This was my second visit to Chicha which offers two menus: a classic a la carte menu and a tasting menu of 9 dishes for RMB250.

On both occasions, I went for the tasting menu. First time was good but a bit too repetitive to my taste (ceviche followed by... more ceviche). This time around, the variety of dishes was much better, with ceviche no longer being the star of the menu.

Generally speaking, everything was good, well presented and came in generous portions. There were some definite hits (seafood brochette, beef cheeks, peruvian flan) and few lows (mushroom wontons and ceviche were just ok) but overall for RMB250, I felt it was a pretty good deal.

Besides the quality of the food, I particularly appreciated not having to think what we should order, being surprised by the selection, the pace at which the food was coming out (not too slow, not too quick either with some welcomed breaks) and the efficient service.

Make sure you book in advance and bring cash (the restaurant does not accept cards).

Full review + pictures on http://shanghaicollected.typepad.com

Was there for brunch 2 weeks ago.
At first waiter is not familiar with the product. Brunch supposed come with coffee / tea Plus another drink. Which we as the customer need to tell them we are suppose to get a drink.
And there wasnt a lot of customer on that day, we waited for quite some time for the main course to be served ( after few times of checking).
The most disappointed part was the Cafe Latte, it was badly done, it was more like a hot milk.
Environment of the restaurant is decent but the Music was too loud at a moment.

We were brought to Chicha by a Peruvian friends and were all excited to try out authentic peruvian food. To be honest, the food did live up to our expectations. We enjoyed the Inca Trail, and have nothing to say unless that maybe a bit more variety for the fish dishes would have been nice. Drinks were ok too, nice Chicha Sour cocktail.

One disappointment was the service, many times we had to order drinks and wait for numerous minutes while the place even if it was busy, is not that big and surely not understaffed. But the worst came at the end, they don't accept cards... I can understand that a restaurant who has just opened is not fully ready, but come on, it's been going on for a while (and more than 6 months I guess...), and no answering "things take time in China is not an answer"....

To conclude, there's already a lot of great stuff, but much more potential to this restaurant!

I was really impressed by Chicha, besides not having three of the wines we chose in stock!

I was a little hesitant as I always get with new places, and I find there is nothing worse than a bad meal when you are hungry. I was directed towards the degustation menu as a high recommendation. I was surprised and satisfied, a happy combination. The food was well presented and full of fresh flavours.

My favourites were the sweet potato mash cubes with a crab meat mix, the individual seafood rice dish and the Peruvian noodle and meat dish which was like a spicy stroganoff. The Corona's were cold and I enjoyed the setting and the service.

I would definitely go back and recommend to others needing a little flare in their culinary pallets!

I enjoy Vargas establishments. It was this trust that I tried to make reservations at Chicha at Sinan Mansions. I began calling 5 days before my target date, which was a Thursday night. It was to be a reservation for 6 people, my clients from Walt Disney Corporation here for the opening of the Shanghai Disney Resort. Each day, I would call the published number on their web site and on SMART Shanhgai at least 6 times a day... the automated message was, "The caller you are trying to reach is powered off". After trying one last time, one hour before arriving at Chicha, the same messgae was given.

I decided to arrive at 6pm on a Thursday with my Disney clients anyway. Upon arrival at Chicha, I talked with the Maitre Di, who infomrmed me that they were booked solid. The etnire restaurant had no customers upon our arrival. Zero. But I understand that reservations are reservations and although the place was empty, protocol must be followed. I showed the Maitre Di my 24 calls to his restaurant phone numbers with no answer over 5 days of trying... and he laughed and said, "Well, that is China".

I decided, much against my nature, to drop the Disney name, in order to get seated, eat and be a good customer and leave before the "Booked Solid" customer's could show up at 10pm. I was told, "We are booked solid, you should have called in advance". I said to the Maitre Di that I showed that I treid to call over a period of 5 days... and his comment was again, "Well, that is China".

To add insult to injury, as I was left alone at the reservation podium when the Maitre Di abruptly walked away, a waitress pushed me out of the way physically, without saying anything... she was carrying no food or drinks... in fact, there were no customers... she simply wanted to smoke a cigarette and SMS her friends... so as I pulled myself off the wall, my Disney clients saw my embaressment and quickly began walking towards another establishment. It was if I got run over by a motorcycle on the sidewalk on Wulumuqi Lu.

If I had been arrogant or overbearing in trying to introduce an important client a Vargas establishment, I could see this review being taken with a grain of salt. If I had not tried to make a reservation... I would not ne posting this review into a public web site. But I have been in Shanghai since 1997, seeing places come and go... with Chicha, for all its self promotion... is an absolute failure in customer service and will be gone sooner rather than later... good riddance.

After reading a slew of glowing reviews of Chicha, a friend organized a group dinner this past Saturday night. The dining area was rather packed but we were promptly seated. As Chicha is technically still in its soft oftening phase, the service issues were probably to be expected. The staff seems to still be learning their drink list and service is rather slow. Eduardo Vargas himself had to remove plates between courses as our dishes started piling up. We were told that a dish was not yet another sea bass course, when it was quite clear that it was- but I'll get back to that.
The cocktail menu has quite a few creative sounding options but everything our group of 8 tasted tended to be on the sweeter side. In particular, their signature drink- the Chicha Sour (whose base is the traditional Peruvian purple corn drink for which the restaurant is named chicha morada) was sugary sweet and tasted very light on the alcohol.
Now, for the food. On a positive note, we all ordered the 7 course set and were quite full at the end. The portions were all generous and for the most part the food came out at a good pace. (The last 2 beef dishes seemed rushed, but perhaps that's because we were all a bit full by the time plates 5 and 6 came out.) Chicha has a lively atmosphere that's good for a dinner with friends and a casual date but definitely not a place for a quiet evening or deep conversation.
The biggest problem was the lack of variety. I probably love sea bass and octopus more than most people but during a tasting one expects more variety of main ingredients. The ceviche starter and mixed fried seafood platter were particularly tasty but when 4 of your 7 courses consist of those 2 ingredients by themselves or mixed together it's just too much unless you're selling a seafood tasting menu. Perhaps Chicha got a great deal on seafood but seriously, chicken is cheaper here and even one of dish of that alternative meat would've provided a nice balance.
All in all, though, I love the idea of affordably priced tasting menus in Shanghai and hope Mr. Vargas keeps introducing new ones and inspiring others to do the same. I'm just crossing my fingers that the next iteration providing a little more variation for our palates.

I went to Chicha on a weekday night with three of my friends and though we didn't have a reservation, we were seated within a few minutes. The restaurant has only recently opened so it has its 'soft opening' menu, and at 200 RMB per person, the seven-course set menu seemed to be the best value for money, which we all ordered.

These Peruvian dishes are meant to be shared family style, and used fresh, often imported-from-Peru ingredients. Each dish was light, with lots of seafood and beef, and the set menu offered a really interesting look at a little-known (in our group anyway) and distinctive cuisine. We did have to wait 25 minutes between two of the courses, and some courses were meant for two to share while some were for four to share; without explanation from the waiter, this caused some confusion.

Though we loved every morsel, seven courses is a lot of food for a regular weekday night and I would definitely label this a 'special occasion' destination. Finally, the restaurant was a bit loud and the tables crowded together, which was fine for our group, but might be a bit distracting for a business dinner.

The drinks menu was varied, offering South American staples like caipirinha and pisco sour, and many drinks using Peruvian ingredients as well. Chicha, for instance, is the name of a fruit juice also served at the restaurant. The drinks are not cheap, but overall we came away satisfied and stuffed, vowing to go back.