Pachamama

Pachamama is a bar and kitchen in Marylebone that delivers a Peruvian-inspired menu of small plates, using rustic cooking techniques and seasonal British produce.

Pachamama Restaurant - London

http://pachamamalondon.com

Pachamama, London W1, restaurant review - Telegraph

This splashy Peruvian sauce – zingy, hot in taste, cold in temperature, fishy in the best possible way – had been rendered English with the addition of mustard.

B had tequeños with smoked cheddar and feta (£4), three cigars of Peruvian pastry, puffy, chewy, golden and unignorable.

I think this is a matter of taste, since some people prefer a bit of resistance.

For less hearty appetites there are specials such as pan-fried salmon pepped up with an Argentinian chimichurri marinade (£10.50) This cantina is full of blasts of colour, from the lime-green chairs to the reclaimed-wood bar.

The cordero seco, or Peruvian lamb stew, comes with paprika potatoes (£11.50), while the beef chilli (a speciality) is made particularly moreish by the addition of dark chocolate (£9.25) Pull up a wooden chair or slide into a booth, order a caipirinha from the colourful bar and dig into crisp, spicy romesco-slathered chicken wings (£4.75), salt-cod croquetas (£4.25) and chorizo hash (£4.95).

REVIEW: Pachamama, Thayer Street, Marylebone - The Foodaholic

It’s just a bit of everything, with a nod towards Peruvian food – in my opinion.Marylebone seems to be becoming the new place for restaurant openings, and very good ones too.

Each piece was incredibly tender, full of flavour, a little fatty, salty and were some of the best lamb belly examples I’ve eaten in a long time.

The glaze peanut inspired dip was a little strange and if anything, I found I never really needed it as those ribs were perfect as they were.

By this point the food sweats were on their way in and I couldn’t eat anything else, except for dessert of course.

If you want authentic Peruvian food you may be disappointed coming here but if you want something that’s not like anything else in London right now then come here, because instead you’ll be faced with a very good fusion menu that leaves you begging for more – especially that lamb.

REVIEW: Brunch at Pachamama, Thayer Street, Marylebone - The ...

The quinoa waffles with smoked bacon and yacon syrup was a lovely dish, but that waffle needed to be thicker, as the waffle grill is providing lots of crispness and no room for enough light and fluffy middle.

One of Pachamama’s strong areas of this brunch menu, was dessert.

The suspiro de limena with strawberry & sorrel was another oddity here at Pachamama and this almost grassy flavoured dessert became strangely addictive and a totally new experience in terms of flavour combinations.

Sadly you won’t get the unlimited pisco punch I was dangerously fed, but I can at least guarantee you’ll have a brunch like no other in London.

When it comes to originality, colour and creating a new experience, Pachamama have it spot on.

New Restaurant Review: Pachamama | Londonist

As the popularity of Peruvian cuisine grows, so its novelty factor fades and increasingly diners will ask for more from a restaurant than mere authenticity.

Chicharrones (£3.50) are deep-fried chunks of pork belly that are crisp to the bite but succulently soft within, their richness lifted by a sprinkling of raw red onion and fresh mint leaves.

We try one that combines portobello and oyster mushrooms with corn (£8) in a truffle-laced version of tiger’s milk — the most common Peruvian marinade for ceviche, made from lime juice, chilli, garlic and coriander.

A less off-the-wall variant with sea trout, watercress, beetroot and tiger’s milk (£9) is a more triumphant melding of British and Peruvian influences, with the citrus juices a good contrast for the earthy beetroot and oily trout.

Most impressively, Pachamama manages more than any other Peruvian restaurant in London to make this cuisine feel at home and at ease.

Chicama

Chicama is a seafood restaurant in Chelsea with a menu inspired by the coastal food of Peru and the bold-flavours of Peruvian cuisine.

The bar exhibits a concise list of our favourite brands including Pisco, Mezcal, Japanese Whiskey, Sake by the glass and a wine list to accompany the vibrantly-flavoured food.

Pachamama, London W1, restaurant review - Telegraph

This splashy Peruvian sauce – zingy, hot in taste, cold in temperature, fishy in the best possible way – had been rendered English with the addition of mustard.

B had tequeños with smoked cheddar and feta (£4), three cigars of Peruvian pastry, puffy, chewy, golden and unignorable.

I think this is a matter of taste, since some people prefer a bit of resistance.

For less hearty appetites there are specials such as pan-fried salmon pepped up with an Argentinian chimichurri marinade (£10.50) This cantina is full of blasts of colour, from the lime-green chairs to the reclaimed-wood bar.

The cordero seco, or Peruvian lamb stew, comes with paprika potatoes (£11.50), while the beef chilli (a speciality) is made particularly moreish by the addition of dark chocolate (£9.25) Pull up a wooden chair or slide into a booth, order a caipirinha from the colourful bar and dig into crisp, spicy romesco-slathered chicken wings (£4.75), salt-cod croquetas (£4.25) and chorizo hash (£4.95).

Pachamama, London W1: 'Unlikely to trouble the Deliciously Ella ...

We’re instructed to order “three to four dishes each” from an eccentric menu, kicking off with “snacks” and “sweets”, before moving to “sea”, “land” and “soil”.

Chunks of almost caramelised aubergine are cooled by a pool of smoked yoghurt and given texture by toasted pecan; what with these and fried plantain in a mulch of black olive and feta, sweetened with that yacón syrup (from the root of an Andean plant and touted as the next superfood), the vegetarian pal is in a state that can only be described as blissed out.

Chicarrónes are like the best sweet’n’sour pork you’ve never had, flesh luxuriously tender, fat melting, the small chunks crisp on the outside from a thorough deep-frying and slicked with a sticky glaze.

Rawson’s background in everything from streetfood burgers (Lucky Chip) to fine dining (Viajante) means food as rollercoaster, swooping from huge, trashy flavours (those chicharrónes) to nuanced delicacy (sea bream ceviche, beautifully balanced, with the occasional “Eek!”

Rawson moved on last month – I’ve heard possibly to a higher-end version of Pachamama – but he’s left a hell of a menu behind.

Pachamama | Restaurants in Marylebone, London

In Peru, Pachamama is the goddess Mother Earth; in London, she is a new Marylebone restaurant.

Four pillars underpin the Quechuan cosmos (water, earth, sun and moon), and four pillars support a great restaurant: food, service, decor and ambience.

There was a thoughtful mix of rough and smooth, like a beautiful old hacienda in the process of being done up: chunks of plaster knocked out of the pillars, pretty vintage lampshades, wooden dressers full of pot plants.

A terrific sea bass ceviche came with chunks of crunchy radish and tendrils of samphire – a nice twist.

Then there was a sweet baked plantain, offset by crumbly, salty feta and a mild aji (chilli salsa).