Last Saturday, on October 6th it was two years ago since C and I got engaged, the date is especially meaningful to me as it would have been my Grandfather’s 96th birthday as well. For these reasons, and the fact we hadn’t ventured out of our neighbourhood yet, I decided that C and I needed to get dolled up, go to a nice restaurant, eat some good food and enjoy some strong cocktails!

I made reservations at Taypá, a Peruvian Restaurant that I had heard good things about and has won a number of local Restaurant awards over the years. Located in the south of the city, it was about a 20 minute taxi ride from where we live (which in Brasilia is quite a far distance!)

We arrived on time and were promptly seated at our table. The restaurant seemed to group all the couples together in a row, which not only felt as though we were at a speed dating event, but I also felt as though I was a third wheel on somebody’s date!

Regardless of this rather awkward seating arrangement, the restaurant itself is very tastefully decorated, using earthy tones, natural materials and the walls are minimally adorned with various Peruvian artefacts.

Both C and I were impressed with their menu. It had straight forward Peruvian favourites, such as various cevhices, lomo saltado and tacu tacu. Although it is a rather upscale restaurant for Brasilia, it did not come across as though they were trying too hard, which I liked!

Naturally we started the evening with some pisco. C ordered the traditional pisco sours, a cocktail made up of pisco, lime juice, sugar and beaten egg whites, and I ordered a pisco maracuya, which is pisco and passion fruit juice (this is my absolute favourite cocktail when I am in Lima). Unfortunately neither of us were very happy with our cocktails. C’s pisco sour tasted watery and lacked flavour, and my passion fruit juice came straight from a box and was far too sweet to be enjoyable.

However what Taypá lacked in their cocktails, they made up for with their food. We enjoyed everything we ordered and the restaurant really lived up to it’s name sake. Taypá is a Peruvian expression meaning abundance. The portions are large and generous and both of us were unable to finish our main meal.

For starters we ordered the Ceviche Criollo and the Aji de Gallina bruschetta which sounded interesting. I loved the ceviche, it had a great coriander kick to it and the fish felt firm and tasted fresh. The Aji de Gallina was tasty as well, but a little bland and the bread could have been toasted a little more for that extra crunchy texture.

For our main course, I ordered Arroz Con Pato (duck with a coriander flavoured rice) and C ordered the Lomo Saltado (stir fried beef with tomatoes and onions). Apart from the chef being slightly heavy handed with the salt on my rice, both dishes were not only delicious, but also authentic.  The white rice that accompanied C’s Lomo Saltado, tasted exactly the same as the rice we get in C’s house when we go and visit – both buttery and garlicky! Honestly, I could go back and just order a bowl of that rice and be a happy customer!

C and I enjoyed our meal, and really enjoyed our evening at Taypa. I was very taken with the food, and felt transported back to Peru immediately with my first bite. C on the other hand, was slightly more critical and found a few more faults with the food then I, but being a Peruvian I suppose that is his right. However, you know a Peruvian restaurant is good, when C says we will be back!

Next time we will definitely share a main  or a few starters to leave room for all the fantastic looking desserts that I spotted on their menu, Suspiro Limeño being one of them. So if you are in Brasilia, and looking for a good restaurant for the evening, I would definitely recommend Taypa.

Taypa, Sobres de Peru

http://www.taypa.com.br/