Ceviche y Maas

A Peruvian affair in Rotterdam

TEXT: FRANK VAN LIESHOUT | PHOTO © PHILIPPA DRIEST

Perch yourself at the bar for some mouthwatering ceviche and a refreshing pisco sour or sit down for the full culinary experience at Rotterdam’s first and only Peruvian restaurant: Ceviche y Maas.

Located at Deliplein, in the heart of Rotterdam’s trendy Katendrecht district, Ceviche y Maas was set up by Patricia Lavado and her daughter Sophia. A native from Lima, Peru, who made her way to Rotterdam via New York, Patricia used to work as a financial controller for most of her career. “But cooking has always been my passion,” she says. “And running my own restaurant together with my daughter is like a dream come true.”

Ceviche y Maas is a clever pun on Rotterdam’s famous Maas river and the Spanish word for ‘more’, suggesting that there is more to Peruvian cooking than its famous dish of fresh fish cured in citrus fruits, peppers and spices. “Absolutely,” Patricia asserts. “Peru is blessed with an enormous bio-diversity and an incredibly rich coastline providing an abundance of wholesome ingredients. Peruvian cuisine is pure, the most diverse in the world and the most flavoursome of South America, with Spanish, Italian, Asian, West African and native Indian influences.”

In the restaurant’s open, modern and stylish interior, guests can perch themselves at the full bar offering an array of Peruvian pisco, or sit down at a table and choose from a variety of authentic and contemporary Peruvian dishes. “We started some nine months ago, but every night I still feel grateful that I pursued my dream,” says Patricia. “Because every night I can share my passion for Peruvian cuisine with guests who are truly wowed by the experience. To me, that’s priceless!”

cevicheymaas.nl