The neighbourhood huarique

Ceviche, DIFC’S latest Peruvian restaurant Is a wonderful hidden gem that’s all about being traditional

Huariques are nondescript hole- in- the- wall restaurants tucked into alleyways on the streets of Peru’s cities, like Lima. There are no big signs or advertising, and they’re often easy to miss. But the locals know where they are, and it’s where they go when they want to tuck into a good meal and not break the bank doing so. And as chef Gonzalo Alberto describes Lima’s huariques to me, I begin to understand the ethos behind Ceviche. Located between two passages on the podium level of Emirates Financial Towers in DIFC, this nondescript Peruvian place is exactly that — Dubai’s first and very own huarique, and we’re glad we found it.

Now, Peruvian restaurants are quite the ‘ in’ thing in Dubai, but so many of them are more ‘ special occasion’ places than neighbourhood eateries. Granted there’s hardly ever a thing called a neighbourhood eatery in Dubai, because, let’s be honest, it’s never in a neighbourhood. It’s more like eateries in some towering skyscraper, fancy hotel or extended postmodern shipping container strip mall. But taking that into account, Ceviche is probably as good as it will get ( kind of like our other favourite gem, Thai Time, hidden in the Safest Way Centre on SZR). The décor is simple, with plenty of typical Peruvian touches in the art on the walls and the uniforms of the wait staff, who, by the way, are just delightful. And if you’re Latino, like much of Ceviche’s customers, you can be sure to get a personal greeting from chef Gonzalo.

Before my date and I ordered our appetisers, we decided to give some of the Refrescos ( refreshments) a try. The Inca Kola is an absolute must. It will remind you of a time when sodas used to be made from real sugar. Sigh. And do try the Chicha Morada, which is made from purple corn, orange, pineapple, lime and spices like cinnamon. It’s top- notch stuff that tastes like something in between karkade or hibiscus

flower tea and a pomegranate juice with a citrus twist.

Our starters included the Ceviche Clasico ( but, of course), the Causa Limeña and the Tiradito de Aji Amarillo. Every morsel of every dish was gobbled up. The causa was simple and delicious, made from a few ingredients that you could taste individually. Chilled mashed potatoes, aji amarillo, lime, avocadoes, tomatoes… you could even forgo the shrimp or chicken options and stick with the vegetarian one and not be disappointed. The ceviche was one of the best we’ve had in Dubai, if not the best for the price ( Dh39) and enough for two to share. Once again, you could taste every individual ingredient; such is the simplicity of this dish. The sweet potatoes and crunchy yellow and white corn kernels added the perfect textural balance. The tiradito was blowtorched tableside giving the aji amarillo sauce and sesame seeds a lovely smoky flavour. Definitely worth a try. And you will be happy to note that the Ceviche tries to use local fish as well, meaning the fish is extra fresh.

For our entrées, we stuck with two huarique classics, the Tacu Tacu de Mariscos and the Pulpo Anticuchero. The first is a melange of rice and beans moulded into a flat croquette, served with a medley of seafood on top, while the latter is grilled octopus served with baby potatoes. The octopus is just stellar — perfectly cooked with a wonderful spicy kick and smoky peppery flavour. But one bite of the tacu tacu — which has some Creole roots — with the salty seafood sauce and you’ll understand why this sort of stuff is popular in huariques. To say it is moreish would be an understatement; it’s very homey and deeply satisfying. Savour this one.

We managed to snag the last remaining Suspiro de Guanabana and Semisfera de Lucuma for desserts and, once again, we were very satisfied. Soursop, or guanabana in Spanish, is not everyone’s first choice of tropical fruit, but the suspiro dessert is a great way to introduce yourself to this relative of custard apple, jackfruit, breadfruit and durian, with a texture and taste somewhere in between all of those ( closer to custard apple, though). The lucuma is also another type of fruit from Peru, made into an ice- cream and encased in a hard chocolate shell, as in the second dessert we tried. Needless to say, also delicious.

For a city that has so many fancy restaurants, cheap, holein- the- wall, hidden gems are not easy to come by. But we thoroughly enjoyed this little huarique — in DIFC of all places — and hope that they don’t ever change a thing!

rohit@ khaleejtimes. com

Ingredients

350 ml apple juice 1 cup spinach ½ cup chopped kale 6 cucumber discs 2 broccoli florets 1 cup strawberries Ice, as required

Method

Blend all together until smooth; add ice to top it off.