A Sparkling Peruvian Date at Lima, London
A Sparkling Peruvian Date at Lima, London
Lima, Fitzrovia
Not all the time but, now and then, a restaurant opens in London that catches everyone’s attention. When Lima opened up a few years ago it did just that, earning praise for its vibrant Peruvian food along the way. Moreover, over the years Lima has managed to retain its sweetheart position. It’s therefore high time I find out what all the fuss is about.
Lima is located just past Charlotte Street in Fitzrovia, and serves experimental Peruvian food. In fact, hubby and I visited Lima Floral, the sister restaurant to Lima, a few weeks ago (and loved it). I knew then, that today’s visit to Lima in Fitzrovia was going to be lush. I’m here today with my good friend O, and we have much to discuss.
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Catching up is always better over food
To begin, we break bread, and fork mouthfuls of a sticky, moreish corn-cake into our mouths. The corn cakes are listed as snacks, and pop out of the kitchen just in time to get our appetites going.
We eat these whilst perusing the menu and catching up. And then the food arrives.
We marvel over the smokiness of a curled tendril of roasted octopus. Each morsel has the most fantastic texture, being both delicate and squidgy (the technical term). In addition, the octopus is complimented with a buttery quinoa mash and spots of olive sauce. It’s almost too pretty to eat.
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Before we have a chance to finish this, out comes the next dish. Service at Lima is on point, fyi. Out comes a bowl, filled with chunks of sea bream ceviche, in a pool of pearly tigers milk and aji limo. Avocado and sweet potato are thrown in for good measure and act as a foil to the incredible zestiness of the ceviche.
Following this is the scallop tostada, consisting of delicate slivers of opalescent scallop served on a fried corn pancake. The mollusk is cooled with lashings of sour cream, which is dotted alongside a sweet beetroot puree and red amaranth. Again, it’s another incredibly photogenic dish.
If you only order one thing…
Then we dig into what I call the showstopper, otherwise known as the beef pachamanca. Ahh so pretty, so primal.
The ruby-red of the beef flashes against the yellow mash, made brighter in terms of flavour and vibrancy with the addition of Peruvian sweetcorn. Mmm.
We mop up the plate with the rest of our bread from earlier, and then make a start on the rice. Not just any rice though; billed as a main, this certainly has the oomph to give it star status. The fried rice is filled with seafood; there are rings of tender squid, king prawns and chunks of seabass. Rosemary, sea asparagus and sautéed cherry tomatoes lend a lightness too, making it easy to eat more than we probably should.
Having consumed plenty (ahh, that rice) we opt to share just one dessert. It’s the chirimoya parfait, served with Amazonian chocolate and blue potato crisps. Apparently chirimoya is an Incan fruit, originally reserved for royalty. The parfait itself has a lot of chocolate to it, which I think partially masks the subtle flavour of the fruit, but the whole thing is still nonetheless delicious.
All in all our girly date at Lima has been a success. We’ve caught up and eaten a couple of very gorgeous things. Would we go back? Yes, absolutely.
The Details
Lima, Fitzrovia
Address – 31 Rathbone Pl, Fitzrovia, London W1T 1JH
Website – Lima, Fitzrovia
Phone – 020 3002 2640
Nearest Tube – Goodge Street
Our lunch at Lima, Fitzrovia was complimentary. This does not affect our review in any way. All views are our own and as ever we aim to provide useful and honest feedback.
