Mares Peruvian Cuisine in Winter Park navigates the treacherous restaurant depths of Park Avenue

The steady proliferation of Peruvian restaurants around town over the past couple of decades has led to a great diversity of options for lovers of this most multi-culti of cuisines. There are high-end joints like Papa Llama; contemporary eating houses like Pisco Peruvian Gastrobar; and traditional players like the always solid Aji Ceviche Bar, El Inka Grill and Memories of Peru. But Mares, a Hunter's Creek outfit that's opened an outpost on fickle Park Avenue in Winter Park, seems to defy being pigeonholed.

The fare, rooted in traditional Peruvian, won't be mistaken for the dishes served at Central or Astrid y Gastón in Lima. The exploding Toucan Sam rainforest interior falls, I suppose, within the bounds of a contemporary aesthetic, while the upmarket prices may have you squawking like the bird on a Froot Loops box. Hey, I get it: The monthly rent here is very likely in the low five figures, which explains why some of the same dishes served at the Hunter's Creek location cost more when served in Winter Park.

But one advantage Mares has over other Peruvian restaurants in town is that most of the ingredients come straight from Peru. I know because the gentleman sitting next to us — a chap we later came to learn was one of the owners — told us so. "Even the meats?" I ask. "No, not the meats," he responds, "but that octopus you're eating, yes." Indeed, the pulpo parrillero ($30), a simmering hot plate of grilled intelligence served over fat kernels of choclo and fried potatoes, was an appetizer with legs, and then some.

click to enlarge

Photo by Rob Bartlett

Another head-nodder of a starter was the "classic" ceviche ($27), but the price of the citrusy zinger of sea bass served with sweet potato and the corny duo of choclo and its crunchier cousin, cancha, made it a little hard to swallow. Consider it's $23 at Mares Hunter's Creek, and $17.95 at Aji. Also hard to swallow: a $17 passionfruit pisco sour that was very light on the pisco. "I might've been better off getting a glass of passionfruit juice for $9," I mutter to the pal. That said, the owner was kind enough to send over complimentary cups of chicha morada, the spiced and refreshing beverage made from purple corn.

"We make it with corn from the Andes, not from a can like other places," he says, and it's a purple potable I'd order again. Hell, I'd pop into Mares just for a glass ($6) but, sadly, not much else. Yes, the prices are a bit of a deterrent, but Mares doesn't provide a special enough experience to justify them as, say, Pisco or Papa Llama do. A plate of arroz chaufa ($24), or chicken fried rice, is $14.95 at Memories of Peru, $16.95 at Aji and $23 at El Inka, and their versions have the sort of wokky essence that the one at Mares lacked. Same goes with the lomo saltado ($28). Mares presents the beef stir-fry with plush chunks of filet mignon, which is nice, but the flavors were so much more muted than expected.

I will say that the pescado a lo macho ($28), a pan-fried fillet of sea bass doused in a rich, creamy sauce fired with aji amarillo and embellished with octopus rings, mussels, scallops and shrimp, was as bold a dish as they come. It's also a dish that's Peruvian to its core, even without any potatoes or corn.

It seemed somewhat fitting to end with sweet, dense and utterly luscious "Suspiro de Limeña" or "The Sigh of a Lady From Lima" ($10). I let out a deep breath when I got the check, then couldn't help but go through the roster of restaurants that have occupied this very space: Maestro Cucina Napoletana in 2017, Antonio's Trattoria & Wine Bar a couple of years later, followed by Grato and the even shorter-lived Fortuna Bakery. For whatever reason, turnover in this particular space is high — just something that comes with the territory when navigating the choppy mares of the Park Avenue dining scene.