SUYO MODERN PERUVIAN

3475 Main St, Vancouver

Tel: 604-322-1588

Web: https://suyo.ca/

Instagram @suyorestaurant

Advice: Reservations are a must. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Specializing in Modern Peruvian cuisine, here it is all about inventive cocktails, dishes and desserts that are all in sync. Enjoyed a wonderful dinner with my friend Lee Man over delicious dishes and zero-proof cocktails.

With Chef/Partner Ricardo Valverde at the helm the ceviches are as beautiful as they are flavourful and a great way to start this Peruvian journey. Both the Ceviche Classico with Haida Gwaii halibut, red onions, aji limo, cilantro, leche de tigre; as well as the Mushroom Ceviche which is a popular one amongst vegetarians, with it’s radish, artichoke, heart of palm, hondashi leche de tigre; are incredible.

With Bar Manager Max Curzon-Price creating the Peruvian cocktails you are certainly in for a wonderous experience as they all look amazing, equally so are the zero-proof variations and I loved the Flora cocktail he served me.

Our next dish was the Ensalada Rusa, with beets, parsnips, brussels sprouts, smoked mayo; their Peruvian take of a Russian salad and it was delicious.

I had no idea what to expect after ordering the Octopus Anticuchero, and it was a wow dish with aji panca, yam fondant, chimichurri; tender octopus that has been steamed for 3 hours, delicious flavours. The next dish was the Pork Chicharon with pork that was brined for 3 hours, crispy yam, polenta, olive, radishes, salsa; chef described it as an ode to a classic Peruvian breakfast sandwich and it was very tasty indeed.

The Lomo Saltado is the star of the entrees at least it was to us. The Steak oriented dish with AAA canadian tenderloin, onion, tomato, aji amarillo, scallions, soy jus; and this was quite the dish, we went with 8oz of meat as we were sharing, it reminded Lee of a Chinese dish as the sauce had a mix of soy; it was incredible. It was served with a perfectly cooked Peruvian rice.

The desserts are as creative as the cocktails and dishes and they are made in-house by Chef Mercedes Yu.

The star of the two we had was the Lucuma Ice Cream Alfajores made with a shortbread cookie that was larger than usual with dulce de leche in the middle topped with Lucuma (it’s the most popular Peruvian fruit) ice cream, garnished with raspberries, and finished with gold dust. It was a dessert special, and I hope they add it to the menu permanently The other dessert was also good was the Pina Colada Morada, almost tropical, it had coconut panna cotta, pineapple jam, and chicha sorbet.

We then enjoyed some Petit Fours, gelee and chocolates to finish this incredible meal.

This is a gem worth visiting and it is the only Modern Peruvian restaurant in the city!

Review by: Richard Wolak