La Mar

March 18, 2009

On Wednesday, I had a work dinner at a hip and happening new restaurant on the Embarcadero, La Mar Cebichuria Peruana at Pier 1 1/2. The location is fantastic, right next to the Ferry Building and overlooking the bay to the Bay Bridge. The design and lighting is very fun and with wonderful natural light.

The menu, from Chef Gastón Acurio, features Peruvian dishes, specializing in cebiches, tiraditos (Peruvian-style sashimis), causas (traditional Peruvian potato dishes), para compartir (dishes to share), arroces (regional rice dishes) and classic Peruvian main dishes and stews.

I started with a classic Pisco Sour...

To start, we shared a variety of starters/appetizers:
The Cebiche tasting consists of four of their most popular and delicious cebiches.

• cebiche mixto -Mahi Mahi, calamari, octopus and habanero pepper in ají amarillo, leche de tigre with cilantro, red onion, Peruvian corn and yam
• cebiche chifa -Mahi Mahi with peanuts, scallions, ginger, pickled carrots anddaikon, habanero pepper, wonton strips and cilantro in sesame, leche de tigre
• cebiche clásico - California Halibut and red onions in habanero pepper leche detigre with Peruvian corn and yam
• cebiche nikei - Ahi Tuna, red onion, Japanese cucumber, in tamarind leche detigre with avocado
  

Tiradito clásico - red snapper, ají manzano, lime and cilantro, leche de tigre
Uña - Dungeness Crab in Nikei sauce stuffed with Gulf of Mexico shrimp, chicken and peanuts. Phenomenal!
Cau Cau - Roasted scallops in a clam and mint broth with tiny potatoes andsweet peas and corn risotto
Buñuelos de chocolate caliente - Orange glazed chocolate beignets with banana and passion fruit ice cream.
Tiramisu de lúcuma - Lúcuma tiramisu with lúcuma ice cream

The cebiches were amazing, entree scallops and the beignets were absolute winners. Overall, I really enjoyed dinner at La Mar, and appreciated that the bill was covered by work, as I can see how it can get a little pricy. The Pisco drinks were delish, La Mar has my stamp of approval for happy hour.