Papa San
Papa San was on my list for a while, especially from the folks that did Llama Inn. It’s an izakaya (think of Japanese tapas), made with a Peruano-Japanese influence. It’s an interesting blend of cuisines, and it’s not uncommon. In Peru, they do have a lot of Asian influences, such as lomo saltado, where they use soy sauce in the dish. We made a reservation for 2 for 5:00 PM on a Sunday evening very easily. This is located very close to Hudson Yards.
From their website:
Welcome to our Nikkei izakaya: where Peruvian flavors meet Japanese traditions for a fusion you didn’t know you needed but now can’t live without. And as for the cocktails? Well, those come courtesy of the 3 Monos, with a Latin American twist that’s just as it should be—bold, vibrant, and a little bit wild.
Ambiance & Service
The interior has an upper bar section and a street level dining table area. We opted to sit in the street level dining area, where it’s a great spot to people watch as they come and go to Hudson Yards.
When we arrived, the music was playing latin music, but an hour later, they changed to modern hip hop. It wasn’t loud, so conversations were doable especially in small parties.
The service was very speedy, and the server made some good recommendations and kept us from over-ordering.
Food
The Sunrise on Saturn ($18 - right) came with Grey Goose vodka, 1615 Acholado Pisco, Hazelnut, Passionfruit, and Lemon. My partner really enjoyed this.
The Chicha Morada ($15 - left) came with purple corn, pineapple, apple, and cinnamon. This was similar to a lot of other chicha morada drinks out there, but it felt it was fresh and crisp.
The Blue Crab Maki ($24) came with togarashi (Japanese spice blend) and tartar sauce. This tasted similar to a lot of those fusion sushi rolls. It was really tasty, though I wished there was more blue crab.
The Tuna Tataki ($32) came with a green citrus sauce made with fava bean and served with a side of daikon. The tuna was seared on the outside and sliced cleanly. This was really good and fresh.
The Chicken Experience for 2 ($65) came with several dishes which I’ll talk about below.
It first started off with Crispy Chicken skins with fried Peruvian large corn kernels. This was served with a citrus dip. The chicken skins were very good.
Then, it came with the Chicken Skewers, which included clockwise starting at 12:00:
- Chicken Hearts
- Chicken Sausage with aji amarillo
- Chicken Thighs
- Chicken Wings
These were all very good. They all had the flavors of the charcoal, and they were all very tender and juicy.
They served Tsukemono, which was Japanese pickles brined with a salt, vinegar, and soy sauce concoction.
There was Coleslaw with chicken mayo, which had crunchy cabbage with a white, wet mayo dressing.
They provided Baby Gem lettuce, which was dressed with a slight citrus vinaigrette. The server suggested that you could wrap some of the skewer meat in the lettuce if you wanted.
Lastly in the chicken experience, this was the Chicken Oyakodon, which was basically a Japanese chicken and egg rice bowl.
On the way to dessert, they provided raw, fresh orange-colored Gooseberries. I’ve never really had this before, and I found it was an interesting restaurant choice to provide this. The gooseberry tasted similar to a mix of grape and apple, so it was both sweet and tart in flavor but not as robust.
The Chicha Morada Kakigori ($14) was a pseudo-rice pudding with shaved ice and chicha morada syrup. There was also some pie crust like textures in it. This was perfect for a hot summer day. The flavors were all really good like eating a berry pie. The only caveat was the shaved ice wasn’t nearly as fluffy as Hawaiian shaved ice.
Overall Impression
Papa San had really good flavors for a Peruvian Izakaya type cuisine. Although the price is on the higher side, we would consider coming again with friends to try more things.
Yelp Jabs
the chica morada rice pudding is horrendous. Doesn’t taste like chica morada, mostly just shaved ice that doesn’t have flavor, so little rice, and the texture of the rice pudding is completely off it was super chunky
When we tried this, it was definitely more bland starting off. However over time as the shaved ice melted more, the flavors and textures felt more harmoniously together. It definitely was not a very forward dessert as you would hope.
Eel pizza was good. I liked how the bonito flakes imparted a smokey flavour to the pizza. Eel pieces were pretty sparse and again bc it was so sparse I could barely make out the taste of that ingredient and most of the flavour was overwhelmingly from the sauce.
Unfortunately I didn’t try this because it had creamed mushroom sauce. Outside of that, it did sound interesting, and I’m sure mushroom and eel lovers would enjoy this.
Revisions
- Jul 27, 2025 - Initial revision.