REVIEW: Pachamama, Thayer Street, Marylebone

Yes it’s true. I ate the entire menu at newly opened Pachamama – or at least I’m pretty sure I did. Seventeen courses to be exact. I can’t recall the last time I ate so much food in one sitting. But was it worth it? The answer is yes. Pachamama is just one of the newest additions to the London dining scene. But they’re coming at it from a different angle. It’s casual, it’s British, It’s European, It’s Peruvian – to put it bluntly its eclectic. And this is where they may struggle, not with diners, but with those ‘Real’ critics from the papers. Pachamama advertise the restaurant as Peruvian/English – but really it’s none of those. It’s just a bit of everything, with a nod towards Peruvian food – in my opinion.Marylebone seems to be becoming the new place for restaurant openings, and very good ones too. Three years ago the food scene here was boring, and only full of white starched tablecloths (which I love) but it had no real appeal to a broad market – now its got just about everything. Leading the way in the kitchen here is head chef, Tom Catley. He’s previously worked as head chef at Ottolenghi, and other famous kitchens such as Nathan Outlaw and Nobu. Inside the restaurant has been completely gutted and looks fab – think rustic alfresco garden, but inside. Although the bar area in the middle is thoroughly modern. It almost feels too cool for Marylebone.

With its bar for those who just want to drink, we started the evening with a cocktail, or two. The Pinamama was my guilty pleasure, made up of pineapple infused pisco, dead rabbit orinoco bitters (no idea), orange curacao and maraschino cherry. The food menu is spread out into sections, based on their cooking techniques or size, we started with a few of the items from the ‘start’ section. The salmon, aji rocoto miso taco – see what I mean about eclectic. Despite most of it not really tasting very Peruvian inspired it was actually very good. I could have eaten many more of these given the chance.

Mama’s ceviche was the next section we scrolled our eyes over on the menu. I’m a big fan of ceviche and my favourite in London has always been at Lima in Fitzrovia. There seafood is so fresh and the sauces so concentrated and mouthwatering its a tough one to compete with. Pachamama doesn’t really do the traditional ceviche I’m used too – so I had to eat them with that in mind and try not to compare it to much, to the familiar. We got through three different kinds. The most unusual, but perfectly delightful was the Devonshire sea trout, watercress, beetroot and bleeding tigers milk. The ‘bleeding element was just a continuation of the beetroot colour seeping in to it. The unusual ceviche mix of sliced squid, prawns, mussels, culantro and palm sugar – all swimming in a refreshing puddle of devils milk was the clear winner. Fresh, zesty and full of flavour and colour. In fact everything here was incredibly vibrant looking, it’s just a shame my shoddy camera skills don’t do them justice.

I’m not going to tell you about all seventeen courses, because I’d be here for days, and as you can imagine, already six courses in, we were starting to fill up. Portion sizes on the whole were very well sized – but sometimes that can become a little erratic. Once you get into the selection of robata grill dishes prices can easily soar. Two skewers can set you back around £8, which isn’t very cheap. Thankfully they were good enough to forget about pricing. Veal heart anticuchos with celeriac puree was stunning. I’d not had veal hearts before this, but quickly fell in love with their meatiness and they’re much more satisfying than the chicken kind, locking in so much of that smokiness from the grill. Blackened herb-fed chicken with grilled corn, lime and oregano was good, or at least the flavours were – the main problem was the chicken being overcooked and lost all its juiciness. A little extra care and this could have been near perfect.

I should apologise again for my photos. It was a little dark inside and I’m not one for carrying a huge SLR camera around and attaching a foot long macro lens to the end. Things were going well with the meal, some nice surprises along the way – especially the bottle of Barolo which went perfectly with the meal. But then things suddenly turned, for the better. Once we got into that josper oven territory, dishes started to get a whole lot more serious. Now you may think I’m exaggerating but pictured above was quite honestly one of the best things I’ve eaten this year. Crispy lamb belly, miso, green aji sauce. One bite and I was transported to a lamby heaven. Each piece was incredibly tender, full of flavour, a little fatty, salty and were some of the best lamb belly examples I’ve eaten in a long time. Very unexpected, but very welcome. If you come to Pachamama you can’t leave without trying these.

Oh, and then there was the ribs. Smoked Gloucester old spot ribs, English malt and a peanut glaze to be exact. The smokiness was intense, and moreish. The meat quite literally peeled away from the bones before we got anywhere near them – that meant the only way to eat these things was by scooping them straight up and plunging into the mouth. Messy, but well worth it. The glaze peanut inspired dip was a little strange and if anything, I found I never really needed it as those ribs were perfect as they were.

By this point the food sweats were on their way in and I couldn’t eat anything else, except for dessert of course. Chocolate fondant, brittle and salted peanut ice cream. The fondant itself wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad either. It was rich, very chocolaty, soft in the middle and firm on the outside. Flavour wise, it had it all. But the star of the dish was that ice cream. Words can’t describe how good it was. Intensely flavoured, salty, smooth, rich, very peanuty. It was actually perfect. Some sort of nutty mess sat between the two dishes, which seemed almost pointless in both terms of presentations and flavour.

The almond milk panna cotta, passion fruit and white chocolate was a lovely way to end the meal. It wasn’t pushing boundaries, but it was a good solid dish that didn’t feel like it was putting a stone on the hips – plus its sweetness still satisfying our sweet-tooth craving. Pachamama was nothing like I imagined, and most probably not how you would have either. By this point I was wondering how I would be able to lunge myself from the table and walk up those stairs – I must have put on a stone while eating.

I loved Pachamama alot, but it has one main flaw. If your not precise in the industry these days, people love to feed off that, and turn it into the negative. There’s influences here of British, Asian, Peruvian and who knows what else. If you want authentic Peruvian food you may be disappointed coming here but if you want something that’s not like anything else in London right now then come here, because instead you’ll be faced with a very good fusion menu that leaves you begging for more – especially that lamb. With only being open for a few weeks now, quite nights are usually forecast, but not here. On a rainy wet Tuesday night and out of soft launch there wasn’t a free table in sight. So surely Pachamama must be doing something right – it’s just a question now of trying to get a table,  before everyone finds out.

7/10

I was invited to review