I just love Peruvian food. Ceviche is so fresh and citrusy, and lomo saltado is the perfect blend of protein, soy sauce, onions, tomatoes, rice and French fries. Although they’re my favorite Peruvian foods, there’s so much more to discover since the cuisine is so varied. With that in mind, I invited a few friends out to Dr. Limón, where we had a taste of Peru. The décor is simple—mostly gray booths and tables, with typical Peruvian cloth draped over it.
Doctor’s Orders
Dr. Limon currently has seven locations and is the brainchild of Carlos Brescia of Chiclayo, Peru. The theme of the restaurant, as you can imagine, is the medical profession, but don’t expect any “Weird Science” here. In keeping with the restaurant’s namesake, most of the dishes have medical names, such as Remedio Casero (Home Remedy), Psiquiatra (Psychologist) and Dr. Characato. According to their website, “Aside from its high vitamin C content, and its antioxidant and revitalizing properties, lime leaves everyone feeling good after its consumption, which is precisely the same feeling everyone should have after visiting a doctor.”
Each “patient” was served a complimentary leche de tigre shot before we even placed our order, which I thought was kinda cool. I started off with a passionfruit and milk smoothie. Amazing and fresh! You can have your fruit juice in water or milk, but it tastes so much better blended with milk.
An Array of Colorful Appetizers
We shared two different appetizers– los amigos del doctor and tostones de cangrejo.
Los amigos del doctor was a causa sampler. What’s a causa, you say? It’s spicy mashed potatoes with ají amarillo (yellow Peruvian pepper made into a paste), and lime and filled with whatever you like. It also has some mayonnaise to counteract the spiciness. On top of each causa was by far the freshest cilantro I ever had. It was as if they grew it in a garden behind the restaurant, pulled it out of the ground, rinsed it, and put it on top. I never tasted such incredibly fresh cilantro! If I remember correctly, pictured left to right are: chicken, shrimp, salmon, octopus and crab (tuna?). The dish was visually appealing, and the attention to detail was amazing.
The tostones de cangrejo is a fusion dish of fried plantain chips, crab salad, scallions and acevichado sauce. I never eat crab, unless it’s at a buffet, but my friends wanted to order it and I’ve always been a team player. Well, the tostones de cangrejo totally scored with me. The dry tostones combined with the moist crab salad was the perfect contrast. Delicious!
Ceviche, Ceviche and More Ceviche
What’s different about this restaurant is its vast selection of ceviches—17 types, in fact—not usually found in Peruvian restaurants. You can go for mild, spicy, layered or Asian style. I decided on Diagnóstico Reservado (“Stable Condition”). Aside from the usual suspects like whitefish, choclo (Peruvian white corn), cancha (toasted Peruvian corn), cilantro, sweet potato and red onions, this one includes roasted pepper and ginger. I’d say this is the perfect name for it, since it’s pretty mild. All of the ingredients were fresh, and while I did enjoy it, and although there was nothing wrong with at all, I prefer my ceviche like most of my rock music—classic (meaning, typical Peruvian whitefish ceviche).
My friend ordered the coolest-looking ceviche ever–Dr. Tokyo, in which tuna, pineapple, black sesame seeds and hot lemon pepper are housed in a crunchy wonton. I’m DEFINITELY ordering this next time.
My friend’s wife ordered classic lomo saltado, which she was more than pleased with.
If Mötley Crüe can go to “Dr. Feelgood”, ‘cause “He’s the one that makes you feel alright”, then you can go to Dr. Limon, ‘cause he’s the one that’ll keep you satisfied.
Where to find Dr. Limón Ceviche Bar
Dr. Limón Ceviche Bar
533 Clematis Street
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
(561) 781-5577
www.doctorlimon.com