Jr. Bartolome Herrera 613
(reference: cdra. 16 of Arequipa)
Lince - 471-9722
Not sure of their hours, but probably lunch only
www.puntomarino.com
RT here. For the most part, there are three types of cevicherias in Lima: The really, really cheap ones, the high-end (famous) ones, and the mid-range joints. Punto Marino is one of the mid-rangers.
For me, the difference between the mid-range and expensive places is due a lot to things that don't go on your plate: the location/decorations of the restaurant, cloth napkins, a more famous chef, etc. All of those things have a price tag, and rightly so, but day-to-day, eating at the La Mars of the world will really dig into your wallet. The mid-price joints offer up almost the same quality (you might get lenguado automatically in the upper-end places) without all of the bling.
That describes Punto Marino to a 't' -- good food, without any sense of, "Look at us! We're famous!"
We got there early on a Thursday afternoon. By the time we left, the restaurant was almost full.
We shared our lunch, starting out with a causa, which is two layers of mashed yellow potatoes (cold), surrounding a layer of crabmeat, a little mayo, and some avocado.
We followed that up with a ceviche de pescado (fish only) and a Lomo Saltado con Tacu Tacu (beef stir fry with onions and tomatoes over a rice & bean patty). All three dishes were up to the standards I have come to expect in Lima. I would eat there again.
The service was a little spotty. Even after we got past the language barrier, I still couldn't get the waiter to understand that I actually wanted some ice with my soda. He got as frustrated with us as I did with him, so he passed us on to a different waitress that had no problem bringing us the items we paid for.
Speaking of that, the three dishes, along with a soda and a beer, came to 75 sols. A lunch well worth just under US$15 each!
The restaurant offers 'regular' and 'family' sizes of many of their dishes. We saw a few tables sharing the large orders -- they were huge! The restaurant is fairly easy to get to, but there's a map on their website if you need some help.
I've had a hard time finding a restaurant of this type that I wouldn't return to. They just know what they're doing in the kitchens in Lima.