Cafe Del Mar (CDM), Asia

We've been to the CDM in Lima a couple times, but every time we've tried to goto CDM Asia over the last couple years it has been closed. We finally found it open this last Friday night. Apparently their hours are 9pm-closing only for Friday and Saturday. We showed up at 8:45pm or so and they were kind enough to seat us a few minutes early, but only after we asked if they were open. The door was open but as we approached people to be seated they seemed to just walk away and ignore us. We got to see some of their setup work, preparing for Blueberry and Claro events.

EXPOSURF and a Fashion Show were both happening in Asia this weekend so we expected possible crowds. But it turns out that Friday night was fairly slow. After our dinner (almost 11pm) there still were not many people around or in CDM (3 other couples).

The menu had good variety and really interesting dishes, but the prices seemed at the top end of expectations. We started things out with a salad with bbq'd octopus. It was fantastic. I ordered the Tuna 'a la brasa' and it did not disappoint at all. The price was high but the product was of equal quality. It literally melted in our mouthes and the accompanying pesto sauce was a nice tough. The presentation was great.

My wife ordered an interesting personal thin crust pizza. It came with Japanese style smoked salmon, capers, sour cream, and raw sliced white onion over a white sauce. The price for the personal pizza was reasonable and the product itself was good, but not amazing. I didn't mind the raw onions, but my wife wasn't real happy about them being raw.

The service was very good. They had about 8-10 waiters for 2-3 couples though the night, so many of them were helping out with each table. The bar looked quite well stocked, but I wasn't pleased to find that they did not have Coke Zero. My wife's white wine was really good. While we weren't fully satisfied after the meal, we decided to find dessert somewhere else due to the high prices.

I've decided to add a new rating to my reviews, bathrooms. This isn't a big deal in the US, but in Peru it has proven to be something that is very often overlooked in public restaurants. In this specific case, the bathrooms looked a bit fancy like you might find in NY (co-ed with the glass that 'fogs up' when you close the door). But this was the budget version of that, the glass stayed 'fogged' at all times and there was only one hand soap dispenser for the entire co-ed sink. Also though I didn't need it, I was disappointed to see such a high end restaurant that did not have toilet seats. My wife's bathroom did have a seat, but mine did not.

Quality: 9
Flavor: 9
Presentation: 10
Selection: 10
Value: 6
Environment: 9
Bathrooms: 5
Overall: 8