Restaurant review: Amazonico

Amazónico was the much anticipated Peruvian restaurant was the talk to of the town. Unfortunately it’s a good example of form over substance. The vibe and decor are divine but the food tasted as if I could have made it at home. Unfortunately this wasn’t reflected in the price.

The food 2/5

I’m a big foodie, unless I’m eating functionally, nuances matter to me. The most critical element that really makes a meal perfect is whether the flavours, however simple or intricate, are blended together harmoniously. So when you take a bite, you can’t quite differentiate one ingredient from another, it takes a bit of time because they’ve been blended in perfectly balance. The food here did not taste like that. It wasn’t bad at all. Just incredibly underwhelming.

The starters

Lime and yuzu marinated Carabinero prawns with popped purple corn. You can tell when fish is fresh when it doesn’t taste like fish. This was ok. The flavours were disjointed and it tasted like prawns dipped in Dorritos salsa.

The mains

Stone bass with a quinoa crust and Venezuelan mashed corn. The fish was cooked very well and the crispy quinoa topping was a delight. The cornbread was lovely but not the best I had (the best cornbread is from Andina. Although this was 5 yrs ago). Overall the palette was very bland.

The dessert

This was the best thing on the menu; cheesecake with toffee popcorn. I like simple classic cheesecakes but this was

The cocktails 2/5

Here’s the thing; you can always tell if a bar / bartender are good when they can whip you up a cocktail that doesn’t taste like a combination of juice cartons. It’s easy to get cocktails right, throw alcohol in and you’ll barely care for the juice. Mocktails on the other hand, unmask the skill of the bartender; can you whip me up something delicious and unusual? This mocktail looked beautiful, but literally ate like juice mixed with a soft drink. And I don’t even drink soft drinks. What a disappointment.

On to the good stuff…

The service 5/5

This I could not fault. Services experiences vary and I guess I was lucky to be there on a good day. It was so busy and yet the attentiveness of the waiting staff was second to none. Additionally, the food arrived so quickly, too quickly, it was a bit disconcerting. Dish after dish served in front of us. Though there was no pressure to hurry, the speed of the food arriving might have suggested otherwise. Who would have thought there really is a science to the perfect wait time of food.

The decor 5/5

Unworldly. There is no denying that the real pull of this place is its interiors; the customer experience has been thought through careful with many new wondrous things to feast your eyes on and no detail left unnoticed. The stage and jazz band exuded real old school charm but with an exotic, contemporary twist. It reminded me of one my favourite jazz bars, Oriole (you must visit - it’s simply stunning! And did the whole Amazonico theme in London before Amazonico).

Would I recommend it….

I definitely recommend to go for drinks. Having said that. the real beauty of the decor is in the dining area, not the bar. I can’t say it’s worth going for the food. There are much better Peruvian restaurants such as Lima and Andina (which till this day has the best cornbread I’ve ever had). If you don’t ever eat here you’re not missing out on much. Like most trendy places the buzz will eventually slow down