Senor Ceviche

With so many new pop-ups and restaurants opening their doors every week, return visits are a rare occurence, especially if said restaurants don’t happen to be within a 5-min walking radius from my front door.

That said, some places do make the cut for a second visit, be it because we just happen to be in the neighbourhood, or have a specific craving that simply must be satisfied.

As far as Señor Ceviche is concerned, it was a combination of both.

On a nice, sunny weekend, we found ourselves wandering near Kingly Court in great need of a cocktail and some barbecued side action.

So after over a year, we made our way to Señor’s casa, eager to quench our thirst with a glass of house pisco and sink our teeth into some Peruvian small plates.

The restaurant itself was as packed, fun and vibrant as ever (as you can absolutely not guess from the above press pics ??), with loads of groups celebrating the weekend and foodies delighting in the Casa’s specialities, including some truly stunning cocktails!

Obligatory Pisco Sour (Machu Pisco, lime juice, egg white, Chuncho bitters).

Another Casa Clasico: the Pisco Punch (Machu Pisco, lemon juice, pineapple syrup, rosemary)

All served up by the friendliest & funniest of teams!

And quickly followed by a tableful of colourful small plates to share, tapas style.

Starting with an old favourite, Chifa Chicharrones.

Slow cooked, crispy pork belly with sweet soy sauce, it’s as indulgent as you’d imagine and an absolute must-order in my book.

Mr Miyagi tiradito

A Salmon tiradito and the perfect mix of South American and Asian cuisines, it was a brilliant example of Nikkei cooking, as well as very light and fresh. Perfect for super hot days!

Though The Spaniard still remains my absolute favourite.

With sea bream and king prawn in a perfectly balanced sweet-and-spicy tomato & aji rocotto tiger’s milk and crispy chorizo, it’s basically summer on a plate and the sort of dish you can’t refrain from ordering a second order of the second you finish it.

Nikkei Pulpo (Kombu grilled octopus with nikkei chimichurri & sweet potato causa)

Perfectly grilled octopus and a citrusy green salsa, it was always going to be a winner!

An a cheeky side of Patatas Fritas with fiery aji rocotto mayonnaise.

Peru’s answer to French fries (and I’m quite tempted to put them in charge of the Fries Comity to be honest…), and one of the many dishes worth peru-sing!

Señor Ceviche, Kingly Court, Kingly St, London W1B 5PW

PIN FOR LATER:

Since I first visited the little gem of a restaurant that is Señor Ceviche, I have been victim of this weird thing that is “new restaurant paradox”. You know, that moment when you’re not sure if you want to tell the world about this great little place you’ve just been to, or just keep it all to yourself (and make sure they’ll always have a table for you…).

But Señor Ceviche is hardly a secret anymore since it has received RAVE reviews from… well, pretty much everyone. And I’ve already tried half of their cocktail list, and a significant number of their dishes as well, so I thought it might be time for you to do the same!

Out of the many cocktails we got, my favourite was the Barranco Babe. I never had a cocktail with basil before, but this was a revelation. The Pisco Sour and the Mamacita also come highly recommended, and if you’re really into spicy things, the Nazca Heat is definitely worth a shot!

Like many other restaurants, dishes at Señor Ceviche are small plates meant to sharing. Which I love. Mainly because it means you get to try more things. And the more people around the table, the easier the choice, since you can pretty much order the entire menu. And that’s pretty much what we did!

We started things off with a few nibbles. Yucas came with a finger-licking good aji mayo.

And Chicharonnes. Also know as “slow cooked, crispy pork belly with sweet soysauce”. And yes, they are as good as they sound. Take my word and order them. You’ll regret it if you don’t.

A good third of Señor Ceviche’s menu is made of ceviche. I tried a few but my favourite was the Mercado Mixto; a perfectly balanced sea bream and salmon tiradito with orange and pisco tiger’s milk (no worry, no tiger was hurt to produce this dish!). The zing from the orange and the freshness from the pisco really made that dish for me!

The Limeno Classico was pretty as a picture too, but didn’t quite compare to the Mercado Mixto in terms of taste. It was just missing a bit of acidity for my tastes.

The vegetarian ceviche, the Chimbote was even prettier and I really enjoyed the different textures in this dish, but once again, it wasn’t quite zingy enough for me.

We were feeling a bit peckish, so we also ordered another fish dish. The Chancaca Salmon was cooked perfectly and the accompanying fennel salad was crunchy, fresh and really enjoyable.

Now, what do you do when you read the words BBQ Chicken. You order it. And then you gobble it down and consider getting a second serving. Obviously.

Alright, that was a lot of protein, which we balanced out with a bowl of Patatas Fritas. Chips with melted cheese and tomato fondue; resistance was futile.

I suppose it is not really surprising that we were not quite hungry enough for dessert after all of these. I’ve been told that the brownie’s pretty nice though, so I’m not saying I won’t be back for cocktails and dessert one of these days… The only question is, will you?

Señor Ceviche: Kingly Court, London W1B 5PW

Cake and Whisky

Life in London and other almost-grown-up tales

Menu

Señor Ceviche

Senor Ceviche