CEVICHE, SOHO

There's nothing like doing a pop up restaurant for 18 people to make me want a luxury holiday. If I could, I'd jet out of the UK to tropical climes the minute I've finished the clearing up but sadly it doesn't happen like that! However, when I get the chance to get out of the house the next day and visit a new and exciting restaurant, serving lots of fresh fish, then that's got to be the next best thing. So after last weekend's pop up that's exactly what I did. Our friend Matt Burgess, who was head chef at Ealing Park Tavern has been snapped up by Ceviche in Soho where he's now running the kitchen. I know wherever Matt is the food's going to be top notch so we booked in for Sunday lunch and headed into Soho to eat all the fish.

Ceviche is small and welcoming, and bustling full of hungry diners. It's noisy, in a good way, and if you want a little more calm  you can sit at the bar/cooking station in the front of the restaurant, which is away from the hustle and bustle of the back area. We wanted hustle and bustle though so took our seats at a table just about large enough to hold all the food I ordered!

After a delicious and much needed pisco sour, we (I - boy is still allergic to chilli) started with drunk scallops - tiratido of thinly sliced king scallops, pisco, pomegranate, limo chilli, lime and coriander. Fresh and punchy, I loved the pop of the pomegranate seeds with the soft, fishy scallops and sour sauce.

Another dish for me, the Nikkeyazo - king prawns, Jerusalem artichoke, avocado, wasabi tiger's milk and superfood goldenberry. This dish was light yet creamy, again with the tangy sauce working so well with the prawns and avocado.

 

Then we had the Causa Lolo Fernandez - a spicy potato cake topped with salmon tartare, avocado and spring onion. The boy ate most of the topping of this as it was chilli free, and it went down a treat. The salmon was light and clean, with the creamy avocado. I loved the spicy potato cake.

From the salads I chose the Solteron. I'm obsessed with palm hearts but they're rarely seen on menus so when I do find them, I order them. In this case they were mixed with spinach, alfalfa, feta cheese, Peruvian olives and a light lime dressing. Rich yet light it was the loveliest combination with the olives adding a salty edge.

The octopus and chorizo skewer was excellent. Smokey chorizo and soft, tender octopus work so well together, especially when they're cooked so well. Octopus can go so wrong but this was perfect.

Cheese and chard tequenos sound like an odd combination but they were one of my favourite dishes on the day. Wanton fritters are filled with cheese, chard and Botija olives and are deep fried giving a crunchy outside with an oozy filling - heaven!!

Ceviche is a new favourite. It's fun, it's fast and the food is really excellent. I'm already a fan of Peruvian food and flavours and Ceviche do everything right. It might not be a holiday in the Maldives or Mauritius but it's a taste of tropical right on our doorstep!