Eric Tadsen
The #1 combo highlights well-seasoned, crisp-skinned rotisserie chicken.
It’s almost a joke in the culinary world: Peruvian food is the next big thing. Google the phrase, and you’ll find hits for articles making this very point all the way back to at least 2008. So I’m not going to tell you that Estacion Inka is Madison’s next big thing.
But it might be the next little thing.
There are only 16 seats at five tables. The dining menu, which covered a surprising bit of ground when Estacion Inka first opened, has been tightened to feature rotisserie chicken, sandwiches and a small selection of sides. The decor is homey, but spare. If not for the lack of wheels and a trailer hitch, this could well be a food cart.
Estacion Inka is the latest side venture from Inka Heritage owner Lucas Daniel Rodriguez. Rodriguez struck out on two previous spinoffs of his flagship, Inka Heritage (both in the storefront next door to it on South Park Street). But Estacion Inka, nearer to campus, may soak up a sizeable amount of UW-Madison foot traffic.
Can Estacion Inka compete with longstanding nearby restaurants like Ian’s, Dotty Dumpling’s and the Nitty Gritty? Sushi Express, A8 China and Wiener Shop are right in the vicinity, too. How can a little sandwich shop, hosting a cuisine that may not be familiar to the majority of university students, compete with burgers, Chinese takeout and pizza?
The answer is as simply stated as it is served: the #1 rotisserie chicken combo. It’s a quarter chicken with a side of black beans and rice. What’s the big whoop? Juicy, tender chicken and crisp brown skin with just the right amount of seasoning rubbed in is the whoop. Savory, steaming-hot black beans, a scoop of white rice, and both huancaina and aji de huacatay sauces (cheesy yellow and spicy cilantro, respectively) is the whoop. The $5 price tag for almost two meals’ worth of food, friends, is the whoop.
Half and whole chickens are also available, paired with various sides. I liked the yuccas, thick and crisp and just a little woody. But it’s going to be hard to peel myself away from that #1 combo.
The sandwiches at Estacion Inka are visually striking, exceptionally balanced and not nearly as gastronomically intimidating as they appear. The chicharron sandwich is not, as some might expect, a fried pork rind sandwich. It’s lightly frizzled chunks of pork, with tangy salsa criolla (sliced onions, cilantro and vinegar) and fried sweet potatoes, though I’m almost certain I got fried plantains. On a lesser bun, this sandwich might dampen into disintegration, but the delicious sesame seed roll here stood up.
The butifarra is simpler pork sandwich, with slices instead of chunks, and it’s good when you’re down for something a little less packed with fillings. And a sandwich version of lomo saltado, Peru’s classic chopped beef with french fries, highlights the salty soy sauce marinade of the beef as well as its resulting tenderness.
The brasa features pulled rotisserie chicken along with lettuce, tomato and a thatch of shoestring potatoes. It’s the sandwich-ification of the # 1 combo.
The a lo pobre adapts another Peruvian dish by topping a fat hamburger patty with plantains and a fried egg. It’s a bit luxurious, but you’re probably walking somewhere afterwards, right? And perhaps, like I did, you forgot to order a dessert.
Fresh juices lend an air of health to all these calories. There’s the vivid purple chicha morada, a Peruvian staple made from corn, but also other fruits like a lightly tangy pineapple juice and a creamy mango juice. I greatly preferred the former to the latter, which didn’t carry much mango flavor. The chicha is as good as it is at Inka Heritage.
One special that I hope sticks around is salchipapa. It follows the Peruvian pattern of meat on starch. In this case, it’s a sliced hot dog atop french fries, unexpectedly satisfying, with four sauces in which to dip: the aforementioned salsa huancaina and aji de huacatay, plus a house mayo and a sweet crema de rocoto.
That last one’s pink, giving the sauces a traffic-light palette. Wait for the signal on University, but then run, don’t walk, to get a table at Estacion Inka. There aren’t a lot of chairs in there.
Estacion Inka
604 University Ave., 608-467-3010, 11 am- 9 pm Mon.-Thurs.,
11 am-10 pm Fri.-Sat., 11 am-8 pm Sun., $3-$18
