Limaq was the name given to the place that now is Lima by the Quechua speaker communities from the south central Peruvian coast, and it is the stepping stone and inspiration for Bar entrepreneur and multi awarded bartender Joel Chirinos to create his first bar, a Project to which he has dedicated over a year of work that is now flourishing.
AMBIANCE
Get in and feel the subtle aroma of bamboo makes present while wondering around the entrance and pass thru the fast-filling tables; music is a slow-building playlist with remixed versions of 80s and 90s classics, lighting is just in the right spot, not too dark or too bright, Limaq is a place that makes you sit and talk to a cocktail in hand, walls are decored with Street art by Conrad Florez, an interpretation of the Rimac river chaos followed by an exhibit of bottles behind a “Celosía” closing the panel with the ever seeing eye of a “pada limeña.”
COCKTAILS
The menú has 10 different cocktails inspired by Lima City, eight of them are alcoholic; we were able to try the Suspiros, inspired by the Barranco bridge with a cinnamon bark on the border of the glass, a cocktail that uses The Singleton as a base, with maple and apple, tonic and cassia, a refreshing cocktail. The Limapolitan instead is slightly sweet, using quadrant pisco, a camu camu cordial, dry vermouth, and lemon in a glass to version the famous 90’s thriving cocktail. La Tapada has more character, a base of Johnnie Walker with a tangelo cordial, amontillado, orange bitters, and a chocolate decoration that looks like the ever-seeing eye. La Alameda is one of the two non-alcoholic; it is refreshing and citrusy, made with passion fruit, cordial spices, and tonic water.
FOOD
To accompany the cocktails, eight plates pair the cocktails, a safe menu that uses local ingredients on preparations like a day-catch “bonito” tartar that has a tapioca cracker, smoked tomato aioli, and an avocado crowned with cushion, algae from the high Andean lakes, all together turns into an addictive plate, the “langostinos al ajillo” (garlic shrimp) on wine sauce and ají Amarillo that comes with a bread that helps you to clean the las trop os sauce from the plate.
They also offer pizzas to share, like the pineapple pizza or the huarache sausage, and if you like a heavier plate instead, the beef cheeks in wine sauce with tagliatelle are your best option.
IN THE KNOW: Limaq is located on the 101 Camino Real Ave in San Isidro, open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday from 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm, with extended hours Friday and Saturday until 2:00 am.
