Right before Thanksgiving, we had an opportunity to see one of my favorite brass musicians, Trombone Shorty, play at Rutland, VT’s historic Paramount Theatre. Looking at the various dining options in the area, I noticed a relative newcomer to the Rutland dining scene, Pao Pao Latin Cuisine, on the east side of Rutland city. So we decided to check them out.
Pao Pao opened in 2024 in a slightly funky building on Route 4 that is locate in a somewhat funky building that’s one of those locations that’s always been a bit challenging for restaurants, since over the years I can remember various Italian and Chinese restaurants in the space, and even a Rutland location of the once-common Weathervane seafood chain. But in early 2024, Ginger China ended, and after some remodeling, in December 2024 Pao Pao Latin Cuisine opened, selling a variety of Latin American cuisine, with a focus on Peruvian food. I’ll have to say, it’s a bit of a weird spot, you can see that the dining area has had a lot of owners over the years, and that at various times it has had sushi bars, karaoke nights, and the like. And a weird little back bar that now seems to be just used for holding up supplemental air conditioners. But while it’s funky, it’s a reasonable enough dining room, and there’s a nice little bar by the entrance, so we settled in and looked at the drink menu.
Among various beer and classic cocktail offerings, the menu has a nice mix of classic Latin American beverages as well, including an entire list of variations on the Pisco Sour (a grape brandy, lime juice, simple syrup, egg white, and Angostura bitters cocktail, shaken until frothy and served chilled). I ended up going with the Maracuya Sour (left, basically a Passion Fruit Pisco Sour), and Carol got a house Chicha Morada (Peruvian purple corn drink), and we enjoyed both of these: a nice combination of sweet and sour.
With our beverages, they also brought each of us a small bowl of Cancha, Andean corn. A different cultivar than American popcorn, sweet corn, or dent corn, Cancha has longer kernels where are basically cooked in hot oil like popcorn, but due to the thicker husks on the kernels it doesn’t actually pop. The result is pleasingly like partially-popped popcorn, and it’s pretty much the perfect snack to go with a Pisco Sour.
Next up was a light appetizer of patacones: fried plantains topped with chicken, cheese, and a Peruvian pepper sauce. I rather liked these, the plantains were nicely double-fried (par-cooked, flattened, and re-fried, much like they do in Cuban cuisine), and the combination of the chicken and Peruvian aji amarillo sauce made a slightly punchy topping that was quite flavorful. All-in-all, a nice little appetizer.
For my main course, I went for a classic dish: Lomo Saltado. This is basically Peruvian stir-fried beef with peppers, tomatoes, and Peruvian chiles. The star here was the beef, which was tender, cooked to a perfect medium-rare inside, and very nicely crisped. Add in the soy-based marinade, some nicely seared vegetables, and the nice earthy-hot note of the Peruvian chiles, and this was a particularly enjoyable dish.
Carol, meanwhile, went for the Tacu Tacu Con Lomo. This is essentially a variation of the Lomo Saltado, starting with a bed of Peruvian refried beans (smoother and more garlicky than the Mexican version), mixed with rice and crisped into a patty, topped with essentially a smaller portion of Lomo Saltado. A nice overall combination, since it had the nice garlic and starch notes with the tacu tacu, and the same things I enjoyed with my Lomo Saltado topping it. A good overall dinner selection.
Overall, we enjoyed Pao Pao. The food was quite flavorful, as were the cocktails, and they fill a nice niche (Latin American food) that really doesn’t get a lot of presence in Vermont. The ambiance is a bit funky and could use some polish, by between my dining there (November) and publishing this (January), they were actually closed for remodeling, so I’m hoping to go back and see what improvements they’ve made (the published menu appears unchanged, however).
