Pisqu

Healthy, delicate and beautifully presented, the food at this small, seemingly simple Peruvian restaurant was sometimes excellent. The most delicious thing on the menu was a wonderfully sticky Inca corn grain cake. This truly lip-smacking starter is topped with juicy, slightly charred pulpo – the smoky burnt flavour of the octopus the perfect accompaniment to the sweet, chewy corn. The Lomo a la Perilla is another must-try – a plump little beef fillet served with mashed avocado and, guess what, that moreish little Inca corn cake again. And no, it didn’t get old.

Now for the lows. It’s really pricey for what you get and one dish – a hot ceviche mixto – tasted more like overcooked seafood in a bland, boil-in-the-bag-esque broth. Worst of all, the service was agonisingly slow. As I prepared to leave, another table were complaining that their food had taken so long to come, they no longer had time to eat it.

It’s a shame, because Pisqu shows flashes of brilliance. That corn cake’s definitely worth a visit, but go when you’ve got a lot of time on your hands.