La Mar Miami – So Relieved it Was Good

The first time I went to a Gaston Acurio restaurant in Peru, I was blown away. To this day, Peru continue to be one of my most memorable food destinations. After that, I tried La Mar in San Francisco and was disappointed. Fast forward a few years and I found myself arriving late into Miami, and looking for Peruvian food in the Brickell area. If there’s a cuisine you have to eat in Miami, its Latin. La Mar checked the boxes, but I was hesitant given my experience in SF. I made the RSVP anyway. The restaurant is located inside the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Immediately took a liking to the atmosphere. It was buzzing for a Tuesday night. The hostess took a while to seat us, but once we sat, the service was really good. We started with ceviche which was good.

Then we had the scallops with parmesean cheese foam which our server recommended. They were delicious.

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For our mains, we went with one dish our server recommended, the El Achupado, basically pasta with seafood, and according to our server, 3-4 different sauces including one that is Korean based. Sounds amazing. We also went with lomo saltado which I love.

The pasta was good. Very interesting and unique flavors. The lomo saltado was ok, but not the best I’ve had. The sauce could be more savory.

For dessert, we had a chocolate and fruit mousse. The fruit was some kind of Peruvian fruit which I don’t recall them name. The dessert was just ok.

Overall, the service was good and the atmosphere was too. There is a nice patio looking over the water if you want to sit outside. The food was good to very good. I would return and recommend.