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Tucked into a dreary block of Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park, La Cuarta doesn’t dazzle with its décor—rust-colored walls, blond wood wainscoting, a bulky brown bar, and an oil painting of some poncho-clad muchachos. But meals here start with a finger bowl of homemade corn nuts, and progress through an extensive and authentic Peruvian menu of spicy seviches and savory rice dishes, most of which are served family style. Groups dig into whole chickens served with delicious sides including salchipapas—a heap of golden fries freckled with hot-dog chunks and quartered hard-boiled eggs. Juicy meat falling from thigh bones and drumsticks gets dunked into a piquant sauce of jalapeños, mayo, parsley, and ground crackers. If you dare, taste the anticuchos—marinated cow hearts, chewy like clams, and basted in peppery brown gravy. They arrive with a crazy-looking ear of Peruvian corn whose flat, elephantine kernels are shaped like rounded diamonds. Supersweet corn juice, called chicha, is worth trying, but it won’t quench your thirst. Made of blue maize, it looks like Welch’s and tastes like cloves. Most dessert items induce yawns, but delicate alfajores deliver a burst of caramel-flavored delight to close out the meal. — Edna Ishayik

Pollo a la brasa, $10; fried fish filet, $13.95; avocado salad, $6