Moche Peruvian Fusion Cuisine — Restaurant in Sydney

Peruvian cuisine is having its moment in Sydney with Barangaroo newcomer, Callao, joining the successful Warike and sister cevicheria, Lima, which relocated to Bondi earlier this year. With considerably less fanfare, Moche joined the fray in Pyrmont about six months ago. This quirky basement setting offers up Peruvian fusion cuisine, predominantly focused on Nikkei (a well established cuisine that employs Peruvian and Japanese techniques and ingredients) but with a spattering of chifa dishes that fuse Cantonese and Peruvian traditions. A pisco sour ($18) should be a given.

The spud—Peru grows 3000 types of potato—is very well-represented on the succinct menu. Huancaina ($15) is basically a big ball of mash smothered in a traditional Peruvian spicy cheese sauce made with crumbled queso fresco and yellow aji amarillo chillies. It’s served with boiled eggs and kalamata olive crumbs under a dusting of paprika. Smashed potato dough is also the base of the causita ($20) where the same yellow chillis come into play with a creamy shredded chicken and mayo topper. In this cold salad, they’ve turned the olives into a sauce that’s puddled over more boiled eggs, avocado, and cherry tomatoes with a hint of lemon. It suits a Peruvian beer: the Pilsen Callao ($11) is my personal recommendation.

The more substantial crocante mixto ($32) also has a smashed spud base with the same general palette of ingredients, though this one is pitched at pairs of carnivores, adding tender grilled beef and pork under a hat of nicely-washed red onions. This time the sauce is chalaca, which teams chillies, lime, onion, sour cream, and tomatoes. If you need some more acidity to cut through all them tubers, el norteñito ($10) is your go-to. It’s a two-tone bean salad with cancha serrana (crunch corn kernels) and jumbo soft white corn kernels. It’s so good, it’ll make you wonder why we ever agreed to eat Edgell’s rubbish...

Yay So, I had the chance to try Peruvian food in Sydney, and it was absolutely amazing! I’d already fallen in love with Peruvian food when I visited Bali, so I had to make sure to check out this hidden gem in Sydney!

The venue is super convenient, right next to the Sydney fish markets. The best way to get there is by taking the tram.

We had the most authentic Peruvian food experience, packed with flavours and spice. The food and cocktails were absolutely lush! And the service was outstanding.

I highly recommend this spot! All the dishes were absolutely scrumptious, and the dessert was to die for. It was so soft, spongy, and melt-in-your-mouth.

Here are some of the dishes we tried:

Crocante Mixto (To Share): Smashed potato base infused with a blend of Peruvian chilies, accompanied by tender meat and pork pieces, spicy Chalaca sauce, and cilantro essences. It was a hearty and flavourful dish.

Ceviche Chiclayano: Fresh fish of the day, crispy red onion, Peruvian and Chulpi corn, fresh lime, and hints of chilli, all enveloped in their enhanced white base infused with Peruvian Northern flavours. Served with a Calamari ring. It was a refreshing and tasty dish.

Arroz con Mariscos (Seafood Rice): A medley of seafood and seasonal vegetables wrapped in rice, with seafood sauce, parmesan, Chalaca sauce, and garden herb aromas. It was a comforting and delicious dish.

Pisco Sour: A classic cocktail with a touch of Peruvian twist.

Chilcano de Pisco: A spicy cocktail with a Peruvian kick.

And for dessert, we indulged in the decadent “Volcan de Lucuma.” It was made from lucuma, a sweet fruit native to Peru, and served with ice cream. It was a heavenly dessert!

So, if you’re ever in Sydney, make sure to check out this Peruvian food spot. You won’t be...

The service was great however the food did not meet our expectations. As a Peruvian, after reading so many reviews stating how good the food at Moche was and how authentic it tasted, my husband and I had high expectations but ended up walking away very disappointed. We couldn’t even finish our dishes that were ordered because they weren’t even enjoyable to eat. We left feeling horrible at how much $ we wasted on food that was not worth the price that was paid. The dishes were over priced for the quality and quantity that was received. We ordered the causita, arroz con mariscos, special chaufa, ceviche and lomo saltado. First of all, it was $40 for a small portion of the actual lomo saltado that had no real flavour and came with a small portion side of papa fritas that tasted like cardboard! (The portion sizes displayed on the company’s social media profiles were bigger than the proportions that I received). I will say that the ceviche was the only decent dish, however all the others were not worth the hype, definitely were missing sabor (flavour) and the seafood in the Arroz con mariscos was not fresh, it tasted old and we got turned off from our food. The food unfortunately did not taste authentic to Peru as many other reviews had stated. It is so unfortunate as we were so excited to recommend this place to our Peruvian family and South American friends but after trying it, we will definitely not be recommending...