Ceviche at Ceviche

On our way to the theatre we stop for an early dinner at Ceviche, a Peruvian restaurant on Frith Street.  We’ve always liked ceviche and I’d heard of this place a while ago, so it seemed a good chance to try it out. 

Arriving at 5pm, we found the place unsurprisingly pretty quiet. There’s a front bar area and a more usual room behind it, where we were seated. For some reason they insisted on sitting us near the only other people in the place, and as others arrived continued to fill up one side of the room first.  The tables were a reasonable distance apart and it did mean you could rubber-neck what others were having, but it did seem strange – just as well it wasn’t on board a boat!

We started with two Pisco Sours – a traditional Peruvian cocktail – and asked about the size of dishes (sharing plates mean different things to different people) and it was suggested that three each would be reasonable. In the end we ordered two ceviche,  one skewer, a salad and a couple of  “nibbles”. It was fairly modest and there are few carbs on the menu, so it’s probably not the place for hearty eaters.

But what we had was lovely.  The “Don Ceviche” house dish was seabass  in a sharp, lightly chilli sauce  with sweet potatoes and onion.  “Sakura Maru” was cured salmon with satsumas, so a much sweeter dish, but still light and fresh.  The skewer was chicken thighs, always a tasty part of the bird and very moist, served with a pepper jam.

These were complemented well by the quinoa salad with tomatoes (which dominated), avocado and butter beans.  Also good was the asparagus “nibble” in Huancaina sauce – a golden, creamy, slightly spicy sauce, apparently usually used to accompany potatoes, according to Wikipedia – with the asparagus having been griddled and with a good bite.  We also had the wonton fritters stuffed with chicken – nice in themselves but not really a good choice with the rest.

Service was very friendly and helpful, despite the odd seating policy (which didn’t matter so much by the time the place filled up).  With a bottle of unusual white Rioja, the bill came to £90. Certainly worth going to for a light pre-theatre meal – probably less successful as an evening in itself, unless you’re in a group.