LDNGuide
The Best Peruvian Restaurants In London
Potent pisco sours, anticuchos you could eat for days, and much more.
London’s Peruvian population may be modest, but the city’s love of delicately cured fish and dangerously gluggable pisco sours is not. Since Ceviche first opened in Soho back in 2012, Peruvian flavours have gone mainstream in London. There are plenty of places to find ají amarillo-laced sauces or tenderly grilled anticuchos, from the shiny and slick to the homely and traditional, here are our top Peruvian picks across London.
THE SPOTS
Chicama is kind of like a mash-up between a great little Peruvian place and a pink velvet, marble bar spot. That means you can either come to the Chelsea restaurant for a casual weeknight catch-up and sit out on the patio or in the rustic front dining area, or get a little bit suave at the bar with a couple of pisco cocktails. The seafood here is decent, but what you really want to get involved in are the vegetable dishes. Special shoutout to the courgette and cornmeal beignets with chilli jam.
At Tierra Peru, it’s impossible not to smile. There’s the enlivening, citric ceviche. The hum of people swapping stories and anticuchos. The blitzing sound of the blender mixing another drink from behind the bar. The family-run Peruvian spot in Islington can make a Wednesday night feel like a weekend and the food is just as fulfilling. A couple of chef-recommended dishes—cordero huanuqueño (lamb chops rubbed in huacatay sauce) and picante chalaco (spicy seafood stew)—are must-tries, as are their homemade alfajores.
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Few restaurants combine British produce, Peruvian cooking, and an epic-sounding narrative, but Pachamama does just that. The Peruvian restaurant divides its menu like Noah organising his ark in a spreadsheet—there's soil, land, and sea—and there are plenty of Chinese-Peruvian bits to get you going. Things like prawn toast with an ají panca (a Peruvian red pepper) sauce mean that Pachamama’s menu tastes as exciting as it reads. Combined with an always-enticing trio of plants, exposed brickwork, and pisco cocktails, this Shoreditch spot is a back pocket favourite.
Sabor Peruano has a very specific atmosphere. Outside it’s a canteen, but inside it gives 1960s banquet wedding. The fact you can’t smoke inside here feels like a great shame. But you’ll soon forget that once you have a pisco sour in your hand and some yuca frita in front of you. The Elephant and Castle spot should be close to the top of your list in terms of Peruvian restaurants in London for two reasons: it serves great value, traditional cooking and it closes before 9pm. So that means you can have a great dinner and still have time to do nothing on the sofa.
If Coya was a person it would be the beautiful, popular friend of a friend who’s annoyingly nice and intimidatingly cool. Basically, as a person we’d probably find them depressing to be around. But as a restaurant we love them. This slick Mayfair spot mixes Peruvian cuisine with Chinese and Japanese influences. It also has some of the best guacamole we’ve tried in London, as well as some mind-blowingly good crab tacos and some very good wagyu sliders. Plus the OTT interior makes it perfect for a celebratory meal.
Ceviche is a welcoming Peruvian restaurant in Soho that manages to combine good food with an atmosphere that makes it feel like a Friday night, every night. If you’re a novice when it comes to Peruvian cuisine, this is a good place to start. Go for the pork tequeños, a couple of the ceviches—the Don Ceviche with avocado, sweet potato, and seabass is a go-to—and a round of pisco sours. It’s perfect for sharing a few dishes and drinks with friends, plus great for vegans and anyone avoiding gluten.
Having moved to Spitalfields from Shoreditch, Andina continues to serve slightly stylised takes on Peruvian classics. The excellent ceviche menu features classic combinations like sea bass with leche de tigre and crunchy deep-fried corn kernels, with flourishes like avocado cream. Mains are as hearty as you’d hope: corn tamales, grilled octopus, potatoes, and plenty of sauces. It’s a cool, casual, back pocket kind of restaurant—perfect for cocktails, catch-ups, and casual midweek things.
