When I visited: April 2019

Location: London (Mayfair)

Rating in the Michelin Guide: Recommended

Dining Owl Hoot rating: 3/5

What to wear: Men – jeans or nice trousers and a shirt; women – jeans and a smart top or a smart dress

Ambience: Busy, cool

Course of the meal: Sea bass risotto

If I could change one thing: Price

Review:

I visited Coya, a 1-star Peruvian restaurant in Mayfair, on a weekday evening with some friends. At first the service was super-attentive (to the point of being a little annoying – we didn’t need so much information about the food options) and then towards the end it tailed off so much that we had to wait ages to order desserts and to get the bill. The food was good but for the prices they were charging it felt unreasonably high.

We shared tuna tacos, various ceviches, chicken skewers, Wagyu beef with chips, a whole sea bream (which was supposed to have no bones but did), a delicious sea bass risotto, patatas braves and asparagus. For dessert we went for the chocolate mousse with blood orange sorbet and meringue, and shared some churros with dulce de leche sauce, which were good and quite substantial in size. We also had mint teas and cocktails (a margarita, a Pisco sour and a MonteZuma II, which was presented in a ceramic skull).

I would probably go back to Coya but only with people comfortable to pay the high prices and only if I wasn’t in a rush.