La Mar Cebicheria

I often consult the 7×7 100 Things you should eat before you die list for ideas of fun places, new and old, to check out in the city. I like seeing if an item is truly to die for (or die after, I guess) or if they are more of a political addition to the list. On Tuesday night, my sister and I headed out to check off another on the list and hopefully enjoy a good meal at La Mar Cebicheria. On the list were the pisco sour and the ceviche (non-specific).

Pisco Sour, check

Ceviche Tasting, check

We went straight for the pisco sour and ceviche tasting. I don’t think I have ever had pisco before and I had to be careful to ask for no egg white in mine since I am allergic to eggs. It was quite tasty. More subtle than tequila, but along those lines. I liked it, it didn’t like me. About 30 seconds after reaching my mouth I was covered in red splotches and my temperature had risen about 10 degrees. Either my sister and my pisco sours were made together and then the egg white foam was put on her drink not mine (thus mine still contained eggs) or I just was having a reaction to alcohol, I am not sure. I am not going to cry foul on this because there are too many factors to be sure. Thankfully I am not deathly allergic to eggs. It is also possible that the waiter missed it or didn’t understand. Needlesstosay, after one drink we switched to a pisco sombrero which was spicy and delicious and did not cause the same reaction.

The sombrero liked me as much as I liked it.

The ceviche’s however were not problematic at all. There were so many good ceviche’s to choose from that we simply couldn’t pick just one. So the Ceviche Tasting (Mixto, Chifa, Nikei and Clásico) was definitely in order. The Mixto is Mahi Mahi, calamari, octopus and habanero pepper in ají amarillo
leche de tigre with cilantro, red onion, Peruvian corn and yam and I really enjoyed the spice. Not huge on calamari and octopus texture though. The Chifa was Mahi Mahi with peanuts, scallions, ginger, pickled carrots and daikon, habanero pepper, wonton strips and cilantro in sesame leche de tigree. Since I am a big fan of peanuts and pickled items I really enjoyed this one. It had a complex flavor but wasn’t overly Thai. Clasico you just can’t go wrong with, clean flavors, beautiful fish (California Halibut and red onions in habanero pepper leche de tigre with Peruvian corn and yam). And the Nikei which was my favorite and had Ahi Tuna, red onion, Japanese cucumber, in tamarind leche de tigre with avocado.

Before the ceviches rolled out they brought us 3 types of dip and some sweet potato and plantain chips. There was a mild, medium and spicy one. Each delicious (and all vegan, I believe). They were super tasty with the chips and went well with the ceviches. There were about 4 bites per ceviche, so 8 bites per person for the whole ceviche tasting. It was a nice light, refreshing start to the meal.

Ensalada Nikei

Lomo Saltado

We followed but the ceviches with a ensalada nikei (Mixed greens with green papaya, jícama, soybeans, pickled carrots and daikon, crunchy quinoa, Peruvian purple corn and rocoto vinaigrette) to share and the lomo saltado which is a traditional Peruvian style stir-fry of sautéed beef tenderloin,
onions, tomatoes, cilantro, soy sauce, garlic with fried potatoes and rice. We made good choices that is for sure. I loved the combination of flavors and textures in the salad. It was not a sissy salad and I would have been happy having a huge bowl of the salad and nothing else. Not that the lomo saltado wasn’t good. In fact it was really good. I like the steak and fries done in a different way. It had a much much more complex flavor profile than the usual steak and fries. The portion wasn’t huge to split, especially for the money ($27). It would have been enough for one person after a similar start to the meal (ceviche and 1/2 salad). I didn’t leave hungry, but I wasn’t stuffed either. I was satisfied and everything was delicious. Delicious, yes. Standout, run back, recommend it to everyone as a must try (like I do with Little Skillet)? No. Especially for the price point ($120 before tip), it is not somewhere I am scrambling back to.

I really loved the restaurant space as well and feel it would be a good place for a nice client dinner (for an out of town business person) or something similar. I would say, it would be a fantastic place to grab a drink and appetizer and there are some other items I would be keen to try including the causas and anticuchos. 7×7 is mostly right. I don’t think it ranks as one of the top 100 things I have ever eaten, but I am glad that I did eat it. Overall 3.25 stars out of 5 with no deductions for the possible allergic reaction.