La Mar Cebicheria Peruana
By
Carol & Joe Davis
Dining Detectives
International
Restaurateur /Chef Gaston Acurio opened
La Mar Cebicheria Peruana in Lima, Peru seven
years ago and has expanded to San Francisco. They feature Peruvian
Cuisine made with local and organic ingredients, Peruvian spices,
fresh seafood and meats prepared with Peruvian, Japanese, California
and Chinese influences.
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The
atmosphere and décor are upbeat, colorful and comfortable.
There is a separate bar area in the front, large dining room and
counter seating which is great for watching preparation and plating
in the exhibition kitchen. They also have all weather dockside
outdoor seating for dining and cocktails on the pier which has
a water view and beautiful flowers in hanging baskets. We sat
in the main dining room and started out with two Peruvian cocktails.
The Pisco Sour made with Pisco Quebranta brandy, lime juice, simple
syrup, and dash of egg white and a drop of bitters was quite unique
and the Santa Maria Cocktail made with Pisco Quebranta, pomegranate
infused tequila, ginger syrup and lemon juice was wonderful!
We
spoke with Executive Chef Diego Oka, a native
of Peru, who was part of the team that opened the first La Mar
in Lima, Peru. He was pleased to now live in San Francisco and
enjoyed the vibrancy of The City.
Our
first course was the Cebiches Tasting which was a sampler
of Cebiche Ciasico, Cebiche Mixto, Cebiche
Chalaco and Cebiche Nikei. Cebiche, the national
dish of Peru, is made with 100% sustainably caught fish and shellfish
then marinated in "leche de tigre". They were all fresh
and delicious and our favorites were the Cebiche Ciasico made
with California Halibut in a classic leche de tigre with red onion
habanero and Peruvian corn and yam and the Cebiche Nikei with
tuna, red onion, Japanese cucumber, daikon avocado, nori, and
sesame in tamarind leche de tigre. The Tasting is a great option
for sharing and the presentation was beautiful.
There
are over 500 types of potatoes grown in Peru, so we knew we needed
to taste their traditional Causas which are whipped potatoes
topped with seafood or vegetarian ingredients. The presentation
of the Tasting of Causas was lovely as well. We particularly enjoyed
the Causa Limena which was fresh Dungeness Crab on potato
with avocado puree, quail egg, cherry tomatoes, aji Amarillo huancaina
sauce and basil cilantro oil and the Causa Nikei which
was Tuna Tartar with avocado puree on top of Rocoto potato with
creamy rocoto sauce and Japanese nori. The Causa Camaron
which was Sweet & Spicy Poached Shrimp and fried onions on
top of Rocoto potato with leche de tigre aioli and the Causa
Casera Vegetarian made with Yellow Potato, artichokes, asparagus,
avocado and tomato confit with basil cilantro oil were also delicious.
The texture of the potatoes was light and perfectly whipped to
be the platform for the variety of these delicious toppings.
We
chose two classic Peruvian entrees to try this evening. We loved
the Arroz Jugoso made with prawns, clams, mussels, calamari,
white fish ,vegetables, Arborio rice and Peruvian ajis which was
served with rocoto aioli and toasted bread. It was delicate and
absolutely perfect with a very generous amount of seafood. We
also loved the Lomo Saltado which is Peruvian Style stir-fry
sautéed beef tenderloin with onions, tomatoes, cilantro,
soy sauce, garlic, fried potatoes and rice. The steak was prepared
medium rare and was juicy, tender and flavorful.
There
is an International Wine List and of course we wanted to try Peruvian
Wines but we were advised that other South American, California
and European Wines were better. The 2010 Vevi La Mar Rueda
Spain Verdejo paired perfectly with the Cebiches and the
2010 Achaval Ferrer Mendoza Argentina Malbec paired perfectly
with the beef. We enjoyed both of our desserts made by Pastry
Chef Astrid Gutsche. The Trio de Postres
was a delicious trio of maracuya, pie de Limon and arroz
con leche and the excellent Panna Cotta had a unique
presentation. A Tuaca after dinner drink and a Double Espresso
with excellent crème were the perfect finish to this excellent
dinner.
La
Mar Cebicheria Peruana serves excellent Peruvian Cuisine.
The service was perfect and the atmosphere was lively and fun!
We appreciated that there was parking right on the pier and maybe
next time we'll come with some boating friends and use their private
boat dock to tie up when we come for lunch or dinner.
La
Mar Cebicheria Peruana
Pier 1.5 Suite 100 The Embarcadero
San Francisco, CA. 94111
415.397.8880
www.LaMarCebicheria.com