Restaurant Review #9 - Coya Mayfair
Hi everyone,
As a Peruvian, I get excited when new restaurants open in London. I still have hope that Peruvian restaurants can do justice to the popular Peruvian cuisine. Thus far it's been hit and miss as London Peruvian restaurants have adopted tapas style cuisine tailored towards professionals. Such is the case with Coya Mayfair, it's situated in a very affluent area and attempts to cater towards that market. The interior is contemporary and it's atmosphere is surprisingly vibrant. The waiting staff are well trained and it's basement location attempts to recreate some latin aspects in its design.
The lunch menu is not badly priced, quite affordable considering the location. It is what you would expect to pay for a middle-high range restaurant. However, on this occasion I was longing for a good ceviche. Therefore, I decided to order the three different types of ceviche and a dessert. The traditional ceviche was the best one in my opinion, it was clear and the taste did resemble the ceviche I have grown to love. It is simple and effective; the chefs have decided to let the ingredients shine and they certainly do.
The second ceviche was a spicy tuna variety. It's red colour certainly does not resemble a traditional ceviche and the raw tuna reminded me of sushi. Yet I felt the flavour was well balanced and the dish itself looked appetising and tasted well. Would I order this again? Probably not but it was a good experience trying it nonetheless.
The third ceviche was more controversial: truffle ceviche. While this will make the eyes roll for many working class Peruvians, this restaurant is not catered towards them but those from a higher social class. For me, it's unnecessary to add truffle to a ceviche as its pungent flavour will overwhelm the acidity of the dish. Nevertheless it was worth trying just for the experience. As expected, the pungent flavour of truffle overwhelms the dish entirely. I wasn't bad but I don't think it was good either. Excessive luxury on a dish that is already well balanced and complete. The truffle kills the freshness of ceviche and ultimately I don't feel it's a good combination. To finish the meal I ordered a chocolate ganash which was very rich and packed with flavour. It was a good to end to what was an interesting meal. I would be inclined to visit this restaurant again to try new dishes or a tasting menu as it does have potential. The atmosphere is great and they take themselves seriously. They just need to perfect their food combinations to bring out the best of Peruvian food.
Price: Creeping towards High-End
Food: Experimental but not Perfected
Service: Professional
Rating: 3.5/5
Fun Fact: Lima has been named the Gastronomic Capital of Latin America for many years and gets more tourism for its food rather than Inca monuments
The lunch menu is not badly priced, quite affordable considering the location. It is what you would expect to pay for a middle-high range restaurant. However, on this occasion I was longing for a good ceviche. Therefore, I decided to order the three different types of ceviche and a dessert. The traditional ceviche was the best one in my opinion, it was clear and the taste did resemble the ceviche I have grown to love. It is simple and effective; the chefs have decided to let the ingredients shine and they certainly do.
The second ceviche was a spicy tuna variety. It's red colour certainly does not resemble a traditional ceviche and the raw tuna reminded me of sushi. Yet I felt the flavour was well balanced and the dish itself looked appetising and tasted well. Would I order this again? Probably not but it was a good experience trying it nonetheless.
The third ceviche was more controversial: truffle ceviche. While this will make the eyes roll for many working class Peruvians, this restaurant is not catered towards them but those from a higher social class. For me, it's unnecessary to add truffle to a ceviche as its pungent flavour will overwhelm the acidity of the dish. Nevertheless it was worth trying just for the experience. As expected, the pungent flavour of truffle overwhelms the dish entirely. I wasn't bad but I don't think it was good either. Excessive luxury on a dish that is already well balanced and complete. The truffle kills the freshness of ceviche and ultimately I don't feel it's a good combination. To finish the meal I ordered a chocolate ganash which was very rich and packed with flavour. It was a good to end to what was an interesting meal. I would be inclined to visit this restaurant again to try new dishes or a tasting menu as it does have potential. The atmosphere is great and they take themselves seriously. They just need to perfect their food combinations to bring out the best of Peruvian food.
Price: Creeping towards High-End
Food: Experimental but not Perfected
Service: Professional
Rating: 3.5/5
Fun Fact: Lima has been named the Gastronomic Capital of Latin America for many years and gets more tourism for its food rather than Inca monuments
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