Mira
Mira is a Peruvian restaurant with a menu representing Peru’s diverse culinary scene from Chef Stuart Cameron of Byblos and Patria.
Ingredients are sourced directly from Peru, and the name was inspired by the Miraflores neighbourhood in Lima.
The space used to be home to nightclub F Stop, and the sidelong, alleyway entrance has a speakeasy feel to it. Enter onto an upper level (lots of stairs here) and be greeted by a powerful open kitchen bursting with activity and colourful ingredients like aji peppers and lacuma fruit.
Nikkei Atun Cevicha ($19) is one of a half dozen raw ceviche selections, swimming in a tiger’s milk of garlic, lime juice and fish with Japanese-influenced accompaniments of a yuzu kosho and rice crisp.
The Altamar Ceviche ($17) is a buttery grouper ceviche with juicy and bright aji amarillo, kumquat, passionfruit, and grounding sweet potato.
Tostada Morado ($17) sees thick, marbled cubes of spicy tuna atop a sturdy and crunchy house purple corn tortilla with thin slices of avocado and onion.
Cerdo ($24) is an aromatic dish of suckling pig cooked in duck fat with the crispy skin layered on top for a contrast between tender meat and chewy, snappy skin.
It’s accompanied by a quinoa fried rice that mimics Peruvian chaufa influenced by the Chinese, as well as a ramen glaze and rocoto pepper jam.
Mousse de Lucuma ($11) fills a chocolate shell with airy lucuma mousse and dense passionfruit ice cream.
El Huevo Malo ($14) is a chocolate bomb dessert broken open at the table, concealing rich chunks of flourless chocolate cake, aromatic coffee ice cream, crispy honeycomb, yuzu marmalade and raspberry.
Cocktails are all $15, a Garden Cocktail a minimalist beverage of slightly sweet coconut-oil-infused pisco harmonizing with bitter sake bringing in the omnipresent Japanese note.
Pisco sours are the signature, the Villa Maria a strawberry pisco version with vanilla liqueur, lime, sugar, and Peruvian bitters sprayed through a stencil onto a dreamy egg white top with an atomizer.
Ms. Fitz is a glitzy, jazzy little number of gin, lemon, creme de violette, absinthe, and of course a little Prosecco on top along with some Peychaud’s bitters to give it a bit of colour.
Design reflects the vibe of the Miraflores neighbourhood with a bevy of mirrored surfaces decorated with traditional tattoo art and images of pinup girls and tentacles.
Hector Vasquez