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Went for La Mar for dinner on Saturday night with 2 girlfriends. The food was amazing! We had a few Ceviches but our favorite was the Uni and Scallop. For mains - we loved - the Sudado - Grouper and the Octopus dish - Heaven - Just like when I was in South America. Not sure if the restaurant is under new management but the service was so much better than the last time I dined there in December. I definitely recommend La Mar for a nice lunch or night out. One tip - Try and sit upstairs!

When I heard of the opening of this restaurant i was excited until the day i went to the restaurant. I sat in the nice bar and expected an authentic peruvian pisco sour, instead recieved lime juice. It was disappointing. The bartender did not even know what type of pisco were available. Just by going to the bar made me not want to try the food.

I'm an avid review reader, but never a writer. However, my experience here was so disappointing that I can't help but comment. Do not waste your money. The menu looked so interesting, I was really excited to try this place. It was awful. I dont even know where to begin. Perhaps the 15 dollar cocktail that was nothing special should have tipped me off. But that was nothing once the food came. Tiny tiny portions, (horrible value, but seriously didn't really want to eat any more than was served it was so tasteless.) I'll start with my one positive: the cebiche was tasty. We also ordered an "authentic" Peruvian dish that I've never had before with whipped potato and chopped raw fish. Sounded so interesting we got the sampler, which was three different kinds. They were all so terribly bland, so terribly mushy, with no contrast in textures it was just unpleasant. The fried sweet potato wrapped shrimp was fine, but only three measly shrimp for way too much $. Then the entree. Mine was halibut in a sesame broth, but the broth was so tepid, bordering on cold that I sent it back in hopes that having it warmer would also somehow make it more tasty. It didn't. Literally tasted like my fish (which was so dry and bland) was floating in a pool of oil. I seriously feel like the chef forgot to add something to the dish. Something major. My sis-in-law ordered the same thing and ate it without pleasure but I couldn't stomach it. My husband ordered the salmon, which at least wasn't over cooked (like my halibut) but it was equally as tasteless. My bro-in-law had a rice dish that was edible, but also could have used a nice dose of flavor. Did the kitchen run out of salt? All in all, the terrible meal cost over $15o per cple -- and that was minus the cost of my dish, which the waitress was kind enough to remove even though I didn't ask her to. For that cost, we could have eaten at Marea, which is classy, with excellent service and some of the best food I've eaten all year. Sorry so long winded, but bottom line: avoid. Sorry chef, hate to see you lose business...but you really need to fix this mess.

I had read several great reviews in several magazines, so I had high expectations. Was left quite disappointed. Food was decent but just not worth the hype or the price...and the ambiance for a supposed chic restaurant was nothing of the sort. I do have to say the ceviche was excellent...but it was downhill from there.

Food was very good but the portions were miniscule. Paid about $250 for dinner for 2 and left starving. Either cut the prices or double the portion sizes, or else a place like this is not going to last in NYC.

You will never taste a better ceviche and Pisco Sour outside Peru! Gaston Acurio's La Mar Restaurant is not only great Peruvian food, it also has a clean modern ambiance and vibe which is a perfect setting to enjoy this type of food.

We ate at La mar last evening. It was recommended by a Peruvian friend who works around the corner. The experience wasn't bad but also wasn't stellar. To start, the Pisco sour was perfect, frothy, citrusy and of course, the backnote of flowers that come with a great Pisco. From there it was iffy - we had a waitress on her first night, friendly but uninformed. Service was adequate - at the prices charged it should be better. The food overall was extremely salty. We sampled everything from the cebiche to the soup to the Lomo Saltado and Aji de Gallina. The beginning with the cebiche was wonderful - the Limena 17 - Snapper, octopus, calamri, scallops etc.... fresh, and perefct cirtus. The end with the naranjita chinas confitadas was superb. The inbetween was where it came apart. If the chef could have backed off the salt by half it would have been perfect on the other 5 dishes. I felt like a salt cod looks after dinner. I needed at least 4 glasses of water just to make it home without dehydrating. Would I come back? perhaps, would I reccomend? Not without a second try.