La Mar Cebichería Peruana, Lima, 4/20/16

img_6473A large open air place that was empty just before noon but by 2:00 pm was packed with diners. The service is very helpful but at times a bit too much so.  There are lots of flavored cocktails to go with the food and the waiters seemed to push them and be less interested in the beer options. The seasonings in most of the dishes was quite pleasant but there was a similarity to the ingredients used in the various dishes. They offer bar seating as an option for small parties. Portions are large enough to split and of course ceviche is a specialty as are the wood fired options.  The meal started strong but had a crash in the middle where it went from ho hum to yuk but redeemed itself with a nice finish.

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Interior

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Table set up
cocktail menu
cocktail menu
drink and dessert menu
drink and dessert menu
food menu
food menu
food menu 2
food menu 2
chalkboard specials
chalkboard specials

 

 

Everyone starts off with a dish of fried plantains and potatoes and 3 different sauces to dip them in. We also got a dish of fried large corn kernels that were really crunchy and fun to munch on.

Chips and dips
Chips and dips
Frankie checked out the sauces
Frankie checked out the sauces
corn snack
corn snack
Pisco Sour cocktail
Pisco Sour cocktail
Chilcano cocktail
Chilcano cocktail
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Frankie wanted to bat the corn around

 

Our first dish was chalaco which is the catch of the day ceviche (mahi mahi that day) with octopus, sweet potatoes and corn. It was filled with flavor.

Chalaco: catch of the day and deep fried squid
Chalaco: catch of the day and deep fried squid
Frankie checked for leftovers
Frankie checked for leftovers

 

Next was the chucuito featuring scallops, which had a basically good taste but had a heavy hand with the mayo mixture and I would have preferred the scallops to be cut into bigger pieces so some of their sweetness and texture could have been detected.

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Chucuito: Scallops, avocado, chalaca salsa (chopped onions, tomatoes, chili) and olive leche de tigre
close up
close up
Frankie liked the Volador cocktail
Frankie liked the Volador cocktail

 

For our main dish we had the wood fired lobster and prawns, which was a blackboard special that day and highly recommended by the waiter.  It was a dud. The lobster had the texture of one that had been frozen and the taste of mold. It also had an overwhelming amount of gloppy rice that dwarfed the seafood. The prawns were quite good and I would have preferred just having them.

Arroz Norteño de la horno: wood fired lobster and prawns with rice
Arroz Norteño de la horno: wood fired lobster and prawns with rice
close up
close up
Frankie thought it was too much rice
Frankie thought it was too much rice

The waiter insisted we try dessert and selected the chocolate mousse which was very tasty and covered with various seeds on top. They added a wonderful texture to the dish and made a really fun twist on an old standard.

Chocolate mousse
Chocolate mousse
inside
inside
Frankie hoped the seeds would bring birds
Frankie hoped the seeds would bring birds
grill
grill
wood fire oven
wood fire oven
lots of peppers
lots of peppers
looking into grill area
looking into grill area
Frankie enjoyed the bathroom flowers
Frankie enjoyed the bathroom flowers
William, our waiter also
William, our waiter also
our waiter Jorge
our waiter Jorge
from the grill end of the room
from the grill end of the room
fish at the bar end
fish at the bar end
more peppers at the bar
more peppers at the bar
lots of fresh fish
lots of fresh fish
She thought the long sink could double as a pool for her
She thought the long sink could double as a pool for her

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