One to bear in mind
Pro Reliably tasty Peruvian food in smart surroundings.
Con Cheap it isn't.
Pay
€€€€
Per Person €37 per person. Shared starter and dessert, main. 1 Pisco Sour to start, bottle of Ribera.
El tenedor discount may be available.
Gratis: homemade cream liquer.
Find
Website Here
Access Step free eating area.
In Short
Hopes? A touch of Lima.
Reality? A bit more love needed.
First Impressions? It's big. And a bit rambling. With some amusing decor touches.
A USP? Poshish peruvian.
The food in three words? Good to better.
Can they get the staff? Slightly forgetful.
Service with a smile? No complaints.
Friend friendly? Menu has vegan options.
Rating for dating? Several going on around us.
Tip? Small one.
Change one thing? Warm the plates!
Going back? Will probably try others in the group.
Compare & Contrast
More Piscos Sour at Maria Bonita
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
So to Peru. Increasingly famous for very modern cooking as well as an amiable bear with a hard stare. A talent worth learning for queue jumpers; waiters who pour wine for you and people who leave the lift door open. There's also a real one which needs all the help it can get.
Aaanyway. How was dinner? To the menu. Well, there's lots to take in, so we needed time to peru-se it.
Starter
We shared a rather nice stuffed mashed potato deep fried thingy. Apparently filled with the chef's mum's recipe. We liked the personalisation a lot. Essentially a giant croquette, the microsplodge of creamy spicy sauce and some fresh-tasting pickled red onions added some contrast, but we'd have had a pot of sauce and doubled the onion quotient. There's the potential for a delicious dish here - if with enough condiments to make the most of the centrepiece.
Main
Here's a winner. Roast lamb shank in red wine sauce was not far short of a triumph. This was excellent stuff, slow cooked, falling off the bone. Delicious. True to say it's not too hard to make a good job of this if - if - you cook it slowly enough. But you still have to be able to make decent gravy and this was excellent. Beans were a good contrast, to that excellent sauce, but the bread on offer didn't do it the favours it deserved. One moan. A fairly frustrating one. Quality's one thing but we were left with near-cold beans and sauce well before the end as this dish was served on a cold plate. You've got to warm your plates more.
Oriental-style rice and chicken will never be my cup of tea. I always feel it's a dish looking for a sauce or two, and I'd have wanted a nice little pot with chilli in it for a bit of bite. But, we have to give it a fair go. It retained interest; the initial hit of soy and spice didn't fade away, but stayed fresh with each mouthful. Not a bad achievement, but in the end simply too conservative for our tastes - mind, it was our choice and we could have asked more about it. For some this would probably be a welcome successful touch of Peruvian-chinese flavours.
Dessert
A peruvian favourite - not, sadly, the marmalade sandwich, but the three-milk cake. A snowy white triangle appeared. Some nice gloopy sponge, was excellent, some Madrid foamy cream unneccessary, but, shared, this made a decent finish and didn't feel industrial, which is always welcome and a good sign.
A nice touch followed, with the offer of homemade cream liquer. Think a powerful cinnamon flavoured Baileys type concoction. Very good indeed, and such details in this city are much appreciated and always score points.
Service was good, aside from, for some reason, a Pisco Sour - it was a fine one when it finally appeared - going astray at the start.
There's plenty more on the menu: half a dozen ceviches; grill/barbecue meats for instance. That said, a plasticised folding leaflet doesn't really suit the smart decor and table-clothed furniture. A cute fluffy llama tableau on one wall pricks risks of being a bit too posh for its own good, but do keep the doors to where the bins live shut, please. And, yes - llama, not lama. Although, true, both come from mountainous habitats. Our public service duty discharged, there.
A professional and pretty polished service, it doesn't have the kind of passion you might like from an owner-operated restaurant, but it doesn't feel dully corporate. It's certainly not the cheapest option you'll find, look out for an El Tenedor discount if possible.
Pro Reliably tasty Peruvian food in smart surroundings.
Con Cheap it isn't.
Pay
€€€€
Per Person €37 per person. Shared starter and dessert, main. 1 Pisco Sour to start, bottle of Ribera.
El tenedor discount may be available.
Gratis: homemade cream liquer.
Find
Website Here
Access Step free eating area.
In Short
Hopes? A touch of Lima.
Reality? A bit more love needed.
First Impressions? It's big. And a bit rambling. With some amusing decor touches.
A USP? Poshish peruvian.
The food in three words? Good to better.
Can they get the staff? Slightly forgetful.
Service with a smile? No complaints.
Friend friendly? Menu has vegan options.
Rating for dating? Several going on around us.
Tip? Small one.
Change one thing? Warm the plates!
Going back? Will probably try others in the group.
Compare & Contrast
More Piscos Sour at Maria Bonita
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
So to Peru. Increasingly famous for very modern cooking as well as an amiable bear with a hard stare. A talent worth learning for queue jumpers; waiters who pour wine for you and people who leave the lift door open. There's also a real one which needs all the help it can get.
Aaanyway. How was dinner? To the menu. Well, there's lots to take in, so we needed time to peru-se it.
Starter
We shared a rather nice stuffed mashed potato deep fried thingy. Apparently filled with the chef's mum's recipe. We liked the personalisation a lot. Essentially a giant croquette, the microsplodge of creamy spicy sauce and some fresh-tasting pickled red onions added some contrast, but we'd have had a pot of sauce and doubled the onion quotient. There's the potential for a delicious dish here - if with enough condiments to make the most of the centrepiece.
Here's a winner. Roast lamb shank in red wine sauce was not far short of a triumph. This was excellent stuff, slow cooked, falling off the bone. Delicious. True to say it's not too hard to make a good job of this if - if - you cook it slowly enough. But you still have to be able to make decent gravy and this was excellent. Beans were a good contrast, to that excellent sauce, but the bread on offer didn't do it the favours it deserved. One moan. A fairly frustrating one. Quality's one thing but we were left with near-cold beans and sauce well before the end as this dish was served on a cold plate. You've got to warm your plates more.
Oriental-style rice and chicken will never be my cup of tea. I always feel it's a dish looking for a sauce or two, and I'd have wanted a nice little pot with chilli in it for a bit of bite. But, we have to give it a fair go. It retained interest; the initial hit of soy and spice didn't fade away, but stayed fresh with each mouthful. Not a bad achievement, but in the end simply too conservative for our tastes - mind, it was our choice and we could have asked more about it. For some this would probably be a welcome successful touch of Peruvian-chinese flavours.
A peruvian favourite - not, sadly, the marmalade sandwich, but the three-milk cake. A snowy white triangle appeared. Some nice gloopy sponge, was excellent, some Madrid foamy cream unneccessary, but, shared, this made a decent finish and didn't feel industrial, which is always welcome and a good sign.
A nice touch followed, with the offer of homemade cream liquer. Think a powerful cinnamon flavoured Baileys type concoction. Very good indeed, and such details in this city are much appreciated and always score points.
Service was good, aside from, for some reason, a Pisco Sour - it was a fine one when it finally appeared - going astray at the start.
There's plenty more on the menu: half a dozen ceviches; grill/barbecue meats for instance. That said, a plasticised folding leaflet doesn't really suit the smart decor and table-clothed furniture. A cute fluffy llama tableau on one wall pricks risks of being a bit too posh for its own good, but do keep the doors to where the bins live shut, please. And, yes - llama, not lama. Although, true, both come from mountainous habitats. Our public service duty discharged, there.
A professional and pretty polished service, it doesn't have the kind of passion you might like from an owner-operated restaurant, but it doesn't feel dully corporate. It's certainly not the cheapest option you'll find, look out for an El Tenedor discount if possible.