off with was great, and were our favorites: Pobre (wagyu beef sashimi type of deal) both the Tamal (veggie) and Carne Empanadas, and the house plantain chips. The Mixto cebiche was nothing special. The rest of the meal fell short with: Yuquitas (yucca), Veggie Antihuchos, and Lomo saltado. The Saltado dish was pretty much salty pieces of beef with some big French fries on it all over rice (pretty heavy). I was too stuffed for dessert although my sister didn’t seem to fond on her dish. Overall I think I came here with far too high expectations. Tanta is a great place to be, although for me the food fell a little short. The small plates and meat dishes were our favorites, while the vegetarian dishes were disappointing with exception to the empanada. With that being said the atmosphere here is great, and Peruvian cuisine is something that intrigues me, for that I will come back and give this spot another shot.

Tanta, why have I neglected you until now?
So I’m genius this year and around the end of November actually remembered I wanted to dine out on New Years Eve. I still struggled to get something that wasn’t in senior citizen dining territory (why are you all over-​achievers, Chicagoans?) but landed on Tanta for New Years Eve. First of all, I’ve heard amazing things about this place through word of mouth. I actually tend to like these places better above the hyped up restaurants. Secondly, they didn’t have a prefixed menu. I’m super selfish and just want to order what I want without someone telling me what I’ll be having. In the downtown area, this is hard to escape on big holidays. Thank you Tanta, for recognizing this isn’t a cherished thing by all.
So let’s break down the food first. I’m not super familiar with Peruvian food. I’m from good ‘olé country Missouri and we pretty much only have the staples which is BBQ, Fried Chicken and Tex Mex. I will totally own up to my whiteness when ordering last night. I’m not going to go out of my way to pretend that I can pronounce these dishes so I did the classic point and order. Our waiter was so patient and explained the ingredients I didn’t know. He also pointed us to his favorites. The service in general here was above standard on a chaotic holiday. Everyone was kind but prompt and you could tell they appreciated the food they were serving. I love places like this.
I had the El Piscoliero which had a strong taste of passion fruit with a frothy top. I liked it so much that I just kept ordering that same drink which is not my style at all. My date had the El Chingon, which had a giant ball of pink ice in the middle (really cool). I tried it and while delicious, it was way too spicy for me.
We started with the Pollo empanada because why not? This was actually one of my favorites of the evening even though it’s more of a side type thing. We also had a side of yuca croquettes that came in a spicy cream sauce. Oh yeah, free plantain chips too!
The star of the evening was Chaufa Aeropeurto, the pork fried rice. I’m not going to hide the fact that I’m not only very white but also a giant food nerd. So yes, I read menus before I go to restaurants. And yes, I also read Unilocal reviews before I go too. I had already decided I wanted this dish because of how much it was praised by fellow Unilocalers. I was not disappointed.
In all appearances, the Chaufa Aeroperuto looks just like fried rice but that description doesn’t do it justice. The pork hidden within the dish could have been a delicious appetizer on its own. The rice was chalked full of delicious sautéed vegetables and the flavor is unlike anything I can describe. I tried to eat slowly to figure out all of the spices I was tasting but I just couldn’t. Also, the rice that cooked longer along the edges of the sizzling pan made the dish even better as we kept eating. Ugh. Who makes food that gets better as you eat it?
We were really full because the portions here are not small. We did finish with the sweet potato fritters with maple glaze. Sadly, I couldn’t finish them all because I stuffed my face with rice.
By the time we were exiting, the restaurant had become doucheville. This is probably just because of the holiday and loads of people stuffing themselves before bars. So I happily paid the very reasonably priced check, packed up my belongings with my date and headed toward home to change into PJs before 10pm. No shame.
Here’s to another amazing year of food. We started off 2016 with a good one.

This is the best Peruvian food I had outside of Peru.
I loved that the menu is creative and every dish was completely different from what I was expecting.
We ordered the Tanta ceviche, octopus anticuchos, causita rellena and arroz con mariscos aeropuerto and for dessert I had the mazamorra.
Every dish had a twist from its traditional taste and presentation. Honestly I was super impressed by the delivery of every damn dish that came to the table.
Tanta made me proud of our Peruvian cuisine and I was happy to share it with my dinner companion who was trying it for the first time.
I wish there was a Tanta in Toronto so I could share the experience with more people.
Gaston when are you coming to Canada?

Went here for a birthday dinner earlier this week. The drinks are great, I tried the Pisco punch and a Pisco sour. The Pisco sour egg was a bit more foamy than previous Pisco sours I have had, but good aside from that.
For food the best thing we tried was the octopus. Perfectly cooked so it was not too chewy.
We tried the traditional ceviche and it was just okay. If you were going to skip something, it should be the ceviche.
We ended with the whole fried fish and it was amazing. The sauce had a similar flavor to an orange chicken and it was lightly battered so it didn’t feel too greasy.
The waiter was friendly and knowledgable, more than happy to explain just about every dish on the menu. We made a reservation and our table was ready as soon as we arrived.
Recommend for a group, but a bit noisy.

I am always recommending this place whenever people go to Chicago. I know when I’m in town, this is where I go for an exceptional meal with food I can’t find anywhere else.
If you love Peruvian food like me, you will find yourself in pure bliss! The food is so flavorful and the variety of authentic dishes here makes me feel like I’m in Peru. The ceviches are the best way to start. The fresh fish and tart flavors of the marinade get your tastebuds ready for the main entrees. I like going with groups because you can order a variety of dishes and share it, family style.
Do you want to try something new? A place in Chicago to get a memorable meal? I know you won’t find anything else like it in this city. Which is a bold statement for a city that is a destination for foodies!

Really great dinner spot with awesome service! We shared four of the small plates and a dessert between two people, it was the perfect amount of food.
I’ve never had Peruvian before, so we relied on the waiter’s recommendations to craft our order. Our waiter was very, very helpful in explaining dishes we may like, didn’t order one that we weren’t happy with. My favorite was the cremoso tiraditos, the fish of the day was salmon, so I had to try it. Fantastic dish, really enjoyed it!
Overall, the food and drinks were great. Service was on point! I’ll definitely be back!

From start to finish, Tanta knocked my socks off. (Probably because I was practically stuffing them with the extra food that didn’t fit into my stomach. Waste not, want not, right?)
Tanta explores the large Japanese influence on Peruvian cuisine, and even for three well-​trained menu readers, this menu was a challenge to navigate. Luckily the servers jumped at the opportunity to describe each section of the menu in drool-​worthy detail and provide food-​pairing recommendations to ensure that we sampled a little bit of everything.
The stand outs for me were the carne anticuchos (streetfood-​like skewers), the nikei cebiche (ahi tuna, avocado, cucumber) and the chaufa aeropuerto (pork fried rice, shrimp tortilla). But more than one dish in particular, it was truly how the dishes all worked together that made the meal so incredibly delicious. The service was on point and just as we were finishing the last bit of one dish, the next dish would arrive as if on cue. The only stall in service was at the very end of the meal when instead of paying we (okay, I) had a change of heart and decided yes on dessert. But it was more than made up for with dessert and coffee on the house.
Final tip: get there early and make reservations. What everyone says it true: we had to weave through a hoard of people hangrily waiting on our table while trying to exit.

In 6 words: I wanted to like it more.
Service was lackluster. Our waiter seemed to be a newbie. I don’t know whether that’s true or not, but if someone asks how the menu’s brunch bellini is/​to describe it, «it’s like your standard bellini» isn’t very helpful. Maybe I gave him a look because then he was more objectively descriptive of the flavors of the drink. Also, after we finished eating, we asked for boxes, but the waiter took 3 of the 4 plates back to be boxed up. He carried back the 2 half eaten huevos tantas at the same time, but didn’t bother differentiating whose leftovers were whose (and put them all in one bag). Again, not very helpful. Seemed rookie to me.
Food was ok, but nothing to write home about. Soft poached eggs on the huevos tanta were nice and oozy and yolky, but the beef was salty, and the hash browns were borderline too crispy (read: very dry). Chaufa fried rice was comforting with the bits of bean sprout, mushroom, and peppers in it, but nothing spectacular.
I can remove this place from my bookmarks list now!

Tanta has become a favorite of mine in Chicago’s river north area. The empanadas are hands down some of the best I’ve ever had. The cebiches are all rather awesome and you must get the beef heart and octopus skewers. Really, the menu is adventurous and fun, yet has things for the more traditional diner as well.
Downstairs is all reservations and you have to make one a few days in advance even for weekdays. I am sure weekends are even more packed. However, there is an awesome upstairs area that’s first come first serve. Most of it is open air and has an awesome chill vibe.
The only thing that subtracted from the chill vibes was our waitress, whose capability and speed of serving tables can only be compared to a Galapagos turtle as it makes its way through 15 meters of open space on a sunny afternoon.

I’ve been to Tanta a couple of times and have never been disappointed. Their food and drinks are consistently delicious! I went with a group of four and we shared 3 appetizers and 2 main dishes.
I started with the royalty cocktail that my server suggested. I thought it was good, not too sweet and well-​balanced. I tried my friend’s pisco sour that she upgraded and it was so smooth. I might have to order that next time.
Appetizers:
Cebiche: Criollo — chef’s selection fish, scallop, shrimp, smoked-​creamy aji amarillo
The seafood was incredibly fresh.
Anticucho: Pulpo — octopus, chimichurri, crispy garlic, olive sauce
The octopus was perfectly cooked and seasoned well.
Niguiris Nikei: Pobre — skirt steak, quail egg, chalaca, ponzu
Criollo — bay scallops, smoky sesame beef, huacatay cream
Both were good, but I preferred the criollo over the pobre.
Entrees:
Lomo Saltado — traditional beef tenderloin stir-​fry, red onions, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic & soy sauce, served with rustic potatoes and rice
I’ve always enjoyed lomo saltado at other Peruvian restaurants, but this one was probably the best I’ve ever had. The beef was so tender!
Chaufa Aeropuerto — pork fried rice, shrimp tortilla, spicy garlic
This came to our table sizzling hot and after you mix it all together, it is so satisfying.
Dessert:
Duo de Alfajores — vanilla & chocolate shortbread cookies, dulce de leche center, lucuma ice cream
It was a little too sweet for me, but still very delicious.
Our server, Carolina was super friendly. We asked her if we go to the rooftop afterwards and she gladly took us up there.
I highly recommend Tanta for inventive food and delicious craft cocktails.