Bite Club: El Chullo brings Peruvian fare to the Melrose District

• Its original location is at 7th Street and Virginia Avenue.

Best bites: The owners planned to use their larger second restaurant to expand the menu, but I was tempted by an old standby on special that day — seco a la norteña, a beef stew with beans, rice, peas, carrots and raw, sliced onions.

• The stew was full of savory and delicious flavor. The beef was tender, and the chicha morada was sweet and refreshing.
• I opted against a lunchtime pisco sour, and washed down my meal with a chicha morada, a nonalcoholic drink made from purple corn, pineapple, cloves, cinnamon, lime juice and sugar.

Yes, but: I'm eager to go back and try the pulpo a la parilla — marinated octopus tentacle.

State of play: I've loved Peruvian food since my first trip to El Chullo many years ago, and that was only intensified during a trip to Peru in 2015.

• I'm still trying to find a restaurant that serves the kind of stuffed pepper that I had in Cusco.