Why the delay? 

"Permits, like always," says owner Mauricio Fraga-Rosenfeld. 

Still, the wait for Yaku (2001 N. 15th St., Arlington; 703-248-0844) was worth it. Like all of the busy restaurateur's interiors, including Mate in Georgetown and Ceviche in Glover Park, this one is easy on the eyes. Slender glass lights resembling shooting stars drop from on high. Italian-designed sofas arranged in front of the two-story glass front give Yaku the air of a trendy hotel lobby. Tables are spaced for comfort, and the walls suggest an art gallery, distinguished as they are by Warholesque oil paintings of Indians living in Ecuador ("These are my grandfathers and grand-uncles," Fraga-Rosenfeld, a native of that country, likes to joke.) 

Yaku gets its name from an Incan word for water, but the kitchen looks beyond Latin America for inspiration. Although some dishes whisk diners to Peru -- shredded chicken and potato slices draped in a yellow curtain of cheese sauce; stewed beef moistened with cilantro sauce -- the menu's nubby shrimp ball appetizers and wiry sauteed noodles tossed with red peppers and bites of pork are more Asian in flavor. Their maker: Gisela Laos Mejia, who met her boss a year and a half ago while he was traveling in Peru and she was teaching cooking at the prestigious Cenfotur Institute. 

Not every plate is a success -- mahi-mahi tempura is stiff as starch, the nuggets of fish bested by their tangy onion garnish -- but there's enough on the menu to help fill the restaurant's 135 seats.

We lucked out and ordered during happy hour, which runs from 5 to 7:30 p.m. weekdays, during which time the beer is $3, the wine is $5 and a respectable margarita can be had for $6. Some of the food is discounted then, too; be sure to check out Yaku's two-for-one dim sum selections.

Psst: If you head for the published address, which is in the Courthouse area, you'll end up in the circular drive of a condominium. Yaku's entrance is actually at Clarendon Boulevard and North Scott Street.

Entrees, $13-$17.