Restaurant Review: Casita Andina, Soho, London

Style Points: 3/5
Price: ££
Overall: 4/5

Casita Andina is the latest offering from Martin Morales and sister restaurant to the two Ceviche restaurants in London.

Themed around Peruvian ‘picanteria’, a picanteria are cosy family-run restaurants in the homes of Andinas and Castina Andina certainly has a homely vibe to it. 

In fact the house which houses the restaurant is in fact over two hundred years and served West End actors, shopkeepers, market traders and  creatives. It is now a cosy little restaurant serving gastronomy of the Peruvian Andes.

What's on the menu?

We were seated on the second floor of the Casita Andina with views out onto the busy Soho streets, and an outdoor balcony towards the end letting in a cool breeze.

Along with the menu we were handed a little book of ‘Casita Andina Love Stories’ explaining the history and tradition behind the restaurant and Peruvian cuisine. This was a lovely little addition to our table!

The menu itself is quite bold with each dish presenting an unfamiliar and exciting combination or ingredient. 

To start we ordered cocktails from the intriguing drinks menu, including Aliplano, a tropical sweet and sour cocktail, with Peruvian herb huacatay and tonic water. We also tried Peru Bravo which was a punch-style drink with a spicy touch from chilli-infused La Caravedo pisco, pomegranate liquor, lime and Fever Tree ginger ale.

From the food menu we ordered a few starters including avocado fritters with panca chilli, anchovy salt and we also tried cruditos. 

We ordered a few sharing plates for the main course, including watermelon and quinoa salad served with chilli-pressed watermelon, lemon-almond vinaigrette and black quinoa, which turned out to be a delicious combination.

I tried the classic ceviche made with sustainable seabass, classic tiger’s milk, sweet potato and coriander, as a total fan of ceviche I wasn’t disappointed with this dish at all!

The salmon escabche made with sustainable salmon, seaweed, onions, sweet potato was also a delicious, aromatic dish and finally the cauliflower with Panca chilli-marinated cauliflower, sweet potato and broad beans was also divine. 

The dessert menu had three options but neither of us could resist the Choco-Sauco, a Peruvian Alto El Sol chocolate ball with elderberry gel and chocolate crumble. This was a chocoholic dessert which took me a while to finish as it was quite a large portion, but a delicious one at that!

Could I afford to dine here again?

Our meal at Castina Andina composed of 10 plates to share and 1 cocktail came to approximately £37 each. Although this isn’t cheap the quality of the food certainly justifies the price. 

Overall?

Casita Andina is a lovely small restaurant with simple decor but stunning dishes. I really enjoyed my meal here and would happily return to sample the delights again!

Visit the Casita Andina website here
Address: 31 Great Windmill Street, Soho, London, W1D 7LP    
Station: Piccadilly Circus 

Share on Pintrest: