Hey, the vegan restaurant with the soul of a Creole tavern, and a new menu that transforms the classics

A new beginning

In an exclusive interview with El Comercio, Paco Silva and Ana Karina Rodríguez, founders of Oiga, share the details behind the concept that has conquered Lima residents in recent months, thanks to its renewed menu, which now includes traditional gastronomic dishes. “This year has been one of constant growth for us,” says Paco Silva.

Regarding his roles within the business, Paco explains: “I am in charge of commercial management and leading the kitchen team during lunches, ensuring quality in each dish. Meanwhile, Ana Karina focuses on customer service management and ensuring that the experience at Oiga is always exceptional.”.

“Since we launched Oiga as the first vegan anticuchería in Lima, we have been working to expand our menu and improve our processes to offer a unique culinary experience,” he adds.

“We decided to expand our menu to continue moving forward and positioning our brand as the vegan tavern in Lima that we want to be. This led us to an intense design process and search for ingredients, especially for the vegan ceviche, which was quite a challenge due to the complexity of finding a vegetable meat with the appropriate texture,” says Paco, who is in charge of creating the recipes.

For her part, Ana Karina reveals that expanding the menu and that it now includes Creole and Peruvian lunches has been a challenge but that she has achieved something very satisfactory. “C.When we had the anticuchos it was much easier, but when lunches came in, the kitchen changed, even the furniture, that is, our appliances. We have had to change and rearrange the team’s positions again”, he comments on the new organization that this change has implied so that diners can enjoy food as if it were made at home.

The new letter

The launch of the new menu has been a meticulous process, where each dish has been carefully designed and tested. Paco says that he started making a list of all the dishes that he would like to find in a vegan restaurant and he tried each one of them, it was a long process but one that he enjoyed a lot.

“We wanted to maintain the essence of Creole food, but vegan,” Paco adds. And they have achieved it. On their menu, you will find everything from green noodles to carapulcra and stuffed potatoes. It is noticeable when trying these dishes that each one has been created with the aim of offering authentic flavors.

“We have made an effort to maintain a dynamic and generous menu, where each dish is meant to be shared,” he comments. From breakfasts to grills, each option has been designed to please diners.

Ana Karina, born in Venezuela but with a Peruvian mother, has been key to the recreation of the recipes. Although Paco is the one who cooks and evaluates the ingredients, as if he were in a laboratory, Ana Karina remembers Peruvian flavors that were part of her childhood and together with Paco’s creative mind they form a great team that has managed to produce dishes such as: ceviche with chicharrón, potato a la huancaína, stuffed potato, chicharrón en su zarza, mixed jelly, green noodles with steak and banana, tacu tacu, lomo saltado, carapulcra, noodles a la huaicaína and rice with seafood. And since dessert cannot be missed, they recently launched picarones.

The success of Oiga has also been evident in the public’s acceptance of its proposals. “We are happy to see how our customers enjoy our dishes.”” indicates Ana Karina.

The Oiga team is convinced that they want to become the new vegan tavern in Lima and although they consider that there are still some things missing to achieve it, they are on the right track; the seasoning, the generosity and the flavor already have it. Go and try the best Creole food in a vegan version. Advantage.

Retail:

• Address: Av. Andrés Avelino Cáceres 270, Miraflores.
• Average ticket: 35 soles
• Food style: plant-based
• Pet friendly: yes
• Parking: yes