Ceviche Bar Near Me in Islington: Tierra Peru on Essex Road

At Tierra Peru, 164 Essex Road, London N1 8LY, every ceviche on the menu costs £15 as a starter or £22 as a main course, whichever of the five you pick. Two brothers from Huánuco in central Peru opened the restaurant in 2010, and it still runs as a neighbourhood dining room rather than a destination, open from 5pm Monday to Wednesday and from noon Thursday to Sunday. If you are searching ceviche bar near me in Islington or Canonbury, this is the most traditional menu in the borough.

The founders grew up in the Department of Huánuco, between the Andes and the Amazon, eating what their mother cooked from the family's own organic plots. The restaurant's story is built on that upbringing, and the menu mixes Lima classics with dishes from their home region, such as Cordero Huánuqueño, lamb chops marinated in huacatay sauce with Andean sweetcorn and sweet potato, at £27.

Tierra Peru earned a listing in Time Out London's Eating and Drinking Guide in 2013 and TripAdvisor Certificates of Excellence in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2018. It is a small, warm room on a stretch of Essex Road lined with independent shops,, and the Box it bento and sharing platters show a kitchen used to feeding families and groups.

The ceviche section is printed as its own boxed menu. Ceviche Tradicional is the Lima standard, small pieces of fish in green lime juice with ají limo, garlic, ginger, red onion and coriander. Ceviche al Olivo replaces the chilli with a cream of black Peruvian botija olives, a version few London menus carry, and Ceviche al Verde adds avocado to the marinade.

For anyone avoiding fish, Ceviche de Hongos y Palmito uses mushrooms and hearts of palm in the same lime and ají limo base. The Tiradito de Pescado is sliced rather than cubed, dressed with ají amarillo and orange. The Ceviche Mixto, with calamari, baby octopus, prawns and mussels, is priced separately at £16 as a starter or £24 as a main.

The Leche de Tigre at £12, served as three spicy shots of the citrus marinade with fish, is the purist's choice for anyone who loves the marinade more than the fish. Causa Cevichada at £15 sets ceviche on top of a potato causa filled with avocado, which turns a starter portion into something closer to a full meal.

For two people who want to try several styles, the Mancora Platter at £65 brings ceviche de pescado, ceviche al olivo, ceviche verde, tiradito, jalea en tempura, arroz con mariscos and white rice. The Combinado Clásico at £30 lets one person pick two items, including ceviches, anticuchos, papa a la huancaína or a chaufa with prawns.

There is also a Peruvian Bento Box at £50, built from any three dishes carrying the menu's Box it label, served with rice and a sauce on the side. It is the best way to try the hot dishes too: ox heart anticuchos at £12, tamalito of chicken or pork wrapped in banana leaf at £12, and the yuquitas rellenas, cheese-filled cassava balls with huancaína, at £11.

Among the mains, lomo saltado at £26 is the Peruvian-Chinese stir-fry of beef or chicken with tomato, onion, soy and oyster sauce, served with chunky chips and rice. Aji de gallina at £23 is creamy shredded chicken in mild ají amarillo sauce, and the Picante Chalaco at £23 is a spicy seafood stew with calamari, baby octopus and mussels.

If you came for raw fish, skip the arroz chaufa at £21. It is a solid fried rice, but it is the kind of dish found across London's Chinese restaurants, and the same money buys most of a ceviche main. Desserts are a separate small menu, so ask what is on that night.

The cocktail list keeps every drink at £12, from the classic pisco sour with Quebranta pisco, lime, sugar syrup, egg white and Angostura to the Algarrobina, made with Peruvian carob extract, evaporated milk and cinnamon. Every cocktail can be made as a £9 mocktail, and all can be ordered by the jug for a table.

The pisco bar pours Quebranta at £5.50 and Pisco Portón at £6 per 25ml or 50ml measure as printed on the menu. Cusqueña Gold, Dark or Trigo costs £5.50 a bottle, Inka Kola £4.50 a can, and the homemade chicha morada, purple maize with pineapple, apple and cinnamon, is £4.50 a glass or £17 a jug. Peruvian wines from Intipalka, grown in the Ica Valley, start at £12 a glass.

Weekday lunch is not an option here: Monday to Wednesday the doors open at 5pm, and lunch service runs only Thursday to Sunday from noon. Bookings go through OpenTable or by phone, and Friday and Saturday evenings are the nights to reserve. A discretionary 12.5% service charge is added, and the restaurant issues one bill per table.

Guests with allergies should speak up before ordering, as dishes may contain nuts, ginger, garlic, wheat, egg, dairy, soy or fish. If the room is full, El Inca Plebeyo, an Ecuadorian restaurant with its own ceviche list, is two doors along at 162 Essex Road. Delivery is available through Deliveroo for anyone who would rather eat at home.

Essex Road is the quieter twin of Upper Street, with vintage shops, cafés and, almost opposite the restaurant, the art deco facade of the former Carlton cinema. Walk south and you reach Islington Green and Upper Street, with Camden Passage's antique stalls on Wednesday and Saturday.

East of Essex Road, Canonbury's Georgian squares and the Regent's Canal towpath make a calm walk after dinner. Canonbury Square, where George Orwell once lived at number 27b, is about ten minutes on foot, and the canal can be followed east toward Hackney or west toward the Islington Tunnel and Angel.

Address: Tierra Peru, 164 Essex Road, Islington, London N1 8LY. Hours: Monday to Wednesday 5pm to 10pm, Thursday to Sunday 12pm to 10pm. Essex Road rail station is about five minutes on foot, and Angel on the Northern line is roughly fifteen minutes away, with buses along Essex Road stopping nearby.

Ceviches are £15 as a starter and £22 as a main, the mixto £16 or £24. Cocktails are £12 and mocktails £9. A 12.5% service charge is added and the restaurant cannot split bills. Email info@tierraperu.co.uk for group enquiries.