ORDERED: Feast of the Andes ($95.00pp) 🐟  Muchame de Atun: Cured mooloolaba albacore tuna loin, aji panca and ginger oil, housemade vinegar, herbs 🐟 Ceviche Peruano: Ruby red snapper, aji amarillo tiger's milk with caramelised sweet potato, choclo and cancha 🌽  Pastel de Choclo: Sweet corn cake with black garlic whipped feta, pickled pumpkin, baby corn and garlic stems, smoked rocoto and shallots vinaigrette 🐓  Chicharron de Pollo: Free range crispy chicken thigh, marinated in dried peruvian chillies, ripe plantain puree, coriander mayo and salsa criolla

🐑  Picante de Cordero: Grilled gundagai lamb rump cap GLQ5, picante sauce 🥔  Yucas: Fried Cassava chips with shaved parmesan and ocopa sauce 🥬  Ensalada Verde: Seasonal greens, pickled fennel, brazil nuts, lucuma vinaigrette

🥭  Delicia de Mango: Mango Parfait, alfajor crumb

I paid $116.14 here.

REVIEW: Part of the San Telmo group, Pastuso is a great introduction into Peruvian food. If you get a private dining room, you will need to spend $130pp for dinner. You may want to get the mid-range set menu, and a couple of drinks each. We weren't aware of this compulsory charge, so we were left scrambling to buy an extra bottle of wine before we left. On top of all the drinks we already purchased. Very unpleasant ending service from the front of house! And a bitter end to an otherwise great night.

Really enjoyed the Muchame de Atun where the tuna loin was soft and flavourful with an abundance of spring onion. Really a strong starter. Pastuso also does my favourite corn bread. It's moist and sweet. The best corn bread I've ever had. Unsure if I liked it with all the decorations around it, compared to its modest presentations years ago but it was still delicious. Cassava chips took us by surprise. So often you'd have these floppy poor excuse for chips at other establishments, but Pastuso's variation was delicious. There's structure, there's flavour, and we kept going back for more. Highly recommend this.

Our ensalada was cabbage with white cream based sauce. It was unbalanced from the mains, and I was a little but upset because it was not as amazing as what the menu set it out to be with hits of 'brazil nuts', for instance. I wasn't told of this variation, so having it placed brazenly in front was a bit disappointing.

The service was great overall. In a private room, we were a party of 10 which meant we could be quite loud. Dim lights, efficient service and a kind waitress who ensured we were continuously topped up with water, and good food.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend Pastuso for a private room in a big group of 10. I've had much better experiences when it's been 2-4 people on the main floor.