I went to the first Ceviche in Soho around about when it first opened and to be honest, I wasn’t that impressed. They’ve since opened Andina in Shoreditch and now this, their second Ceviche right next to Moorfields Eye Hospital by Old Street roundabout.

It’s a really beautiful spot, in a former squat, not that you’d be able to tell. There’s a long bar in the centre of the huge space and the walls are covered in vibrant art.

We started with the more intriguing sounding dishes; panca-marinated beef heart skewers (£8), chicken liver and heart skewers (£7) and lamb’s brain fritters (£5.50). Brave choices to put on a menu I thought and they were really great; all cooked perfectly with bags of flavour.

Peter Hannan’s sugar-pit cured pork belly (£10) (he gets about – I’ve tried his meatballs at Hixter Bankside before) came sitting on a bed of silky smooth chocklo corn cream. It was a wet and sloppy delight; the meat was so soft and sticky it was pure comfort food.

The rotisserie chicken (£7), which you can see turning behind the counter, was succulent and flavoursome. The same could be said for the lomo soltado (£13.50), or flame cooked beef fillet with red onions and tomatoes. The ‘proper chips’ served with both had a touch of the McCain frozen variety about them – they should have been far crispier and less floury.

For dessert, the pumpkin donuts (£6) were so very good that I regretted having to share them. Soft and fluffy in the centre with a crisp, grease free exterior then squirted with chancaca honey. It’s worth going just for these, it really is.

We’d have been hard pushed to not enjoy our evening at Ceviche. The atmosphere was fun and lively and the staff were so very caring and passionate, which for a recently opened restaurant, is something quite unusual. And anywhere that serves brain fritters gets my vote. 👍

4/5

I dined as a guest of the restaurant