Dark and woodsy, with huge plate glass windows and vintage movies streaming across the back wall, Qusqo looks like a neighborhood coffee shop for artsy Westsiders.
When you consider that it celebrates happy hour, offers sandwiches for lunch and presents itself as a “bistro & gallery, ” you are all the more certain that it is just another gathering spot for the young and trendy.
It is, indeed, all of these things. But it is something more that is not apparent from a quick glance passing by. Quzqo is a full-fledged Peruvian restaurant.
The name is a quirky spelling of Cusco, th
e jumping off point for Machu Picchu. Perhaps it’s a bid for attention, switching restaurant names around so that they spell the sams thing in a different way, like Wahaca (Oaxaca) in London and Wakatay (Huacatay), a Peruvian-Japanese restaurant in Gardena.
Qusqo has some very good dishes, others that miss the mark. Such failings often occur at restaurants outside Peru, because ingredients are not the same or are not available.
Qusqo's ceviche is one example. It’s well presented and includes the right garnishes—steamed giant corn kernels, crisp golden corn, red onion strands and sliced sweet potato. But the firm, chewy cubes of halibut used the night I was there were wrong for this dish. Lima’s seafood is glorious. It’s hard to match that standard here, but more tender fish would have been better.
On the other hand, chupe de camaron 
(shrimp chowder) was delicious, packed with large, juicy shrimp in a pleasant broth, better than the last version I had in Lima.
Aji de gallina, shredded chicken in a subtle, smooth walnut sauce is worth ordering. So is giant corn on the cob in cheese sauce, even though the only such corn available here is frozen.
American potatoes are different in moisture content and texture from Peruvian potatoes, and this creates a problem for causa, a stacked cake that layers golden moist potato puree with seafood or chicken filling and avocado. At Quzqo, thin potato cakes 
replace the soft puree. But the real problem was the canned tuna filling in my serving, a harsh and alien flavor for causa.
The meat for lomo saltado (stir-fried beef), listed under chifa (Chinese style dishes), was tough, but I’m not so sure I wouldn’t find it that way in Peru. The soggy French fries in this dish are not a mistake. Peruvians mix them with the meat instead of serving them on the side.
Qusqo’s owner is Lucy Haro, a young, American-born Peruvian, who bases her dishes on family recipes.
Her alfajores (dulce de leche sandwich cookies) are exceptional. I’ve eaten many alfajores in Peru and Argentina, but never any like Haro’s tender, buttery cookies. They’re sandwiched with delicate dulce de leche made at the restaurant, not the heavily sweetened commercial product. A single cookie comes in a bowl of ice cream with an orchid and a wooden spoon.
Qusqo has enough good dishes to make eating there worthwhile now. With a little more work, it could become one of the better Peruvian restaurants in Los Angeles.
Qusqo, 11633 Santa Monca Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025. Tel: (310) 312-3800. Lunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, Dinner, 5:30 to 9 p.m. Monday, to 10 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday, to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday.
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What looks like a porcupine splayed on a plate is a spiny sea urchin shell. The cavity in the center holds seafood risotto, a soft, chewy mixture crowned with a luxurious dollop of pure fresh sea urchin.
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