The food

The first time we went to Maido we had their “Nikkei Experience,” a multi-course degustation menu. We saw some dishes go by that looked pretty interesting but weren’t included so we decided to go back and try the a la carte menu. (Getting in to the #2 restaurant in South America is a little more complicated than “we decided” but managed.)

We decided to try sashimi, sushi, appetizer, and a main.

Maido is Lima’s most famous “Nikkei” style restaurant. Nikkei cuisine is the food of the Peruvian Japanese. Is 500 years long enough for food to stop being “fusion” and become its own thing? Peru has been home to Japanese and Chinese immigrants since the 1500’s and has embraced both cuisines and integrated them into Peruvian cuisine.

Maido is another one of the “Top 50 Restaurants” in Lima, and is just a few blocks from where we’re staying. It has a calm Japanese feel inside, and diners are greeted with a shouted “Maido!” as they enter. There is a traditional sushi bar and tables under a hanging forest of rope.