PERUVIAN BRUNCH @ PACHAMAMA

It has been a while since I visited Pachamama, a Peruvian-inspired bar and restaurant in Marylebone, back in the early days when they first opened (2-ish years ago?)- it was not the most memorable experience, but I was convinced that things had improved since then. 
 
 We booked in for a relaxing Sunday brunch and were seated at a nice table towards the back where natural light shone through from above.

The cocktail menu looked rather tempting, and the three of us ordered the Miraflores from the list of 'Mama's Cocktails', a sweet and fruity cocktail named after their favourite area in Lima where you sip cocktails by the beach. Now if only there was some way to transport ourselves to somewhere exotic, if only just for the weekend...

We started with a selection of snacks to share which included the sweet and tender pork belly chicharrones and brown crab and yuca churros which were really light and moreish.
I could never miss out on padron peppers that I could happily snack on all day, and I also liked the crisp peruvian fried chicken with a side of hot sauce.

We also had a selection from the Lunch Plates category, which included a couple of ceviche dishes: house sea bass and samphire ceviche, and salmon tiradito with beetroot and avocado, both of which were tasty and refreshing, as well as being vibrant and appealing to the eye.
This was followed by a couple of meatier dishes: quinoa waffles with yacon syrup and bacon, and 'Duck on Rice' which was one of my favourite dishes (I do have a certain affinity for rice dishes...must be an Asian thing!). I was not too fond of the crispy lamb belly which was a bit on the dry side.

I would also recommend ordering some sides, from which we ordered the aubergine with smoked yoghurt and pecans, and the plantain with feta, black olive and yacon syrup.

To finish off, we ordered coffee and couple of desserts to share: a refreshing blackberry and sorrel 'Suspiro de Limena' and a contrastingly rich and delicious torta de lucuma and peach.

Overall it was a pleasant and satisfying brunch, and a much better experience compared to the first.
The place was not particularly busy which I prefer especially if you're looking for somewhere to relax on a weekend.

The Cheekster, signing out x

 

COYA, MAYFAIR

I love my Mondays off work, especially when the weather is good, and my afternoon was made even better when Angie (@SilverSpoonLDN) asked me along for lunch Coya. The name coincidentally sounds very much similar to Koya (one of my favourite regular spots, as many of you may already know!), but is in fact very different. 

Coya is instead a modern Peruvian restaurant located in Mayfair, just off Piccadilly, with three open kitchens; the Ceviche Bar, the open charcoal grill, and the central kitchen.
It has been quite a while since I last had Peruvian food, and I have heard good things about Coya - one of those places that has also been on the to-do list for ages.

The staff were very friendly upon our arrival, as they kept our coats away in the cloakroom before showing us to our table by the window. 
I do like the interior of the place, with its vibrant colours and artistic decor.

We tried a couple of drinks from the Juice Menu, which was divided into four different categories: Smoothies, Cleanses, Boosters, and the last option where you could make your choice of up to five ingredients. I was initially slightly tempted to choose my own ingredients, but then reconsidered, avoiding the catastrophe of my avocado-blueberry-coconut-mango-peanut butter concoction...

I decided to play safe this time, and went for the Campo Verde (wheatgrass, kale, pineapple, avocado, apple), whilst Angie chose the Para Picchu (kale, cilantro, celery, cucumber, pineapple). Both very green and healthy-looking drinks, and I particularly liked the creaminess of the avocado.

We also tried one of their cocktails, the Cusco Wildberry Punch (Ketel One Vodka, blackberry, raspberry, lemon, agave nectar and prosecco), which was quite sweet and fruity.

We both went for the four course set lunch menu, and ordered different dishes for each course so that we had a wider selection to try.

For our first course, we ordered a salmon and sea bream ceviche. The Salmon Nikkei had celery juice, ginger, daikon and wasabi tobiko, which was very refreshing. I loved the sea bream which had a lovely and fresh aroma from the coriander and a slight spiciness from the aji amarillo. Both of them were very good starters.

Salmon Nikkei

Dorada Criolla

Next up were the chicken skewers and tuna tacos. The chicken skewers looked really tasty, but we did notice that they were slightly pink on the inside. We queried it with the staff, and were reassured that it was meant to be prepared that way. Nicely marinated with more aji amarillo and garlic, and I can safely confirm that all is still well the day after!

We both really enjoyed the tuna tacos which were finely chopped up and very dainty indeed, served in light and crispy mini tacos.

I ordered another chicken dish for my main course, loading up on plenty of protein today! It was a really generous portion of corn fed baby chicken breast, marinated in aji panca which had a delectable peppery and smokey taste, and a bit of fruitiness to it as well. It was served with some nicely grilled peppers and onions on the side.

The sea bream was undoubtedly delicious as well, served on a bed of luscious potatoes and a fennel salad on the side.

Pollo al Josper

Filete de Dorada

We were quite full afterwards, but our waiter kindly brought out a couple of desserts for us to try anyway. One was a trio of ice cream: chocolate, Arabica coffee, and lucuma (if I'm not mistaken!). The chocolate was quite interesting as it had a bit of a boozy taste to it.

I really liked the Parfait de Arabica, made with kiwicha, caramelised banana, and Zacapa 23 YO rum. I had to control myself so as not to devour it all on my own, conscious that I hadn't gone for ballet in the morning - I do hate wasting good desserts...

Overall it was a very pleasant and relaxing afternoon, and the staff were very attentive and friendly throughout. 

A word of thanks to Angie for inviting me along and being such great company as usual, and many thanks to Coya for all the good food and their generosity.

Looks like this will be another favourite Peruvian restaurant in London to add to my list.

The Cheekster, signing out x

#ZOMATOMEETUP AT CHOTTO MATTE

Just a few days ago, I attended Zomato's final #ZomatoMeetup of the year 2014. 

Chotto Matte specialises in Nikkei cuisine - a merging of Japanese and Peruvian, both cuisines of which I love.

I headed there straight after work, closely missing the rush hour crowd, so I was the first to arrive, and sipped away on some champagne whilst waiting for the rest to arrive.

I was also quite hungry (as usual), and started nibbling away on the canchas (Peruvian corn puffs) and the sweet potato and cassava chips...

The event was held at the Lava-stone cocktail bar on the ground floor, known for its pisco and sake cocktails. Surrounding this bar is a mural created by critically acclaimed graffiti artist Tom Blackford, aka Ink Fetish. Our evening was hosted by the lovely Head Bad Chef, Fabiano Latham, who kept us entertained with some cocktail masterclasses. 

The drinks that were demonstrated included: 

Pisco Sour - Pisco, lime, sugar, egg white, Peruvian bitters

Cuatro Uvas - Pisco, sake, elderflower, red grapes, lime & celery bitters

Chicana de tonka - Pisco, cucumber, lime, tonka bitters & ginger beer

Some of the other bloggers also had the opportunity to go behind the bar and shake up some cocktails, however I was too distracted by the food section so I didn't participate...

Sweet potato and cassava chips with guacamole and burnt yellow tomato salsa

We later moved on to the food part where the chefs cooked up some tasty dishes for us to sample. Some of my favourites were the Eggplant Nigiri and the Nikkei Sashimi.

There was a lot of blow-torching going on...

 

Heritage tomato Aburi tostaditas

Nikkei Sashimi: yellowtail sashimi, yuzu truffle soy, purple potato crisps, jalapeno, coriander, cherry tomato

Padron Peppers: den miso and sea salt

Towards the end of the evening, we were given a little tour of the restaurant, which included the  exposed Robata grill, serving smokey Nikkei BBQ, and the Nikkei sushi bar, where Chef Kaito Sato creates his magic!

 The menus for the Robata grill and sushi bar have been specially created by Executive Chef Jordan Sclare (ex-head chef at Aqua Kyoto and Nobu) alongside Chef Michael Paul. 

We ended the evening with a sweet glass of Perfecto Amor - Peruvian wine fortified with Pisco and aged in sherry casks. After a few group photos, we each grabbed our goody bags and went our separate ways...

For more photos of the event, click on this link for photos taken by the lovely Alexandra.
Mischevious KS (aka the eating machine!) had a little play around with Alexandra's camera and surprisingly took a decent photo of Angela & I.
That man has skills...

If you ever do visit, don't forget to go down to the lower ground floor where you can see the captivating UV artwork from Houxo Que. That's also where the toilets are, which are pretty high-tech - just go in, even if you don't need to (!)

This was my first time at Chotto Matte, and after a pleasant evening, I am now tempted to go back to have a proper sit-down meal and get the full Nikkei experience.

 

Thank you, and well done again to Alexandra, Sarah, and the rest of the amazing Zomato team for organizing another fun and enjoyable event. And to all the other bloggers, old and new, it was nice to meet you all - looking forward to more exciting times in 2015!

The Cheekster, signing out x