[Peru: Lima] Merito by Juan Luis Martinez

Rating: 4.75/5

Follow me to Mérito Restaurante in Lima - currently ranked #13 on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants! Previously of the acclaimed Central, Chef Juan Luis Martinez opened his own restaurant in 2018 where he brilliantly combines the cuisines of Peru and his home country Venezuela. The restaurant came highly recommended from Ricardo of MONO with which the duo had collaborated in Hong Kong last year. While I was gutted to have missed the event, I was glad to finally try Merito as the flavors and cooking were absolutely amazing. The dishes were vivid in color with explosions of flavor, the ingredients were exotic and unfamiliar, and the service was warm and welcoming - what a fantastic first meal in Peru!

The restaurant spans across 2 floors with the main dining room upstairs and 4 highly coveted seats in the kitchen downstairs - I highly recommend sitting at the chef’s counter so you can watch the action in the kitchen! The menu is only a la carte but the chef was kind enough to make a tasting menu for us so we can try more dishes.

Our meal started with a delightful first bite of a vividly colored snack of fish and cereals inspired by the sunset in Lima. Followed by highlights including the super fresh scallops, octopus, fish curry, and glazed pork belly “char siu” with arepas. The corn, lucuma and tumbo dessert with a cut of coffee taste served as a brilliant ending to our night. I highly enjoyed the sharp, bright, and yet very well-balanced flavors from all of the dishes here at Merito. The wine pairing was fantastic as well with selections from all over the world but especially from South America.

- Fish and Andean Cereals

- Popeye Crab

- Scallops, Sanki and Jalapeño

- Octopus, Yacon and Cushuros

- Fish Curry

- Catch of the day with Corn

- Glazed Pork Belly with Arepas

- Corn, Coffee, Lucuma, Tumbo and Macambo

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