Kausa
We had won another theater tickets for this Sunday, so we looked for a place nearby. My partner desired Peruvian food again, specifically lomo saltado. The best lomo saltado place we’ve ever had was actually Mario’s in Los Angeles, and we’ve been struggling to find a comparable place, especially in New York City. We walked in on a late Sunday afternoon without issues, and we were seated promptly. Looking over the menu, they had your typical Peruvian options.
Ambiance & Service
The ambiance reminded me a lot of Latin American Queens restaurants. They had a soccer game on the TV, and there were definitely a lot of Spanish-speaking customers going in and out. The decor was pretty straight forward with some Peruvian banners and posters.
The service was extremely fast. When we placed our orders, the food and drinks came out within 5-10 minutes. So it’s a great spot for a quick turnover when you have a theater reservation and you’re running late.
Food
The half pitcher of Chicha Morada ($9) was a great deal. It was a bit too sweet at first, but once you let the ice melt more, the flavors were great. This was definitely enough portion for 2 people, even though I drank most of it.
The Lomo Saltado ($29) came with sauteed filet mignon strips with sliced onions, tomatoes, and soy sauce. It was served with French fries and white rice. The flavors of this were of typical lomo saltados in the east coast. It had an abundant amount of cumin seasoning, and the soy sauce flavors were on the muted side. The filet mignon strips were probably the more disappointing part of this dish. They were cooked a bit too much, so it wasn’t as tender. In addition since the flavors of the sauce were not as bold, you just don’t get enough of the soy sauce, onion, and tomato flavors.
The Tallarin Saltado Chicken ($24) came with Peruvian style fettuccine sauteed with tomatoes, onions, and soy sauce. Like the lomo saltado, this is very similar in flavors except they exclude the fries, replace chicken for beef, and replace fettuccine for rice. I thought this dish was definitely very similar to most tallarin that I’ve had here in the city, and the sauce was slightly thicker than my partner’s lomo saltado. I ended up pouring the remaining sauce after I finished the noodles into my partner’s plate to season their rice. The chicken seemed like it had slight crispy edges, so it was put in afterwards into the plate.
Final Verdict
The restaurant overall is a no-frills Peruvian restaurant, where the food and drinks are generally decent. The price isn’t too outrageous, and there are a good amount of options to pick from. If you’re looking for a Peruvian restaurant near 50th, this is a decent option.
Yelp Jabs
Kausa was highly rated on google maps so decided to check it out after walking by so many times.
What was amusing about this Elitist review was that they used Google instead of Yelp but posted their review on Yelp. What I generally find a bit off with Google reviews in NYC is that they tend to be a more lenient when they rate. I don’t really trust Yelp reviews either, but Google seems to have a built-in 1 to 2 star padding to their reviews. Definitely read through the reviews to get a general idea of what people think, then use your best judgement while including the pictures into your focus.
Food in the theater district is hard - usually it isn’t so great! But this one actually served decent Peruvian food!
This Elitist just doesn’t know where to look or hasn’t looked enough. The Theater District has many options at many price points. Just take a look at this blog for more options as well as surrounding Midtown restaurants.
Revisions
- Feb 16, 2025 - Initial revision.