Predicted to be one of the biggest food trends of 2012, Peruvian cuisine is on the rise in London. Emma McAlpine reviews Ceviche.
If I was a hackneyed journalist working for a glossy women’s mag, I might start my review of Ceviche off by saying it’s "a hip new Soho restaurant serving ‘oh so now’ Peruvian cuisine (hey – it’s the new Korean!), complete with a ‘bang-on-trend’ seated bar area." But then I’d have to kill myself, so let’s go back to the drawing board.
Ceviche fits into Soho very well. At the front is a stainless steel Pisco bar (said to be the first of its kind in Europe) from which walk-in customers can also order food. Clearly, we still can’t get enough of perching on stools and eating at the bar, judging by the ongoing success of Barrafina, Spuntino, Salt Yard and co. Is it just me that’s getting a little weary of ‘tapas bar’ seating? I won’t deny it – the service is great but I’m starting to get a bad back.
We try a couple of cocktails from the bar, including the classic Pisco Sour, which is the best I’ve tasted outside of Peru: an invigorating blend of egg white foam, pisco, lime juice and sugar, topped with Angostura bitters. The Chicha Sour has a warming, wintry flavour to it with hints of cinnamon and clove, while the Maria Sangrienta is the bar’s fruity, Peruvian take on the classic Bloody Mary; with chilli-infused pisco, salt, lime and tomato juice. The wine list is also very pleasing, sensibly comprised of bottles from Argentina and Chile (for the sake of continuity, Peruvian wine is just not worth it).
Beyond the bar is the restaurant proper, which has a cosier, bohemian feel to it. Tables are uncovered, there are shelves containing owner Martin Morales’ Afro-Peruvian record collection and vintage photographs and posters all over the brightly-coloured walls. Morales and designer Jack Schneider drew inspiration from a popular bar in Lima for the restaurant’s aesthetic and the place could certainly pass for a lively Peruvian bar. It’s heaving with people, our table has a finger width separating us from our neighbours’ and we find ourselves shouting to be heard.
Now that I’ve got my old lady complaints out of the way, I should really mention that the food here is utterly delicious. The menu is separated into tapas style dishes, so you can choose from the ceviche bar (raw, marinated fish), anticuchos skewers (popular Afro-Peruvian street snacks), ‘classic favourites’ like seafood rice and 'choclo' corn cakes, plus salads and side dishes. 
We try a zesty prawn, squid and octopus ceviche, marinated in ‘tiger’s milk’ (a mixture of lime juice, chilli and salt) served with slivers of red onion and chopped coriander. Wonderfully fresh and explosively tangy, I was sad not to have ordered several. We also sample the ‘Sakura Mara’, a Japanese-influenced ceviche: thinly sliced raw salmon, in a citrus, soy and mirin sauce. I wasn’t quite as taken with this milder version, but it was just as fresh and sashimi fans might prefer its subtle delicacy.
A dish I will be fantasising about for some time is the ‘fried yuccas’ – thickly-cut, sweet cassava chips, with crispy golden jackets and light, fluffy middles; dipped in cheesy, garlicky Huancaína sauce. They reminded me of the ‘cheesy chips’ we used to wolf down at university – like manna from heaven after a boozy night out – and I mean that in the best possible way.
We also love the ‘Solterito’ salad: broad beans, pimped with choclo corn, feta cheese, olives and chilli vinaigrette. Our grilled octopus ‘anticucho’ is tender and packed with flavour, as is the ‘lomo saltado’: chunks of beef striploin, briefly stir-fried with red onions, tomatoes and peppers. Even a side order of rice is tasty enough to eat on its own, fried with corn and a hint of garlic.
Puddings, are in fact, the only real let-down. Cinnamon sponge soaked in pisco syrup is unpleasantly soggy and cloying, while the lucuma ice cream – made with almond biscuits and pulp from the Andrean lucuma fruit – is rather bland. I might have to go back and sample the Peruvian chocolate cake and peanut brittle however, as I suspect it could be a winner.
The bill comes to about £50 a head, which seems steep for small plates (most dishes cost between £6-11 and are just enough for a few mouthfuls each). On the other hand, you won’t find a bottle of wine over £41 and cocktails (of which we’ve had two each) are priced at a reasonable £6-8. We leave full and contented, so I’m inclined to overlook it.
With its fresh flavours, buzzy atmosphere and killer pisco cocktails, Ceviche is an exciting new edition to London’s thriving tapas scene. You might also be excited to hear – you can book this one.
cevicheuk.com
Photo credit: Paul Winch Furness
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