After trying Peruvian dishes in the restaurant venture – LIMA Floral, by Michelin-starred Peruvian chef Virgilio Martinez in London, we wanted to seek out authentic Peruvian eateries in Singapore. TONO is the first-ever authentic Peruvian cevicheria as it’s founded by a Peruvian native Chef/Owner Daniel Chavez.
Although it’s only Monday, a bad day at work meant that I decided to kick off the first of a series of arduous work days for the rest of the week with some Peruvian national spirit – Pisco. I was pretty surprised to find only 2 cocktails on their drinks menu – Pisco Sour Pisco, Fresh Lime, Egg White, Angostura Bitters and Chilcano Pisco, Ginger Ale, Fresh Lime, Amargo Bitter. Perhaps we were too pampered by the large variety offered at the restaurant that we dined in London. Nonetheless, having the signature Pisco Sour was good enough. It was also my preferred choice between the 2 available options.
Warm and fresh bread was served fairly promptly while we waited for our dishes. The eatery has a rather compact 1-page menu but we were pretty satisfied with the range as most dishes were unique and rare in Singapore. One can just randomly pick a few dishes and let it be a surprise adventure to try out a variety of Peruvian cuisines.
For us we ordered the Plancha de Mariscos Mixed Seafood “A La Plancha”. Red Quinoa and Huancaina Sauce. The yellow spicy and creamy sauce brings out the freshness of the seafood and the dash of red quinoa created additional texture to this delightful sharing plate.
Being a Cevicheria meant that their focus is very much on Peru‘s national dish, hence they have 4 types of ceviches to choose from. Of course for the undecided and greedy folks like me, there is an option of going for the Tasting platter comprising of a selection of 3 different ceviches. My favourite amongst the 3 was the one with orange sauce, presumably MIXTO Seafood of the day, Rocoto Chilli, Onions and Plantain Chips. The one in the centre was TONO Market fish, Baby Calamari, Smoked Aji Amarillo, Tiger’s Milk. It was quite special as it included crispy fried baby calamari, although I personally prefer ceviches with purely cured fish. The last one was NIKKEI Yellowfin Tuna, “Nikkei” Dressing, Cucumber, Avocado. Our NIKKEI did not feature tuna and was replaced with another fish as they had ran out of the tuna.
Lastly we tasted the Lomo Saltado Traditional Stir-Fry Beef with Tomatoes, Onions Coriander and Crispy Potatoes. This dish resembled Chinese dish in terms of the flavours. In fact this dish which is typically served with rice was said to be the result of Chinese influence.
YummyDelight 