Lima Restaurant

Back in June, one of the folks in my office was headed to Jury Duty and asked me where to eat; of course I recommended Sultan. Which he really enjoyed. Though when he returned he asked me what I thought of the "new" Peruvian Restaurant which was across the street from Sultan. New Peruvian? Across the street from Sultan? So on the following weekend, I decided to head on down to see what he was referring to. And there on the corner of F and Fourth, with a rather discreet sign was "Lima Restaurant".

The fairly large, high ceiling restaurant was quite empty. Looking more like a sports bar than a restaurant.

The woman who waited on me was very friendly and warm. Turned out she was one of the owners.

I started with a Chicha Morada; which was perfect.

Very balanced sweet - cinnamon tones; quite refreshing.

And a little bowl of plantain chips and canchita, nice and warm arrived at the table.

I had ordered the Lomo Saltado, which arrived looking wonderfully vibrant. In a rather different presentation; the fries were served to the side. The nice lady told me that these days folks in Lima prefer Lomo Saltado served this way and I could mix it in as I desired.....or keep it separate to extend the crispness. Like I always say about Peru......the cuisine is always evolving.

The beef was surprisingly tender; there was a good ratio of tomato to onion.....providing a nice balance of acidity to pungency.  I of course, like my papas fritas saturated in the sauce and my only complaint was that there wasn't enough of it. The sauce was more soy sauce forward; with less vinegar, but wasn't overly salty.

This was a nice version. Because the restaurant was fairly quiet; I had a nice conversation with the woman; who was indeed from Lima. We spoke about how the cuisine was ever changing, with everything from the new style "Leche de Tigre"; a creamy, cold soup like dish and how Tacu Tacu con Lomo Saltado has gotten popular. She also told me that Lima Restaurant was having a formal grand opening at the end of July. They were working on the installation and all of the licensing and approvals for a Pollo ala Brassa rostisserie.

I left quite satisfied. And waited to see if I'd hear anything about Lima Restaurant, but the only thing I saw was this; which, by the way, incorrectly attributes Lomo Saltado to the Japanese Diaspora. Being a Sansei myself; I'd love if that were true. The truth of the matter is; and this is from all of my Peruvian food books, and also everywhere online, Lomo Saltado is a Tusan (Chifa) dish. Sigh....

So finally, after not hearing anything for a while, I decided to head back down to the Gaslamp to see what was going on at Lima Restaurant.

The place was very quiet on this visit as well. The gentleman working was quite nice. Though the cancha this time around was cold and dry......not a good start in my book.

I started with the Causa. Which actually had real crab in it! It was perhaps a bit heavy handed in terms of mayo, though the potato was very moist and the seasoning spot on. The very gracious Server asked me if I wanted some "hot sauce" and I responded "some aji?" Which totally changed his friendly but reserved demeanor....."yes, we have four different aji!" So, I selected the Aji Rocoto and the nice Server actually brought me two. The Aji Rocoto and the Aji Panca. "The rocoto is very spicy, so I brought you the panca as well; which you might enjoy more." Great service. The Aji Rocoto was quite spicy, while the Panca had some heat and helped to cut the richness.

I also ordered the Cebiche Pescado, first asking what type of fish was being used.

I was quite thrilled to find out it was sole....making this truly a Cebiche Lenguado! Which was quite nice. The fish was nicely "marinated/cooked" in the Leche de Tigre, as it was still firm, but yielding and not mushy at all. The Leche de Tigre was surprisingly "picante"; quite spicy, but still refreshing. It was also ginger forward; not quite sure if I enjoyed that. At first I didn't think there was very much Leche de Tigre, but it was hidden underneath all that fish; along with quite a bit, perhaps too much, red onion.

I had actually saved my canchita not being sure they would serve more with the cebiche, but they did. It was on the dry side. The chocolo (corn) was too hard and tasteless; the camote had no flavor and was quite hard.

Still, I enjoyed the quality of the fish. I'd have this again just to see if the addition of all that chili was a mistake.

I had a nice conversation with the Server and mentioned the Pollo ala Brassa. He told me they were still working on completing all the inspections and will (hopefully) have it in by the end of August.

I enjoyed the quality of the main ingredients used and the folks working here. I wish it was in a more convenient location for me; though at least I now have another option when I get called for Jury Duty.

Lima Restaurant
409 F St.
San Diego, CA 92101
Hours:
Mon - Thurs 11am - 9pm
Fri - Sat 11am - 10pm
Sunday 11am - 8pm 

Comments

[Junichi]

Hope they can survive down there. Every time I go down there for jury duty I see so many new restaurants.

[Kirk]

I know; turnover is quite high in the area Junichi. I'm hoping they do ok.

[kat]

hope they will do okay

[Kirk]

I hope so too Kat!

[Soo]

Mmm... I wanna try the new style Lomo Saltado.

[Kirk]

The quality of the meat used for the Lomo Saltado Soo....give it a shot.