City, Peruvian Restaurant Guide

“Absolutely delicious” Peruvian food (“we took our foodie friends, who loved it too!”) features in practically all reports on Arjun Waney’s glossy haunts in Mayfair and near Bank (as well as Paris, Dubai, Mykonos…). There’s a lot of feeling even amongst fans, though, that they’re just “not worth the money any more” (“yes it’s good, but at these prices it should be. Perhaps it’s just their rents but spending just short of £200/head and being rushed off the table left me underwhelmed. I could rave about the wondrous dishes, but not sure it’s worth it…”)

Zooming up to the 38th floor of the Heron Tower in one of Europe’s fastest lifts… looking out with a cocktail on an open terrace overlooking the scrapers of the City, it’s easy to get swept up by the glamour of the original, “buzzy” branch of this US-based chain. And its popular WC2 spin-off is also “always a pleasure to visit”: looking out onto the back of the Royal Opera House from the huge terrace on the top of Covent Garden Market. Fans say the luxe, Japanese/South American fusion cuisine in both locations – taquitos, sushi, steaks, samba rolls, black cod from the robata – is “delicious and remarkably inventive” too. But ratings for it have sunk post-Covid, and while pricing here has always been toppy, there is a growing gripe that “food which is average at best is accompanied by a bill that’s distinctly not average!”

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”.

“A super choice to explore Peruvian cuisine with a wide variety of dishes available on their tapas-style menu” (ceviche, croquetas, churros…) – these noisy and atmospheric, cocktail-fueled operations in Marylebone and Shoreditch make for a fun night out: “a great evening was had by all!”

2021 Review: “Fresh, vibrant food” – full of “interesting, sharp flavours” – makes this “relaxed” Fitzrovia joint and its Covent Garden offspring (“Floral by Lima”) “great places to try out Peruvian cuisine”. There’s a “diverse range of dishes”, from “excellent ceviches to hot main courses”, although “portion sizes don’t really match the cost”.

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.

2021 Review: “Fresh, vibrant food” – full of “interesting, sharp flavours” – makes this “relaxed” Fitzrovia joint and its Covent Garden offspring (“Floral by Lima”) “great places to try out Peruvian cuisine”. There’s a “diverse range of dishes”, from “excellent ceviches to hot main courses”, although “portion sizes don’t really match the cost”.

“A super choice to explore Peruvian cuisine with a wide variety of dishes available on their tapas-style menu” (ceviche, croquetas, churros…) – these noisy and atmospheric, cocktail-fueled operations in Marylebone and Shoreditch make for a fun night out: “a great evening was had by all!”

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.

“I keep coming back for all the ceviches” at this “excellent Peruvian seafood specialist” on the King’s Road in Chelsea – an offshoot from Pachamama in Marylebone. The atmosphere is lively, too, although some reckon the music is just “too loud”.

Hot in NYC, this late summer 2023 newcomer is the latest incumbent on the rooftop of Shoreditch’s ‘The Hoxton’ hotel, with its city-fringe vistas of The Barbican and the Square Mile. On offer – Americanised Peruvian fare – let’s hope it’s a better recipe for success than the previous occupant, Maya (RIP), which also had a US/Latino theme (then it was Baja-Mexican).

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.

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.