Lima's Taste Ceviche Bar

Our friend Mohan was visiting from D.C during the Labor Day weekend, so we decided to meet up for dinner. We met him at Newport Center Mall in Jersey City and we planned to take the PATH train to Hoboken for dinner. Like usual, we jumped on the 33rd St train, knowing that the next stop will be the Hoboken station. However, it seemed that it took longer than usual for the train to stop and when it did, we were already in the city! Then it occurred to us that it was a Friday! You see, we were so used to taking the PATH only on weekends, so we were thinking of the weekend schedule. The 33rd St train from Newport/Pavonia stops in Hoboken before going into the city only on weekends! Doh!!

The station that we got off at was the Christopher St station in the West Village. Since we were already there, we walked around to look for a decent restaurant to go to. Since Kevin and I were not familiar at all with the restaurants in the West Village area, we just had to pick one and hope that it's good. We spotted this Peruvian restaurant at the corner of the street and decided to give it a try. At the time, we didn't know that Lima's Taste Ceviche Bar is actually a well known Peruvian restaurant and has pretty high ratings in various restaurant review websites.

The decor of the restaurant is very cosy, with exposed bricks and nice red walls. However, it was a tad bit stuffy and hot. Maybe they should have turned on the AC or fans. We started off by looking at the drinks menu. I was impressed that apart from Pisco Sour, they also had a lot of other pisco cocktails to choose from. I ordered the Grape Pisco Slush ($10), Mohan had a glass of Sangria ($8) and Kevin stucked with his favorite drink, a nice tall glass of Guinness ($6). You can never go wrong with Guinness :P

The three of us shared two appetizers. The two boys thought that the Shrimp Wrapped in Bacon ($11) looked good. So we decided to try that. Not only did it look good, it tasted good too! It came with some sort of Peruvian dipping sauce, very very nice.

Now, since it is a Ceviche Bar, of course we had to try one of the Ceviches, rite? We asked the waiter to recommend their most popular Ceviche and he told us that the Ceviche Tiradito has always been a crowd favorite. Ceviche Tiradito is fresh raw fish in lemon & lime juice with a creamy spicy rocoto pepper sauce. I guess Lima's Taste is well known as a superb Ceviche bar for a reason. The Ceviche Tiradito was just awesome!! Really fresh fish slices, mixed with the tangy taste of lemon & lime juice and a little hint of spiciness from the sauce. Amazing!

For our mains, Kevin ordered some Peruvian Grilled Ribs ($24). It wasn't like our regular BBQ roasted ribs. It was grilled dry and then covered with some special Peruvian sauce, served with lots of cilantro and onions on top and yuca below. I tried a piece, it was really good. The meat was moist and juicy and the portion was also very big. Good choice, Kevin!

I ordered the Peruvian Lamb Stew ($17). A large hearty helping of lamb stew with lots of vegetables and served with a portion of rice. It didn't taste out of this world yummy but it wasn't bad either. Let's just say that I didn't have any trouble finishing up this dish, it was good :D I also have to apologise for the quality of the photos in this post, the lighting was really low and I had to use flash. Some of the photos are over exposed and some under exposed :(

Mohan ordered the Peruvian Paella ($26). There was a generous amount of shrimp, scallops, squid, baby octopus, chicken and sausage in the pot. Mohan said that I must mention this when I do a review of this dish. Unlike the Spanish Paella, the Peruvian Paella is somewhat wetter and soggy. Not that it's not nice, just that it's different. Both are nice in their own way. I had a taste of his Paella and I just love it. Good stuff!

After dinner, the boys went ahead and ordered another round of drinks. I decided that one drink is enough for me but I wouldn't mind some dessert :D There were only four choices in the dessert menu. So, I asked the waiter what he would recommend for dessert and he said since it's the summertime, I should get the Passion Fruit Mousse ($7). It's fresh, sweet, light and really good. He was so right! The Passion Fruit Mousse IS really good! It was so good, I ended up sharing it with the boys too. Overall, we had a great time catching up with Mohan over dinner. Good food and great company. Yes, the price is a little on the higher side and the service is a little bit slow, but the great food makes up for it. It's the first time I have tried Peruvian food and I must say, I'm now hooked!

Lima's Taste Ceviche Bar
122 Christopher Street,
New York, NY 10014
Tel: (212) 242-0010
Web: http://www.limastaste.com/