La Mar, San Francisco

welcome to La Mar

Some of the WC crew met mid week at the beautiful La Mar restaurant along the San Francisco waterfront near the Ferry Building. This place opened with a lot of fanfare a few months ago and truly is worth a visit. Turns out, it’s part of an international chain of establishments. The other locations are Mexico City, Lima, Santiago de Chile, São Paulo and Panama. The food is Peruvian with a focus on the classic Peruvian dish, cebiche (seafood “cooked” in lime juice).

The restaurant is in an old building that must have been a dock warehouse or something before but is now renovated spectacularly. We met at the bar for some beer and that most famous of all Peruvian cocktails, the Pisco Sour. The bar/lounge area was humming when we arrived at about 7:30PM; filled with a lot of twenty- and thirty-somethings, apparently social networking the original way, over drinks and in person. The space is open with high ceilings, windows overlooking the Embarcadero and lots of tables and stools. The cocktails looked spectacular but I have to say, I’ve never really developed a taste for Pisco Sour. It’s just too creamy and too sour for me to really appreciate. David, on the other hand, loved it and even finished mine after downing his own. That’s very unusual for him so gives you an idea of how tasty he thought the drink was.

stunning La Mar bar

Once we’d finally gathered enough of us, we were led through the stunningly lit seafood bar to our table. The dining room is enormous in every way. It faces the San Francisco Bay. And since it’s decorated in creams and blues and lit strategically with blue lights, you almost feel that you’re on the beach somewhere—maybe even in Peru.

empanadas del mar

anticucho de mahi mahi and ensalada limeña

I was ravenous so ordered the empanadas del mar while everyone was perusing the menu. It was a pair of deep fried little pastries stuffed with fish and shellfish in a special sauce. Yum! We tried the 2006 merlot Casa Lapostolle Alexandre, Colchagua, Chile, which was excellent. The table ordered a few of the cebiches. After all this is a “cebicheria.” I had the cebiche mixto, made of mahi mahi, calamari, octopus with habanero pepper in a special sauce, ají amarillo leche de tigre, with Peruvian corn and yam. It was wonderful! There were interesting textures and flavors from the seafood and the starch, and a delightful creamy, sour, salty, spicy flavor from the sauce. I loved it. I sampled the cebiche verde, the cebiche clásico and the cebiche nikei. All were marvelous.

seafood bar at La Mar

arroz jugoso

Hegui had the ensalada limeña and the anticucho de mahi mahi for his main. The salad was just ok but he enjoyed the grilled fish skewer. I tried the arroz jugoso, which had been recommended by our waiter. A mix of prawns, clams, mussels, calamari, octopus and white fish with vegetables in a risotto, it was delightful.

The service was a bit slow. It looked like there were only about three waiters for the gigantic dining room. We were too full for dessert, so instead we went home and caught the season finale of Project Runway. Irina won. Sometimes it pays to be fierce.

I loved La Mar. It is attractive looking; the food is good; and overall it is a satisfying experience for the senses.

some of the crew at the bar in La Mar