Dining review: Cono Sur adds Peruvian food to Mills River
It might not surprise you to hear that Asheville has a Peruvian restaurant. But did you know Mills River does? You know that tiny township you drive through on the way to Brevard?
It's the same Mills River that’s home to Sierra Nevada’s East Coast camp, Bold Rock’s outpost, Mills River Brewery and Burning Blush Brewery. There’s a lot to drink in Mills River, but not a lot to eat. Enter Cono Sur, sandwiched between a gas station and dairy bar in a small strip mall.
The inside is pretty simple. A chalkboard menu lines the wall, though you'll likely be greeted at the door by someone, handed menus and shown a stack of binders with pictures of each and every dish. Once you have your order together, you'll place it at the counter and head back to a table.
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Service was friendly and attentive throughout the dining experience and the staff seemed ready to explain any dishes or make suggestions. There is a bit of an awkwardness to grabbing the menu, picking up a binder, sitting at a table to concoct your order and then going back up to the counter. Presumably, as you become more familiar with the menu, the awkwardness subsides — just prepare yourself for a process the first time around.
Latin fusion, plus cheeseburgers
According to Cono Sur's website, the cuisine served here is Latin fusion. The owners are Peruvian and Chilean and, while those cuisines dictate most of the menu, there are also items like cheeseburgers and pizza.
Starters include basic salads, a couple of soups and an appetizer or two, including empanadas and rotisserie chicken tacos. We jumped right into the entrees. Burgers aside, the sandwiches had ingredients to make a sandwich lover swoon: slow cooked Peruvian pork, Chilean beef, slow roasted pork, chorizo and fried eggs. You get the picture (and the swooning).
Video:Latin flavor at Conosur
My daughter’s entrée of choice was pollo a la brasa, a dish synonymous with Peruvian cuisine. It’s essentially rotisserie chicken, but so much more. It’s just one of the many dishes highlighting the Asian influence on Peruvian food. Soy sauce acts as the brine for the bird, and spices like cumin, paprika and garlic lend flavor. The result at Cono Sur is juicy chicken with deeply brown, satisfyingly crisp skin, qualities that draw you back in bite after bite.
You can order pollo a la brasa whole, half or, as we did, by the quarter. Cono Sur has a huge rotisserie oven, and it makes a mean bird.
A bit about the daily specials
Every day at Cono Sur has a set daily special, meaning if you really like the arroz con pollo, you can find it every Tuesday. Thursday, the day we visited, is picadillo day. Picadillo is a dish that often times gets attributed to Cuba or Mexico, but you’ll find variations all around South America and even into Asia around the Philippines.
This Mills River version stays pretty traditional, served with a side of rice, with the ground beef mixture surrounding it. The flavor of cumin pervaded, combined with the piquancy from tomatoes, a sweetness from raisins and acidity from the bright pink pickled onions scattered over the top. The addition of green olives showed some Spanish roots.
Patacones, or twice fried plantains, were served on the side. You’ve got to use green plantains for this application, or the flavor and consistency will be off. The flavor was fine here, but the second fry went a little too long and dried the plantains out slightly. Despite that, this would be a plate I’d order again every Thursday.
There were so many dishes that looked great, including arroz chaufa, ropa vieja, lomo saltado or chorrillana. I was quickly pointed toward lomo saltado by one of the owners, and I wasn’t going to argue. The dish, which hails from Peru, is made with stir-fried thin slices of beef, onion, peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes. Red wine vinegar, soy sauce and aji amarillo paste combined to make a rich sauce without much chili heat but incredible flavor.
Crisp-fried patatas fritas (Peru has nearly 4,000 native potato varieties) sturdily held up to the lomo saltado, and a side of rice proved helpful to soak up the remaining sauce, something I’d recommend you do.
This food could be fancied up, served in a trendy restaurant space and doubled in price. But instead, it’s served, as it was meant, with love in a casual, family atmosphere. But it also provides a cuisine not represented at every corner in Asheville. You won’t find Peruvian cuy (guinea pig) on the menu at Cono Sur but you will find plenty of dishes worth trying. Just leave time to flip through the binder.
Matthew DeRobertis is a chef, writer and father to a kid who loves food more than her dog. Contact him at matt@chefdero.com.
IF YOU GO
The restaurant: Cono Sur, 828-513-1731, conosurasheville.com, 4195 Haywood Road.
Hours: Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-2:20 p.m. and 5-8 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Sunday noon-7 p.m.
Atmosphere: Casual.
What to try: The pollo a la brasa is sort of a no brainer and I can imagine the leftovers would making great things. I can only imagine; I didn’t have any. But, if you want to take full advantage of the fusion, try the Lomo Saltado, a Peruvian beef dish that uses Asian cooking techniques and ingredients in a simple but satisfying dish.
Beverage notes: Beer, wine, soda.
Prices: $4-19
Service: Welcoming.
Health Department score: 97.5
The bottom line: Just a short drive outside Asheville, stuck in a tiny strip mall, you’ll find great Latin American cuisine. It’s casual, relatively quick and it even offers beer and wine. More importantly you’ll find authentic dishes from Peru, Chile and elsewhere all done well. There are lots of breweries in Mills River with little original food to soak up the alcohol. Cono Sur is a much-needed addition.