Lima, Peru  |  Saturday, May 18, 2013 07:08 pm  |  |  | 


« back to home
Make Livinginperu.com your Homepage




Beyond Volunteering
Book hotels in Lima, Peru

Food & Dining

Food & Pisco Pisco < Features | Pisco Recipes | Share a Pisco Cocktails|
Top 5 Cocktails | Bars in Peru | Top 5 Bars

Food / Feature Articles


Osé opens in Barranco: Call it Contemporary Peruvian Cuisine

By Kim Allen-Jones
Photos by Carsten Korch

Restaurant in Lima, PeruI really didn’t know what to expect from Osé before we got there. It is located just as you head into Barranco from Miraflores across the street from the MAC, Contemporary Art Museum. The façade definitely classes up this nondescript couple of blocks. Chef Mirko Betancour and owner Jose Luis Zignago have worked together to create a welcoming, calm atmosphere in this harried section of town.

Chef Betancour was in advertising and art design before deciding to attend the three-year Le Cordon Bleu program here in Lima. He completed his apprenticeship at the Inkaterra Hotel in Aguas Calientes. From 2003 to 2006 he worked in the United States in Jackson, Wyoming. When I spoke with Chef Betancour about his cuisine he described it as Contemporary Peruvian with international influences. Yes! I love that definition! Then he said the “f” word: fusion. Does every restaurant in Peru have to be called fusion? Bring on the Contemporary Peruvian cuisine!

Our waiter first brought to the table a basket of house-made herb flavored rolls with small dishes of herbed butter and two house-made chutneys. This was a tasty start. Our first course consisted of three starters – Tartar de Atun, Lomo Saltado Dos Tiempos and Involtini de Lomo.

http://filer.livinginperu.com/restaurant/new-restaurant-peru2.jpg800533Restaurant in Lima, Peru
Lomo saltado as an appetizer. click to enlarge

http://filer.livinginperu.com/restaurant/new-restaurant-peru3.jpg800533Restaurant in Lima, Peru
Tuna accompanies the rissotto with Marayhuaca mushrooms. click to enlarge

The Tuna Tartar was a lovely presentation of minced raw tuna mixed with white onion served with diced avocado topped with baby greens and served on a large plate drizzled with a balsamic reduction. The Lomo Saltado as an appetizer was a new idea and I loved it. Because the chef first marinates the meat in a soy sauce based marinate the flavors are very intense. This is also a lighter version because it is served without the potatoes and rice. The Involtini were thin slices of lomo rolled around mozzarella cheese and then breaded. These are served with a mild blue cheese sauce for dipping. This dish could have used a little more zip for me. The sauce was a bit mild. I would have liked more blue cheese flavor or maybe some marinated sundried tomato added to the rolls.

http://filer.livinginperu.com/restaurant/new-restaurant-peru4.jpg800533Restaurant in Lima, Peru
The Norteñito uses some chicha de jora. That's contemporary Peruvian cuisine talkin.' click to enlarge

Next up were offerings from the risotto and pasta section of the menu. The first dish was Risotto con Hongos de Marayhuaca. The star of this plate was a generous portion of tuna cooked to order served over a white wine sauce. The risotto with wild mushrooms from the jungle is served to the side of the tuna. The flavors of this dish worked very well together. It was one of our favorites. Our next rice dish was the Norteñito. This was a combination of tender seafood and rice seasoned with cumin, three different types of Peruvian chili powders and chicha de jora, the corn-based Peruvian liquor.

We tried two pasta dishes. The first was house-make Gnocchi in a mild Danish blue cheese sauce served with a side of lightly seasoned arugula. The lightly dressed salad was a refreshing addition to this plate. Our second pasta is a new dish on the menu. Tortellini Asado, this is house-made pasta stuffed with roast beef and a brie type cheese form Cajamarca served with a creamy sauce of aji amarillo. The brie-type cheese is produced at one of the farms in Cajamarca where they have trained the cows to come for milking when called by name!

For our main plates we enjoyed Punta de Pecho and Canilla de Cordero. Both of these are braised, which makes the meat very tender and produces great, slowly simmered sauces. This is a great way to eat during the winter season. The Punta de Pecho is beef cooked in red wine served with a side of mashed fava beans. It was a simple yet delicious combination.

The Canilla de Cordero was braised lamb shank in a sauce seasoned with aji served with a side of pureed yucca. I’m one of those people who finds yucca starchy with not much flavor. With the lamb and the sauce, this preparation was wonderful.

Restaurant in Lima, Peru
Osé's suspiro limeño.

Restaurant in Lima, Peru
Crepe, vanilla ice cream and breaded banana. Let's hope too much pleasure doesn't kill us.

The Osé dessert menu also included some contemporary preparations of Peruvian favorites. The crepe with panko-breaded fingerling bananas, vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce was a delight. The frozen Triangulo de Limon was not only beautiful, it was the perfect balance of sweet and sour. Another twist in preparation was the classic Suspiro de Limeña, which instead of being served in a cup, the dessert was a freestanding frozen confection.

 
OSÉ

Av. Grau 1502, Barranco, Lima

247-9666
To accompany all of our courses Chef Betancour chose several wonderful wines from the restaurant’s cava. During dinner hours the house sommelier is available to help you with your selection. With wine you can expect to pay around 150 soles per person for dinner.

The restaurant has a nice set up for large groups. They have two semi-private rooms, a main dining room and a large bar-lounge area. They also offer a special menu for tour groups.

Chef Betancour has put together a menu that is a nice example of modern Peruvian cuisine. He has combined traditional ingredients with new textures and both local and international tastes, which are not usual in everyday Peruvian cooking. It was contemporary!


Add a comment :
2 comments

Stephen Spencer says :
18-05-10,02:48:35

Another great place to visit in Barranco.  We are there.

Cheers,
Stephen and Friends

petty says :
18-05-10,06:26:40

food sounds delicious! next time I will be in Lima, I'm sure I will be there..can't wait.



Name :

E-Mail


Code :




  • Comments are the property of their respective authors, and LivinginPeru.com is not responsible for the content of these comments
  • Only comments in English will be published
  • Por ahora solo se permiten comentarios en ingles.
  • Any offensive, injurious, profane or disrespectful comments will not be published
  • You must include a real email address (this WILL be verified) for your comments to be published
  • Repeat comments, or comments of a similar nature written by the same person will not be published
  • All comments are sent to a moderator before publication
  • Referring to the topic indicated in the article will increase your chances of publication
  • Repeat offenses of the above guidelines will result in the removal of your ability to comment