La Mar’s exquisite Peruvian cuisine is matched by its vista
By Kylie Wang
You can get a bowl of ceviche practically anywhere in Miami, but there are few truly high-end Peruvian restaurants. La Mar, which earned a Michelin star this year, is the best of them, with a chic interior of dark wood and stone outdone only by its waterfront patio, which looks onto the Miami skyline from Brickell Key. Not surprisingly, the menu heavily features seafood and is resoundingly authentic. Executive Chef Gastón Acurio is Peruvian, and an ambassador of Peruvian cuisine with a Lifetime Achievement Award from his native country.
The restaurant is modern and lively without being overbearing. There’s an in-house DJ playing low-fi beats curated for the nighttime atmosphere. The service is efficient and the waiters knowledgeable. The view from the patio is best when the sun goes down and the lights go on in the high-rises of the Brickell financial district just opposite, across a slice of Biscayne Bay. It’s a unique view looking back at the city, rather than outward toward the wide water and ocean beyond.
The ceviche bar is the highlight of the menu, with all dishes based on the fresh catch of the day – like local snapper, grouper, and crab. Our choice was the tiradito bachiche, which defies the old Italian legend that you cannot combine fish with cheese. Here, they add two-year aged Parmesan cheese to a base of leche de tigre (a Peruvian citrus-based marinade) which adds a palpable richness, calms down the acidity, and creates a savory umami.
Another cheese and seafood combination – and for us the best presentation – was the conchitas a la parmesana: grilled jumbo mollusks topped with garlic crumbs. Served in a large scallop shell, it looks almost ethereal, swimming in a creamy parmesan base.
Of course, nothing is more Incan than potatoes (Ireland can still thank Peru) so we also tried the causa flor, the almost bite-size pillows of potato that explode in your mouth with toppings of blue crab, beet causa, and avocado. Pushing the seafood/carbohydrate pairing is another dish, the el achupado, which combines bucatini noodles and a cilantro and cheese (yes, again) chupe sauce, alongside freshly grilled shrimp. It completes its nod to Peru’s roots with the addition of huacatay for the shrimp, a tomato-based sauce made with a piquant herb grown in the Peruvian Andes.
Overall it’s an adventurous, creative menu, but for those looking for something more predictable and land-based, the lomo saltado is the dish of choice. It’s a Peruvian-style fried rice dish with a white rice base topped with stir-fried tenderloin, red onion, tomatoes, soy sauce, and potato wedges. It’s also one of the few non-seafood items on the menu.
La Mar continues its pleasing inventiveness with its drinks, two of which are served in ceramic tiki glasses. The Forbidden Banter and Coco Maiz are both made with pisco, Peru’s equivalent of mezcal or tequila, a kind of clear brandy distilled from fermented grape juice. Both are topped with tropical adornments, so if your meal is a business meeting we’d suggest the traditional Pisco Sour, Peru’s national cocktail. Made with pisco, lime juice, egg whites, and angostura bitters, La Mar’s Pisco Sour comes in four variations: traditional, maracuya (passionfruit), guava, or chicha morada (purple corn).
Desserts aren’t an afterthought in Peru; they’re an essential element of the country’s traditions. While Mexico gets the credit for introducing cacao to the West, chocolate continues to play an important role in Peruvian culture. So for a last course, we ended with the lucuma + chocolate, a light mousse that combines Peruvian chocolate and lucuma, a sweet and citrusy fruit native to Peru. It’s topped with caramelized sesame and hazelnut to give the dish a satisfying crunch.
La Mar is open until 11 pm Sunday through Thursday and until midnight on the weekends. We recommend making reservations a week in advance.
La Mar by
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
500 Bickell Key Drive, Miami
305.913.8288
[email protected]
