Virgilio Martínez is THE chef of the moment, voted as such at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards this year. His restaurant, Central, in Lima was also named as the world’s 5th best in those awards, further recognition for a man making waves far beyond his native Peru.
He isn’t at all harmed by boyish good looks and equally photogenic food, with his articulate way of narrating the cuisine of his home country, both spoken and on the plate, lending itself perfectly to the avant-garde Netflix hit series ‘Chef’s Table’ earlier this year. All of this hype has led to his second venture, Lima, in Central London, being one of the hottest tickets in town. We were fortunate enough to go there recently and boy, it’s good.
Idea
The food of Peru seems to capture everything that is now and zeitgeisty in the world of cuisine. Light, colourful plates, unheard of foraged ingredients and attention to hyper-locality are the foundations on which the culinary landscape has been built in the noughties, and Lima capitalises on all of these with flair and elegance. If you want to experience the most influential cuisine since Noma, New Nordic et al without spending tons on a flight to South America, then Lima is the place to go.
Location
Just off busy Oxford street, in Fitzrovia, in amongst a whole host of other great restaurants (the Ninth, Bao…..), you will find Lima. Settle into the area for the evening, as there are also some great pubs to visit and shopping to be done.
Atmosphere
The room is tight and tucked away, with scant space between tables creating intimacy rather than being intrusive. Young staff with flecks of Spanish in their voices dart between tables and there’s always noisy, busy chatter. There’s a couple of tables outside to park your bottom if the sun is shining, and this really feels like food you should be getting a tan to.
Food
Going to a Peruvian restaurant and not having cerviche would be like going to a bar and ordering a warm water. The cerviche at Lima is exactly how it should be – really, the ultimate compliment. So often raw fish cooked in citrus can be sour and harsh or overcompensated with excessive sugar, but here the balancing act is executed with the fine precision of a trapeze artist.
The seabass tiradito (akin to a raw fish carpaccio) was sweetened with coconut and given zest and zing by ponzu – both gently enough handled to let the taste of the wild bass shine. A vegetable which looked to us like beetroot (it turns out it’s aji mirsasol – nope, we hadn’t heard of it either) added extra crunch and sparkle. The black bream cerviche is equally delicious, vibrant with assertive aji limo, only let down by the ubiquitous and sometimes unnecessary avocado – surplus to requirements when earthy notes had already been covered by Jerusalem artichoke.
Mains, conversely, can seem like somewhat of an afterthought when the headliner opens the show, but the beef pachamanca with yellow potato purée and Andean roots was beautifully cooked with warm spicy background notes and plenty of understated brio. The king prawn chupe was as fresh as the cerviche, sweet and saline in equal bounds, the huacatay herb of its garnish tasting like a marriage of tarragon and basil. Very intriguing and very delicious indeed. Portions are generous so we forgo dessert in favour of more cocktails….
Drinks
The pisco sour is the must-drink here, as in any Peruvian restaurant, and Lima does a particularly fine one with bright passion fruit – as if allergic to grey and beige. The wine list is also commendable in it’s brevity, the absurd tome of many a Michelin establishment welcomingly swerved in favour of clarity and options by the half litre and glass.
Must Try
Enough has been said about the cerviche but an honourable mention is found in a section of the menu oft overlooked. The cusco corn bread is so deliciously more-ish it stopped being a ‘snack’ after the third order.
Why Go
If you want genuine, balanced cerviche, unfamiliar flavours, exciting plates of colour and precision, and thoughtful cooking of vegetables, this is the place to go. Lima has a unique style and rhythm that makes its billing as the hottest ticket in town seem like an understatement. Trends come and go and the food world is no exception. Lima, however, is.
Address: 31 Rathbone Pl, Fitzrovia, London W1T 1JH
Website: www.limalondongroup.com