Señor Ceviche, Kingly Court ★★★★★

Just another Peruvian Restaurant in London? We review Señor Ceviche

Kingly Court, at the end of Carnaby Street, is a kind of miniature mall, housing some of London's buzziest new pop ups-turned-restaurants. The set-up is a little daunting; climb its walkways and you'll spot Pizza Pilgrims, Blitz-style bunker bar Cahoots, Greek eatery The Life Goddess, Pan-Asian Oka, Korean joint Jinjuu, to name a few.

On the first floor you'll find Señor Ceviche, a Lima-themed bar and restaurant specialising in Peruvian ceviche: raw fish cured in citrus juices, and spiced with aji or chilli.

The decor is kitsch and great; decked out in downtown Lima detritus; a riotous assortment of coloured lights, street art, and bright tiles. The clangs from the open plan kitchen and the favela-funk soundtrack create a pleasing cacophony. On a busy Friday night, there wasn't much room to spare at the 60-cover restaurant, but the charming manager managed to find us a spot.

We started with Pisco sours which had a nice flavour, but weren't as light and foamy as we were expecting; and could have done with a little more egg white.

The Señor Ceviche menu has starters "para picar", sides, a ceviche section and a Peruvian barbecue section. We were advised to order 2-3 tapas-style sharing dishes each, plus any of the starters that caught our eye.

First up we had the crispy cassava in a red pepper sour cream, ají panca. The sauce was good, if a little sweet, but the cassava was soggy and had lost its sweetness. The pork belly with sweet soy sauce was rich and very piggy; we couldn't finish it.

We loved the eponymous ceviche, which has a glorious texture and was presented beautifully and we loved the chargrilled broccoli with Nikkei greens. The quinoa soltero was fresh-tasting, but dull, and could have done with some more queso. The sweet potato fritas went the same way as the cassava, and were a little bit sad.

Maybe we caught Señor Ceviche on a bad night; it has an infectious atmosphere and we so wanted to love it. But some of the dishes let the whole team down.

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