Llama Inn — Restaurant in New York

This is my third time eating at Llama Inn and will sadly, but definitely, be my last. As other reviewers have pointed out, the restaurant has changed significantly after winning a James Beard award earlier this year. The rave reviews since 2016 for what was once a solid, trendy, but sub-$100 “it” restaurant have sadly gone to its head. Upon sitting down, we were flabbergasted that the $80 lomo saltado that seemingly every table orders had been “upgraded” to a $160 wagyu beef version. Upon explanation, the waiter informed us that the restaurant was attempting to gain its first Michelin star, and had “upgraded” the menu in an attempt to elevate the restaurant. Someone forgot to tell the chef that wagyu beef deserves to shine on its own, not be drenched with sauce, vegetables, fries and guacamole. We bit the bullet and still ordered it, along with the crispy squid ceviche, and were introduced with two of the saltiest and most disappointing dishes I have ever tasted.

The ceviche was essentially bar-quality frozen and fried calamari dunked in leche de tigre, which I can only assume contained 3000% of an average person’s suggested daily sodium intake. We were starving and couldn’t finish it.

Then the inexplicably wagyu beef version of the lomo saltado came. This may have been my entire week’s worth of sodium packed into a $160 dish for two. The experience was like dumping a wagyu salt shaker directly into your mouth. You could barely taste the six pieces of wagyu beef hiding under the mountain of (very tasty) fries and inedible sauce. The only things we were able to finish were the rice and guacamole to dull our stingingly salty tongues.

The service, while friendly, was hardly polished. We sat for around 10 minutes before anyone had greeted us for drinks or water. We had to ask for more water 2 or 3 times before it arrived. Around 15 minutes after ordering, the waiter came over and was surprised we hadn’t received our ceviche yet. This was odd considering he would be the one bringing it to us a few minutes later.

The entire experience, for a now whopping $300 with tax and tip for two people, was a letdown from start to finish.

Llama Inn, if you are reading this, please consider changing the lomo saltado back to the standard steak version for $80 and seriously consider recalibrating the salt level of your food. This is not a restaurant I would recommend to anyone, and I would truly lose all faith in Michelin if the restaurant achieves their goal while maintaining this level of service, food quality and prices.

If you are in Williamsburg for dinner, go to the other 47 world-class restaurants that have popped up in the past five years....

Service: Unfortunately I have a couple serious knocks against Llama inn re: service.

We had a reservation and still had to wait 25 mins for our table, during which time we sat at the bar and not one of the 2 bartenders even acknowledged us in that time. Didn't even say "hi" or "be right with you" or "hey sorry it will be a few minutes we are very slammed/short staffed". NOTHING. Just treated us like we were invisible. I worked in the bar and night club business for YEARS and this is a cardinal SIN to me. Then after we sat down it was easily another 20 or so minutes until we even had a waitor approach and he just dropped off a glass of water and disappeared for a while before coming back to take our orders. Needless to say I was very close to walking out but once we ordered things started rolling smoothly.

Sometime between the time I booked in April, and may 19th.. they updated their covid policy to where you can not eat inside unless you have done a covid test within 48 hours or have proof of being vaxxed. Now my gf fortunately had her 2nd shot just the day before as did I, a few days before that. But we had NO notification of this policy upon making the res nor were we notified of needing proof of being vaxxed or tested within 48 hrs UNTILL THE DAY OF! Things very easily could have turned out very bad if it was inclement weather or very cold due to their lack of simple communication on new policy.

(If this was some average cheapy spot I wouldn't be as picky about the service but we dropped almost $300(tip included) on dinner for 2... not what you expect when you're spending that much)

Food: Unreal from a culinary perspective. Every dish we had was more amazing than the next. So good!

Highly recommend: the bass, the soft Shelled crab, the octopus, and the crispy pig Tails. My compliments to the chef, big time.

The cocktails they had were awesome too!

Only knock on the food is portion size. Don't come here too hungry or you'll be spending hundreds of dollars.

Ambience: Very simple yet tastefully decorated with nice plants. A classy/quaint vibe. Outdoor seating was very nice from what I saw walking in. Place was BUZZING... on a TUES NIGHT! I can only imagine what fri-sat must be like... There is a rooftop as well though I didn't get to see it, I heard it was very nice and they have different cocktails up there.

All in all I will try it again, maybe they just had a bad day service wise. I wanted to give 5 stars because of the high quality of the food but I also wanted to give 2 stars for the very lack luster service experience. So I settled at 3 stars giving them the benefit of the doubt it will be...

On a random side street in Brooklyn, adjacent to a small hotel and a freeway overpass, is an unlikely location to find such a wonderful gem, but Llama Inn is truly a Peruvian oasis in the city. I went for Saturday brunch with some friends and was absolutely astonished to find plenty of street parking right in front of the restaurant! Walking in, you’re immediately greeted by art with bright, vibrant colors against a cheery white background and tables surrounding a chic central bar. Once upstairs, it’s like you’ve left Brooklyn. The rooftop is stunningly gorgeous, with tropical vibes, comfy seating and some areas with more overhead coverage for those not wishing to experience the full brunt of the sun. It’s a real moment. Unfortunately for my party, although I did have rooftop reservations, the only table available was fully exposed to the sun on a nearly 90 degree Fahrenheit day, so we sashayed our sundresses back inside before imminent make-up melt down could occur.

I started with a Llama Del Rey, a refreshing pisco and red wine based sparkling drink that was reminiscent of red sangria. Most of the cocktails had cute, cheeky names which added to the festive brunch feeling. We ordered chips and dip for the table which were quite good. The chips tasted fresh. The winning appetizer however, was the ceviche with calamari, lime, red onion and cilantro. It was zesty and flavorful. For a main I had a generous sized breakfast platter with scrambled eggs, brioche toast, blood sausage and pork shoulder tamal. I hurt myself trying to eat it all because it was soooooo good. I mean I had to do some major dress adjustments to account for my distended abdomen afterwards, but it was worth it! Biting through the firm texture of the blood sausage casing created a great juxtaposition with the soft, friable, savory filling. The pork shoulder in the tamale was tender, succulent and bold in flavor. I can’t recall the last time, if ever, I had better pork. One of my friends had the fried rice omlette which was also delicious. For desert, I loved the elevated take on flan with crushed macadamia nuts and crème de mint topping. The sorbet with frozen grapes beautifully assembled on top was another fantastic choice on a warm summer day.

Everyone from the host to the servers was extremely personable and helpful. The restaurant was also playing a mix of Beyoncé and Aaliyah that morning, so my friends and I had a blast. If you’re looking for a place with fun atmosphere and delicious food, check...