Astrid y Gastón

I give it 4 stars, because it was a nice experience. That being said, I have to agree with some of the reviews.

Food We had the 16 course tasting menu, it was way tooooo much food. By the end, I had to ask that they just bring out one dish for me / husband (although, happy to pay for the 2 people price) so that we wouldn’t waste the food. I am the type that if I do not finish the food on my plate, I feel it is an insult to the chef - I should have left the food, because I was painfully stuffed! I think for the same price, they should reduce their portions. Typically, in high end restaurants and with this many courses, making something 1-2 bite sizes is fine. For example, the rabbit / short rib dishes had two fairly good-sized morsels, this could have been just one. The ceviche and scallops, although delicious, had c. 5 chunks of food, this could have been 2-3. The bread basket, although delicious / as well as the dips, could be half the size, I.e. one bread loaf per flavour between 2 people. For other dishes, you cannot avoid this, I.e. tacos, etc, which is understandable. I also agree with the other reviews, the dumpling was underwhelming. It seems like this is the consensus - I would look to consider something different. Some of the dishes were great in terms of taste / texture, while some was a miss (too many flavours). In some ways, giving 4 stars just for the food makes more sense, but I did like the setting of the restaurant as it felt more local / down to earth albeit prices being equivalent to high-end service.

Wine We also had one of the wine pairings while I ordered glasses along the way. The sommelier must do a better job in explaining each of the wine he is pouring (region, make, taste / flavours and why it is being paired with the dish / what flavours the alcohol will bring out in the dish). Or at least something more than pouring and walking away. Since there was only one, he was off with his timings and kept missing the pours with each dish. I also had miscommunications with the sommelier as I was looking for wines that would fit each 2-3 dishes, which may have been unconscionable. The pairings did bring out the flavours of dishes and you could tell they were well thought out - 5 stars.

Service Servers were attentive, but not as professional as would be expected. I think this contributed for the local / down-to-earth feel. I thought perhaps, Astrid y Gastón were going for this feel. If they wanted it to be more formal, service will need to be altered / professionalised. This excludes the bartender, who was very professional.

Overall, it is listed as one of the top 50 restaurants in the world (I think 33) and for that reason, it was a must try in my book. I am not an expert in Peruvian food, so trying all these dishes was an experience. I am surprised how they managed to lock down 33 and would say reduce portion-sizes (which is more acceptable for high-end 16 course tasting menus), professionalise the sommelier / staff ever so slightly to optically change the perception.