Amazing Peruvian chicken at D’Candela

When we think of Peruvian food, we usually make the beeline for the ceviche, one of Matt’s favorite dishes OF ALL TIME. However, another thing Peru does really well is awesome, crispy, juicy rotisserie chicken. And sometimes you are not feeling fish, you are feeling chicken! So where to indulge this craving? One stop that came highly recommended, specifically for chicken, was D’Candela (4053 N Kedzie Ave. Chicago IL), part of a boom in Latin American chicken restaurants in Chicago. D’Candela does have a lot of other Peruvian dishes on its menu, including ceviche as an entree (but not an appetizer), and other classic dishes we love like papas a la huancaina and arroz chaufa. But this review is entirely for the chicken. You can order pretty much any size that suits your fancy from a whole, half or quarter chicken – and you can choose between the white or dark for the quarters. The prices are pretty reasonable too ($16.95 for a whole chicken with 2 sides, and a quarter chicken and 2 sides for only $6.85)! Many people were getting their chicken to go, but D’Candela is a BYOB, so why not stay a while?

We got two orders of quarter chicken, one light and one dark meat. You also get to pick two sides ( sides =  French Fries, House Salad, Fried Sweet Plantains, Yucca, Rice, Pinto Beans) – so we went with the fried yuca and plantains for the complete meat ‘n’ potatoes experience. The chicken came with yellow aji sauce for dipping, which was excellent, particularly for the yuca. The chicken had a nice crispy exterior, but the meat was moist and juicy. Even the white meat was completely succulent. No grease, either. This was some tasty chicken, and there is definitely no need to make it home when you can get it here. We think we will be fulfilling all of our future chicken cravings at D’Candela. Washed down with a cold chica morada (purple corn drink), we can’t think of a much better dinner!