Coya Restaurant and Bar, which is located on the Park Lane end of Piccadilly in Mayfair, is the latest restaurant from Arjun Waney, the restaurateur behind Zuma, La Petite Maison and The Arts Club.
Coya’s intention is to showcase the food, art, music and culture of Latin America, focusing on Peruvian cuisine.
Coya includes a private members’ club on the ground floor by the entrance, with the main restaurant in the basement along with a pisco bar for drinking and a ceviche bar where you can sit and enjoy a wide range of ceviches and tiraditos.
My knowledgeable dining companion assured me that the large menu includes a wide selection of Peruvian favourites, many with a modern twist, and the selection of corn chips and shrimp crackers with avocado and aji limo started our evening off well.
Between the three of us, it seemed like we might have tried most of the menu, which included many highlights: yellowfin tuna ceviche with soy, sesame seeds and shrimp cracker; quinoa with coriander, mint and pomegranate; Chilean sea bass with amarillo chilli; Bife de Chorizo (sirloin steak) with chimichurri and tamarind salsa.
The dessert menu was surprisingly short but it’s better to have fewer dishes that are done really well in my opinion.
The Fortunato fondant with roasted white chocolate ice cream was an absolute delight and the selection of sorbets was a wonderfully refreshing way to end an evening that seemed to burst with flavours with every dish.
We visited on a Saturday night when Coya was ablaze with Mayfair’s glamorous set. As the evening progressed, the music became louder and the Latin American spirit engulfed the room.
Whether you want to sit at the pisco bar with some pisco sours, have a quick dinner at the ceviche counter or spend your whole evening moving from pisco bar to restaurant table and back to the pisco bar, Coya showcases the best of Peru in a stylish, glamorous and refreshingly fun manner.
The launch of Coya Restaurant proved that 2012 had been the year of Latin American flavours in London – we also saw the launch of Ceviche in Soho, Lima in Fitrzovia and Sushisamba in the City.
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