La Mar • Cebichería Peruana — Restaurant in Bogota, Capital District

A wonderful choice for a Saturday lunch, happily coinciding with the twenty minutes during which it rained in Bogotá that day.

I was not feeling 100%, having both a cold and the early symptoms of adaptation to altitude, so my appetite was somewhat dull. The big and beautifully-written chalk menu on the walk suggested the 'default' cebiche classico (pictured elow), with catch of the day, which happened to be a tasty white fish. It was, on my part, an inspired choice -- the chile, lime and vinegar combo was a perfect spur to my appetite.

Wine is not a feature, really, in Colombia, since import duties are a bit stern. The clientele of this restaurant, however, were not unduly disturbed by this -- my companions each had a glass of a good Chilean Sauvignon Blanc.

Liz, my wife, had salmon in an amarillo sauce. So it was yellow. She enjoyed it. The friend we were visiting had a sort of fried-rice with all manner of things in it (not at all a paella). He relished it.

I note that another respondent here has commented on "white table cloth fancy dinners." Possibly I have a slightly different take on this: I am now an American but grew up in Britain (so, hurrah! now have two completely bankrupt identities...), and the atmosphere, napery and décor seemed like...well, what they were; the accoutrements of a upper-middle range restaurant.

Service was efficient and charming. The surrounds were lovely. Tall glass windows framed damp greenery outside, and the 'kitchen' -- basically, I believe, one whole side of the room -- was tidy and attractive, with maritime-coloured tiles.

The menu provided a moment of unintended hilarity, with a reference to "antifood miso." I am resigned to never knowing what that means, so it'll remain a pleasing thing to turn over in my mind.

Word to the wise -- Colombian maize or corn-on-the-cob is by and large equivalent to what in the US would be called feed corn. It looks great being grilled on the street, but alas, it's mealy and tasteless.

Overall, in any case, I strongly recommend La Mar Cebichería for any lover of good,...

This would have gotten 5 stars had my lobster not been poorly cooked (overcooked on the outside and undercooked in the inside). Our primary reason for the visit was to try the highly rated ceviche. My girlfriend got the Verdico (quite spicy, even for us who routinely use Sriracha on most everything) and I ordered the sampler - which included 4 tasters of different kinds of ceviche.

The taster (listed as "Degustacion") included the following: Clasico (this was my favorite), Chifa (not on menu, was sweeter and definitely had an Asian/Chinese fusion to it and served with little bread/cracker sticks), Nikei, and Mistura. If you want to taste the greatest number of ceviches this is definitely the route to go.

The Verdico was very tasty but a bit too spicy for me - my gf even had ordered a side of rice partly to eat with the remaining 'salsa' (the base for the ceviche, which was delicious but again very spicy) and kept half of the rice to eat plain if her mouth couldn't take the heat.

I ordered a lobster tail (Cola de Langosta) which was served broiling on a skillet atop a bed of mushrooms and onions. With a LOT of garlic. I loved the flavor but the tail was prepared very poorly, which is ultimately why I'm only giving 4 stars. The rest of the food, ambiance, and experience was definitely 5 star. It was cooked on too high of heat such that the outside was very tough (and for the part not fully poached from the shell, resulted in the shell being almost fused to the meat and when I ate it I had to spit out several pieces of shell) and the center of the tail was still a bit too rare.

Overall it was a delightful experience and the venue is amazing with 30 foot ceilings and amazing decor/lighting. The staff was mostly friendly and attentive and the overall ambiance was up-scale yet...

I had a nice time at La Mar. I think I just went on an off day (Sunday evening, earlier dinner, thunderstorm), so it was not “excellent.” Overall I’d go back and definitely recommend you visit as well.

I was surprised to see that the normal chips and sauces were not included with table service. That was a huge bummer as that is one of the big reasons I love La Mar so much! I started with a pisco and lychee cocktail that was good but too sweet for my liking. They were very kind and remade it with more lime juice and it was delicious. 8 out of 10. I started with the ceviche chalaco which was amazing as expected. 10 out of 10. I also got the shrimp wontons with tamarind rocoto sauce that were phenomenal. 12 out of 10. They were a little on the heavier side and I definitely could have been fine with the wontons + ceviche, but I did want to try a main while I was there. The saltado fusión with salmon and shrimp in a coconut Thai said was good, but it didn’t wow me. 7-8 out of 10. In hindsight, I didn’t need it and would have been happy/full with just the appetizers. I also got the La Mar sour with uchuva juice which I really liked! A little pulpy/seedy but still tasty. 9 out of 10. Dessert was a guanabana gelato which, again, was good, but not wow. 7 out of 10.

I’d return and try some different options on the menu. Staff was extremely friendly. My waiter was Diego. Pay Diego more!!! Overall, I’d say the La Mars rank Santiago San Francisco Buenos Aires Lima Bogotá. All very good and all...