When a place has a menu that is 2/3 tapas and 1/3 entrees and you order an entree you should consider yourself pre-warned. Perhaps the owners are strongly trying to suggest a smaller bite. In the case of Andina, a Peruvian styled restaurant located in Portland’s Pearl District, I apparently wasn’t paying attention to the telltale signs.

The place was packed, loud, brightly lit and bustling. Not the kind of place to have a romantic dinner but perfect to bring friends or business if you are in the mood to share. The tapas menu ranges from cheese stuffed yucca, to avocado stuffed with crab and prawns, or beef heart kabobs. There were also five house cebiches. All of the tapas can be ordered in small or medium sizes for one or two diners or feed the whole gang with a large plate.

Again, Andina’s is a place built around sharing. Too bad I wasn’t in the mood to share this particular evening.

Instead of sticking with the tapas a tempting key set of words drew me in: “old family recipe”. From the entrée menu I ordered the Seco a la Norteña, which is a slow cooked braised lamb shank served with the braising vegetables. You see, I am a sucker for meat that falls of the bone. And the addition of ají Amarillo chilies coupled with a black beer sauce advertised a plate that sounded exactly like something I wouldn’t want to share.

And in a bad way, that’s what it turned out to be.

This is not to imply that the lamb was not impeccably cooked. It was and the meat did indeed fall off the bone. And the dish looked great with the black beer sauce looking and smelling similar to a mole. Problem was the flavor profile was flat. Where was the promised taste of cilantro, onion, garlic, much less the heat from the ají Amarillo chilies? Each bite tasted like the first. There was no depth to the flavor.

Not that I was there for the sides but frankly they didn’t help. The bean stew and the salsa were bland. And for goodness sakes if you are going to call your rice “garlic” rice have at least a hint of garlic in it.

But let’s return to the main course.  Some feel whether a steak or a burger, the meat should speak for itself; the fewer ingredients distracting from the flavor of the meat the better. I tend to agree. But the beer, chilies, herbs and spices were all things that should have enhanced the flavor of the lamb, not taken away from it.  Had they not been on the menu I would not have missed them.

Luckily desert mends all wounds. I had a chocolate ganache and crushed cocoa meringue topped with a lucuma (a traditional Peruvian fruit) and espresso mousse. It was damn fine and I even shared.