We enjoyed excellent food with splendid service from Christian; as well as from Manuel and Carlos Junior (the son of the owner Carlos Moscol).
When we reached their entrance, Manuel greeted us with charming warmth. When I told him that I did not speak any...Spanish, he said no problem, my partner does. And Christian’s greeting with the friendliest smile was thrilling.
DELICIOUS FOOD & DRINKS
Two of us friends started with drinks — Chicha Morada for my Peruvian friend, who enjoyed it so much that he finished a jug full! My gin was . . . Fan . . . Fan . . . Fan . . . FANTASTIC! . . . Manuel the great bartender/mixologist and a master artist in decorating drinks, crafted the lemon slice adorning my gin into a gorgeous looking Inka Sun!
The image of the sun on my glass of gin was a thrilling reminder about everything we’d learned earlier that day, of its importance in ancient Peruvian culture! And interestingly, my name in India also means the “Sun”. So, the drink that Manuel prepared was a Sun, about The Sun, for a Sun! Great start to our fun time here.
For our first course we shared WANTANES ESPECIALES — Special Seafood Wantons (fried) — and stuffed with Crab meat and shrimp. The Wantons were spectacular! They were served with three salsas (the word “salsa” in Lima is used as a generic term for any sauce, it does not define what in USA is called Salas). Costazul’s three salsas included a lemon juice sauce, a Tamarind sauce, and a fiery-hot chili sauce from local Peruvian chilies. We mixed a bit of all three together and found this concoction to be the tastiest for us. In fact, we found this sauce mixture so delicious that we saved it for the next course, our second course. These seafood wantons were a superstar. We’ll definitely be back to eat these again. We ate these in the same way that Madrileños eat racioni, (where friends share and eat from the same dish/plate). Hugely fun!
For the second course one of us ordered a PESCADO A LA PLANCHA (fish chosen by the chef and served grilled). This was not great, and we would not order it again. For the additional cost of Sole 10, our second choice for the second course tasted spectacular.
Our second choice for the second course was CORVINA A LA DONOSTIERRA — Sea Bass fillet grilled in extra virgin olive oil and sautéed in a garlic and pepper butter; served with potatoes and white rice. The Sea Basis in Peru is particularly famous, I’d read about this while preparing for this visit. So, our expectations were high, and it tasted exceptional. Once again, wonderful Christian helped to make our meal more special by getting us a fresh salad instead of the white rice.
NICE ATMOSPHERE
On our summer afternoon visit, this place reminded me of a fisherman’s shack by the ocean. It was the perfect setting for the fresh seafood we enjoyed. Their simple country-style décor was very nice. It was spot-on for relaxing after our intense sightseeing.
PRICE
Our total cost, including the cost of drinks, was Soles 162 (which is equal to about US $ 25 each) plus we gave a big tip as a token of our gratitude.
GREAT SERVICE
We took our time to leisurely appreciate their cooking, not thinking about anything else, focusing entirely on their food and our fun.
A huge part of our enjoyment was the work of our waiter Christin. He discussed the menu in perfect English, shared his recommendations, answered our questions, and came back many times to answer our continuing curiosities about their enticing dishes. He remained fantastic throughout our meal! He was very well informed about the food. He was very good-natured and politely gave all the time we need to decide what to eat, and later, to take all the time we wanted to enjoy it. Throughout our meal he was cheerful; and his service was attentive, warm and personalized. He was fantastic.
At the end Carlos Junior the cheerful Peruvian and son of the owner, brought us a gift from the restaurant, two glasses of homemade Pisco. That was an amazing experience. We enjoyed sipping it like an after-dinner liqueur. Carlos Junior helped me appreciate that the Peruvian tradition of homemade Pisco is probably as widespread here as the making of homemade Raki is in Greece. The best pisco I’ve tasted is homemade pisco!
Ultimately when we were leaving, all three of our co-hosts — Carlos Junior, Christian and Manuel — walked to the door to say goodbye, in the best tradition of saying goodbye to much loved family/friends. Their final friendliness was a fantastic finale to our magnificent meal.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED — WE WILL DEFINITELY RETURN
I love seafood from multiple long visits to Spain, Catalonia, Greece, France, USA, and coastal towns in India. That’s one of the reasons for choosing to eat here.
Costazul exceeded our high expectations in every way. It was our good fortune to discover it. In 11-days of eating at the great restaurants in Lima this was one of our best meals.
Big thanks to — Christian, Manuel and Carlos Junior — and everyone in the Costazul/Moscol family — the chefs, servers, and everyone working in the kitchen and restaurant. And, lots of gratitude for the wonderful memories we’ll enjoy lifelong.
May every person at Costazul be showered with as many good things as there are stars in the sky.
We will definitely dine here again on the next visit to Lima.
Highly recommend this restaurant to everyone who loves good seafood.More
