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Gastronomy

Javier Wong in La Victoria

By Peru Food


Javier Wong's restaurant has been called a type of speakeasy for ceviche.

Located in the front room of his home, you have to knock on the door to get in. An eye peers out and examines you before you are let inside.

There is no sign outside; no clue that within the nondescript house off a busy main avenue in the La Victoria district of Lima and far from the usual tourist trail, is a restaurant run by one of the finest ceviche masters in Peru.

Gourmets, gourmands, cognoscenti and foodies of every ilk have all beaten a path to Javier Wong's idiosyncratic ceviche temple to sample the most fresh, most pure ceviche imaginable.

To prepare his ceviche, Chef Wong requires only the bare essentials: perfectly-sharpened knives, a cutting board, and a bowl. In seconds, he pulls a fresh flounder from a refrigerator that has kept it perfectly chilled and flavorful, expertly filets a slice, and quickly dices it into bite-sized morsels.

He adds only the most essential ingredients: tart Peruvian lime juice, salt, pepper, fiery rocoto, and if he feels like it, for good measure, some chopped octopus.

He serves his ceviche simply: there is no boiled sweet potato, no corn, no lettuce or any of other usual accompaniments to distract from Javier Wong's ceviche. It is perfection as is.

To add to the mystique of the restaurant, commonly known as Chef Wong although its formal name is Sankuay, there are less than a dozen tables and no menu.

Chef Wong prepares both classic ceviches as well as stir-fry flounder dishes. His best creations are those he invents on the spot.

He told me he sometimes dreams of new dishes to try out; when he wakes, he heads to his kitchen to try them out.

Javier Wong is a type of Chinese-Peruvian ceviche visionary.

All of the dishes appear on the table in minutes, and everything is prepared in view of diners. The restaurant, open only for lunch, is always full, so reservations are required.

There is nothing fancy or pretentious about the restaurant although fellow guests might include Lima's movers and shakers. Everyone at Chef Wong's is united in one sole quest: to sample some of his exquisite dishes.

This is one of Chef Wong's creations we sampled: a flounder, black bean, baby bok choy and red pepper stir fry.

Javier Wong also made us a quite improbable yet surprisingly tasty dish: almond ceviche.

He combined flounder, rocoto, lime juice, chopped almonds, salt, pepper, and sesame oil to create this exotic and surprisingly delicious dish.

If in Lima, this restaurant is a must. Once again, reservations are required. The neighborhood where the restaurant is located is right off Avenida Canadá near Paseo de la República, in the Santa Catalina neighborhood of La Victoria


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2 comments

Splaktar says :
7-02-08,07:43:53

Interesting, but I don't see anyway to make reservations here and I doubt it's in the phone book if it's so 'secret'.

El Pulpo says :
7-02-08,08:30:14

Here is the address / phone

Chef Wong
García Leon 114,
between block 3 and block 4 of Avenida Canadá
470-6217

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