Raymi Peruvian Restaurant + Pisco Bar – New York

Lively Peruvian restaurant + bitter-tastic pisco cocktails

Having stumbled across a Peruvian jazz club on our last trip to New York (which has sadly since closed down) K was keen to re-live another Peruvian-themed evening during our visit to NYC this week so we booked a table in advance at Raymi in the Flatiron district, to try Peruvian food and cocktails. A brand new experience for us.

On being promptly greeted and seated, K ordered a passion pisco (overly sweet for me, containing passion syrup) @ $14.00 while I had a classic pisco sour @ $13.00 (made from pisco sour, lime, egg white and bitters) – lovely and bitter – while reading the food menu.

 

Passion pisco, roasted corn kernels and pisco sour

 

Service was excellent right from the start, with our friendly, helpful waitress answering our questions about the menu and making recommendations for us. We wanted to share dishes and eventually chose charred octopus @ $18.00 from the Chef’s Corner menu (specials available Thursday to Sunday only), a mixto cerviche @ $16.00 from the Cerviches & Tiraditos selection, a ‘jalea’ fried mixed seafood @ $14.00 (a small plate) and an arroz chaufa @ $26.00 (a large plate).

Our waitress recommended that the charred octopus and mixto cerviche be served together (as a starter course) and the jalea and arroz chaufa together afterwards. So that’s what we did. And those food pairings worked well.

 

Mixto ceviche – aji rocoto (red peppers), corvina fish, shrimp, squid, octopus + sweet potato
 

Charred octopus – with butternut squash, potatoes, mussels
 

The charred octopus was lovely and tender with a smoky flavour (gorgeous) and the fishy ceviche was nice and sharp in contrast.

With a busy bar area and buzzing atmosphere, along with interesting eclectic furnishings and soft lighting, this was a really comfortable restaurant to dine in and relax.

 

Inside Raymi
 

Pisco bar at Raymi
 

I was already fairly full after sharing the starter plates and was glad to have a break before the next course arrived!

The arroz chaufa arrived in a large stone pot containing a mix of jasmine rice, egg, broccoli, ginger, char siu chicken, shrimp, chinese sausage, scallions and peanuts (unusual, with the predominant flavours being of Chinese style spices) while the jalea fried shrimp, squid, corvina fish, yuca, salsa criolla, and aji amarillo (peppers) was served with a tartar sauce (again, really good but I was sadly too full to eat much of this course).

 

Arroz chaufa – jasmine rice, egg, broccoli, ginger, char siu chicken, shrimp, chinese sausage, etc

 

Jalea – fried seafood with tartar sauce
 

 

Basement bathroom area – a relaxing feel with plants and a water feature

 

The verdict: Impressive food and drinks selection, outstanding service. I would love to return (with a bigger appetite). Check the website for Latino music and dancing nights.

 

Restaurant info:
~ Lardbutty rating: 3.5 / 5
~ Type: Peruvian (in New York)
~ Address: 43 West 24th Street, New York
~ Zipcode: NY10010
~ Website + menus: Raymi website
~ Photos on flickr: images of Raymi
~ Location: Raymi map

 

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