Pisco – YummyDelight

Tiger’s Milk is touted as the first Peruvian rooftop restaurant in Singapore. My first proper encounter with Peruvian food was probably at Lima Floral in London, the restaurant is opened by Peruvian star chef Virgilio Martinez. It was an interesting experience and I had a wonderful impression of Peruvian food.

Being a Peruvian bar, it is a must to try their Pisco cocktails. Pisco is a popular brandy produced in Peru and Chile. We tried the Raspberry Pisocotini A sleek concoction with framboise liqueur, pineapple and raspberries.

Also tried the Copacabana A fruity mix of cachaca with strawberries, passionfruit, lemon and lime. Cachaça is a distilled spirit made from sugarcane juice produced in Brazil.

For food wise, we started with the Pan Con Chicharron A flavourful sandwich of crispy pork belly, sweet potatoes and salsa criolla. Chicharrón refers to pork, which is braised and then fried in its own fat. Seems like this is one of the common breakfast item in Peru.

Another famous Peruvian dish is the ceviches, hence we tried the Gambas Poached tiger prawns tossed with diced mango, red onions, hearts of palm and jalepeno garnished with popcorn and Tiger’s Milk Trio Three ceviche selections of tuna nikkei, classic seabass with aji amarillo, and seafood mixto with aji rocoto.

Perhaps Lima Floral set a very high standard therefore I had too high an expectation on Tiger’s Milk. While the dishes featured Peruvian flavours, it was kinda ordinary.

Other Related Posts:

El Mero Mero

Was planning for my last dinner in London when it struck me to try the next upcoming food trend – Peruvian food! Something that we don’t get much of it in Singapore (other than Ceviches). Read about an outpost in London by Chef Virgilio Martinez, who is the chef patron of Central in Lima, Peru, which is ranked S.Pellegrino Top Restaurant in Latin America for 2014. However I made a boo-boo during reservation. I ended up booking a table at Lima Floral instead of the one that gained 1 Michelin star – Lima in Fitzrovia. Thankfully we still managed to go to the right restaurant by following the address stated in our booking email.

Lima Floral is Chef Virgilio Martinez’s second restaurant in London, opened in July 2014. The eatery is spilt into 2 distinct areas – the restaurant and the PISCO bar. My booking mistake turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we were still quite full from our lunch (which ended at 4pm), visiting Lima Floral allowed us to order some small plates to share and enjoy the PISCO~

We first tried a pure Pisco Italia Aromatic with hints of honey suckle, rose petals and tropical fruits. Alcohol content of Pisco ranges between 38% and 48% so it’s quite strong to drink it neat. I loved the devilish presentation of the Cuento Del Diablo Chilli pepper infused Luna Pisco, Orange Liqueur, Strawberry, Lime. The spicy cocktail tasted as good as it looks, no wonder it is Lima Fitzrovia’s Favourite cocktail.

From the starters we had the Sea Bream Ceviche Sea bream, tiger’s milk, avocado, crispy onions, cancha corn and Tiradito Butterfish, amazonian tomato, yuca powder, celery, cress. While we already expected the Ceviche to be good, the Tiradito was the runaway winner. This dish which was greatly recommended by the staff first impressed us with its eye-catching bright yellow sauce followed by the amazing texture of butterfish.

The Beef Sudado Seared fillet, coriander, red onion, white quinoa stew struck a chord with us due to its resemblance to Asian cuisine. The beef cooked to medium rare with pinkish centre was tender and juicy. The broth had distinct sweet & sour taste of tomatoes, although the ingredient wasn’t stated in the description? The clear looking soup actually packs in rich flavours and is extremely appetizing.

Today being the last night in London, we ordered another round of pisco cocktails: El Senor de Sipan Prosecco, apple juice, raspberry syrup, luna pisco and campari foam and Sandia Orange and lemon infused luna pisco, watermelon, pomme verte, lime juice, soda water. We would have continued with more drinks if we need not return to our hotel earlier to pack our luggages…

After this meal, we were motivated to look for Peruvian cuisine when we are back in Singapore. And we were confident that we would have no dietary problems if we were to visit Peru to see the magnificent Machu Picchu archaeological site.

Photos taken earlier: