La Mar by Gaston Acurio

Reviews 3

TH

The Whet Palette

Twenty-five steps down from the lobby and sitting directly underneath Azul, La Mar by Gastón Acurio is a South Florida favorite. Peruvian born, Diego Oka, has already worked at other La Mar locations. This time around, the power duo is doing it big in Miami. Sure, South Florida has had an explosion of Peruvian restaurants in the last 5 years, but I’m not complaining. This Cuban girl loves Peruvian food. La Mar’s concept is different; the restaurant describes its cuisine as “upscale novo-Andean fare to Asian-Peruvian fusion and traditional seafood cebiche.” As Executive Chef, Oka is free to be creative in the kitchen despite the long distance relationship with Acurio. He adds “I always consult with him and of course he also gives us really cool ideas. We work together and he is always informed. Teamwork!” La Mar’s elegant interiors, designed with a contemporary flair, feel chic and inviting. Biscayne Bay and the Miami skyline as your backdrop aren’t too shabby either. Day or night, rain or shine, the view is definitively also part of the experience. One look at the menu and I was initially overwhelmed, so many good choices! I could not make up my mind. Luckily, since then, I have already tried many of the dishes. To begin dinner, yuca chips, accompanied with a simple and addicting yellow pepper sauce are brought to the table. To drink, I almost always have wine I bring with me. The corkage fee is a steep $50.00, but worth it if you are as picky as I am about wine. While my wine decants, I like to order a cocktail off the menu. The guava pisco and chilcano de pisco have consistently been great choices. A good way to dive right in is to order the cebiche sampler. The tuna is always my favorite of the three (fluke, calamari/shrimp/snapper and tuna). Another great dish is the plancha anticuchera: octopus, calamari, white corn, and chimichurri. These two starters took me on a tour of Peruvian flavors right from the get go. My top three, must-have entrees are the fideos machos, lamb chop seco, and the lomo saltado. The grilled Colorado lamb is always tender and oh so flavorful. It sits atop an anticuchera sauce with carrots, peas, cannelloni beans, and brings La Mar’s staple rice with choclo on the side. This simple, traditional rice is addicting; I always order some to go! The lomo is a stir fried angus beef tossed with red onions, tomatoes, soy sauce, cilantro and papas fritas. By far, the winning dish here is the fideos machos. Fideos are squid ink pasta noodles topped with scallops, calamari, grouper, choclo, and the very creamy lime rococo aioli. You can’t dine here and not have dessert. Delicate alfajores filled, topped, or sprinkled with dulce de leche, lucuma, coffee, chocolate, and peanuts is what the cajita de alfajores variados is all about. This very sinful dessert is beautiful to look at and the sweetest way to end your dinner. Led by gifted and skilled Diego Oka, La Mar by Gastón Acurio is a trendy yet casual, vivacious restaurant with unparalleled Miami city views, delivering outstanding food. I couldn’t help but ask Diego about his thoughts on his new Miami stomping grounds. He happily responds, “Every city that I have lived in before has something to offer, some more than others, but they always have something. What surprised me most is that Miami is not only South Beach. I was very happy that we have Art Districts, Wynnwood, Midtown, etc. Also, that the food industry is growing a lot, you can find food, great concepts, and amazing chefs!” I couldn’t agree more Chef. I am so happy you brought your talents to South Beach Miami.

CH

Chat Chow

Waterfront Peruvian hotspot La Mar got a summertime menu revamp courtesy of its chef Diego Oka. Inspired by his recent culinary tour of Italy and Asia, Oka unveiled more than 20 new dishes inspired by his travels and we got a first chance to try them out. Like most traditional Peruvian meals we started out with some Cebiches, Tiraditos and Causas. The new dishes that caught our attention immediately were the Bachiche Tiradito with fresh caught fish, 22-month aged parmesan cheese leche de tigre, colatura, garlic chips and basil and the Flor Causa that encases Maine Lobster tartare in squid ink-infused potatoes delicately piped over it to resemble a flower topped with caviar, gold and avocado. FLOR - black causa, maine lobster tartare, caviar, gold, avocado Other highlights included the Thai Yum made with bbq pork, dry shrimp, crushed tomatoes, kaffir leaves, aji limo pepper, basil, peanuts, sesame oil; Lujoso cebiche with lobster, sunchoke leche de tigre, aji Amarillo, avocado and green olive oil; the appropriately named Vegetable Ceviche filled with sunchoke leche de tigre, aji amarillo, avocado, radishes, white asparagus, heirloom cherry tomatoes, carrots, and the Conchitas a la Parmesana made with parmesan cheese foam, lime, garlic crumbs. Anticuchos — aka grilled skewers — are a must try at La Mar with our favorite new addition being the Swordfish made with with miso anticuchera, grilled broccolini and sesame. Moving onto larger plates that feature plenty of Asian-Peruvian flavors, stand out dishes included the Tallarin Taypa, made with pan-fried egg noodles are served with scallops, char siu, quail egg and XO sauce and the Tamal created with pork jaw and quinoa, grilled fish, seco stew sauce and mint chalaca salsa – a dish we’re told was inspired by the Oka’s recent winning menu at culinary competition Cochon 555. Other standouts included the Cachetes de Ternera made with tender veal cheeks braised in Peruvian purple corn juice chicha morada, and are served with pepian de choclo herb-corn puree; Arroz Verde filled with burrata cheese water, green peas, crostini, chupe sauce, cauliflower puree, shrimp, scallops; and the not for the faint of heart, Plancha Carretillera offering a smogarsboard of sweet breads, chicken liver, chicken heart, rocoto pepper, chalaca. Of course we would never miss dessert, and Oka’s take on it called Picarones — a twist on a fritter — made with sweet potato and pumpkin and drizzled with spiced honey certainly hit the spot. If you’re a fan of La Mar, like we all are, these new dishes will certainly not disappoint and worth trying on your next visit.

RO

Robert Riley

Weve been to quite a few Peruvian restaurants all over Dade and Broward. We just went to La Mar today for brunch at $85 per person. I must tell you, this place is the BEST OF THE BEST when it comes to Peruvian Cuisine. These people SET THE BAR when it comes to exotic tastes. The atmosphere is 2nd to none as far as Peruvian restaurants go. Sitting on the water eating absolutely amazing. Their Lomo Saltado made with Angus beef is absolutely fantastic. We sampled many things at the buffet during brunch. I have never left a restaurant so absolutely stuffed in all my life. I ate so much that it ended up being my only meal for the entire day. The food was so amazing that I could not help myself. This is the perfect place to bring someone for a special night. The service was absolutely outstanding. Our server kept the drinks topped off frequently. Another person kept coming every few minutes to take the dirty dishes off the table. As we frequent restaurants sometimes 4 to 8x per month, I cant remember when I had such great service. We plan on going back next month for a birthday since the food is so amazing. Its fairly expensive as restaurants go, but its so worth it. If you are a skinny person, you definitely will not get your moneys worth there. I feel for you. The food is too amazing to only want to eat just a few bites. Theres SO MUCH to sample during a brunch! And if youre a tourist worried about people not speaking English, dont worry. They all speak perfect English there.