I haven't been to Peru and other than small taste by way of a restaurant in the Mission district of San Francisco and a hint of influence from the dishes of Nobu in Tokyo, I don't really know what their staple foods are. To be honest, there seems to be much similarity between Peruvian, Mexican and possibly much of Latin menus from around.
In any case I have been keen to try Ceviche since opening a couple of months ago, and despite reading some mixed reviews I was pleasantly surprised they had space for a same day weekend evening.
Given the name of the place, it can be expected that the ceviche items are supposed to be tasted. Don Ceviche (fresh seabass ceviche in aji amarillo chilli tiger's milk, aji limo chilli & red onions) was a great signature start to the night - tart tangy lime coating chunks of seabass seared by acidity and raw inside with some crisp sweet potato adding contrast. The waiter also recommended Barranco I Love You (tiradito of thinly sliced seabass in aji amarillo chilli tiger's milk & cancha corn) - I suppose the main differences I noted was the extra chilli kick and peanut crunch that wasn't in the Don; maybe I wasn't paying attention closely enough but otherwise the flavours didn't strike me too differently and I don't recall corn being added as supposed.
Yucas (fried cassava chips with Huancaina sauce) was a good snack of fried crispy outsides and a more chewy texture than potatoes on the inside.
The cooked food at Ceviche has been the most scrutinised and I am happy to note that they were definitively successful on my eating. Corazon (beef heart skewers) were spectacular - the meat was cooked with lovely rareness maintaining texture and the typical heart flavour I like, exemplified by a chilli sauce for difference. It was served with choclo corn which have the largest kernels I've seen and a strangely unexpected starchy texture. Odd.
Pulpo skewers (braised octopus & chorizo) was equally delectable - tender soft flavoursome octopus cylinders and oily rich chorizo. I'm salivating just remembering them.
Main dishes of Lomo Saltado (wok cooked striploin beef strips, chips & saltado sauce) were again cubes of nicely medium-rared beef with quality crispy chips that unfortunately the underneath ones got soaked soft in liquid. The other dish I'd read good things about was the Peruvian Corn Cake (choclo corn & feta Peruvian style vegetarian cake) is certainly something I would not have ordered if others hadn't commented on it - it had some nice corn flavour, but otherwise the wet texture was not for me.
Dessert to try was the Suspiro de Chirimoya (fruit mousse with manjar blanco, cinnamon & port wine meringue) ended up effectively being a very thick sweet caramel with what resembled more cream than meringue on top. Good if you have sickly sweet tooths, but again not so much my taste.
Overall a good meal with plenty of highlights I would return for and many more menu items I'm keen to try.
Next time I would order the Don Ceviche, Yucas and more serves of the Corazon (beef heart) and Pulpo (octopus/chorizo) skewers. Striploin beef is also good but some of the other mains items sound more interesting. From the menu the salmon ceviche and seafood or duck rice mains would be on my list for next time.
