City, Peruvian Restaurant Guide

“Excellent ceviche” and “amazing cocktails” take top billing at Arjun Waney’s vibey Peruvian operation, which has branches in Mayfair and the City, as well Paris, Marbella, Mykonos and the Middle East. There remains an undercurrent of feeling that it’s “over-priced”, but the overall verdict is that “the food is great!”

“Horribly overpriced but love the atmosphere” – to cut to the chase, that’s the key take-away on this duo of Japanese/South American fusion outfits: part of a slick US-chain originating in NYC 25 years ago, and now with branches from Singapore to Las Vegas, via the Middle East. The WC2 branch sits on top of Covent Garden with exceptional views over to the Royal Opera House, although (for our money) it’s the City original – up fast lifts on the 38th floor of the Heron Tower with fancy cocktail lounges and stunning views – that really stands out. The food – an eclectic Nikkei mashup incorporating tempura, crispy taquitos, samba rolls, sushi, robata dishes and large plates – is delicious but ultimately “nothing to write home about” when you consider the gargantuan cost.

2023 Review: Nowadays just in Spitalfields (with Soho, Shoreditch and Notting Hill branches opening and closing over the years), this Peruvian-inspired haunt received mixed reviews this year, linked with one or two incidents of “awful” service. Feedback on its Latino fare, which majors in ceviches and salads (but which is also accompanied by a selection of larger and mostly meaty ‘classic dishes’) is more consistent, though, and fans say it’s “still a cracking place, even after relocating”.

This 10-year-old Marylebone spot (with an offshoot in Shoreditch) provides a “great introduction to delicious Peruvian food” – ceviches, plus mains from ‘land’, ‘sea’ or ‘soil’ – with “attentive and friendly staff” on hand to advise. Top Menu Tip – “the sticky aubergine is incredible”.

2022 Review: Impress your friends on Instagram with enviable scenes from the lush outside terraces at this very good-looking boutique hotel in Fitzrovia. Not as many reports as we’d like on its interesting restaurant – where the cuisine comes with a South American accent – hence, for this year, we’ve left it unrated.

2021 Review: This “buzzy Peruvian in Kingly Court” provides consistently “good, super-tasty food and a warm ambience”. A second branch has followed in Charlotte Street.

This 10-year-old Marylebone spot (with an offshoot in Shoreditch) provides a “great introduction to delicious Peruvian food” – ceviches, plus mains from ‘land’, ‘sea’ or ‘soil’ – with “attentive and friendly staff” on hand to advise. Top Menu Tip – “the sticky aubergine is incredible”.

2022 Review: Hidden beneath Smith’s Bar & Grill in the Paddington Basin development – a spring 2020 Peruvian newcomer named for the Ayllu community of the Inca Empire, and serving Peruvian-Japanese fusion dishes and cocktails.

This seafood specialist in Chelsea’s King’s Road gives a coastal Peruvian treatment to supplies from Cornish fishermen, with crudo and ceviche as warm-ups to dishes like half a Galician Octopus or Miso Black Cod. It’s a spinoff from Pachamama in Marylebone (see also) and is likewise rated as “very enjoyable” in most (if not quite all) reports.

Hip import from Booklyn, which is the latest incumbent on the gorgeously decorated rooftop of Shoreditch’s ‘Hoxton Hotel’, where the city-fringe viewscape is of The Barbican and Square Mile. The press have by-and-large raved since it touched down in autumn 2023, with The Evening Standard’s Jimi Famurewa hailing the “thrilling new context” given to its Peruvian dishes, and The Telegraph’s William Sitwell branding it “the best thing to come out of Peru since Paddington”. But our annual survey is less impressed, noting that – especially at the price – its Nikkei/Latino dishes can seem “disappointing”: “a great social media campaign doesn’t make a great restaurant!”

Despite tons of money thrown at its numerous incarnations, the site of the former Strand Dining Rooms, just off Trafalgar Square, has never really cut through in recent years. Maybe this new Nikkei (Japanese/Peruvian) operation – a ‘Coming Soon’ as we go to press – will break the mould, which will feature a sushi counter and bar named Lima; a main open kitchen called Osaka; and an outdoor terrace.

On quite a prominent site near St James’s Palace that used to be Avenue (RIP), this new entertainment-led venue is part of a nightlife group with operations in London and Mykonos. Here, we are promised Nikkei cuisine, with ‘hero’ dishes such as Butter Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Coriander Shiso Ponzu and Lamb Chops Anticucho with Aubergine Purée, Aji and Amarillo Yoghurt.

This high-street Nikkei hangout’s first Chelsea branch opened in 2021 and shut in mid 2023 in favour of a new Marylebone location. No feedback as yet on either site, which purveys a trendy fusion of sushi, tacos, ceviche and robata bites, and of course pisco sours, sakes and cocktails aplenty.