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I’ll preface by saying that I know I am breaking my own rule here. The whole point of this silly little column is to celebrate one great dish at one great place. You know: the thing you absolutely must order if you go there. But…ack! This time around, I can’t pick just one. I yam who I yam!

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Suyo, a contemporary Peruvian restaurant on Main Street that has an incredible food program and a cocktail list to match (on the latter front, order the Lunar: it comes with a mini cocktail “moon” that explodes in your mouth). Chef Ricardo Valverde gave the menu a bit of an overhaul recently, including the expansion of its ceviche offering. And I love them all!

For starters there’s the Steelhead Trout Tiradito, which comes with skin chicharron, fresh corn kernels (the giant Peruvian kind, of course), toasted corn kernels, chalaca (a salsa similar to pico de gallo), and leche de tigre confit. The fish is perfectly soft, the sauce decadently spiced; the chalaca added perfect acidity and crunch. My only complaint is that the plate was too shallow to properly scoop up the sauce. The people need the sauce!

Then there’s the BC Side Stripe Prawn Ceviche, served with cilantro, prawn oil, cashew leche de tigre, and green grape chalaca.

“I went to T&T and saw green grapes,” Valverde tells the table as he puts down the plate. “That was my inspiration for this dish.”

So simple, so pure.

There’s also the East Coast Scallop Tiradito, which comes with cucumber leche de tigre, spiced cucumber, and Andean furikake. Salty, tangy, a little spicy, fresh—a complete dream.

Finally, there’s the Ceviche Amazonico with bluefin tuna, crispy plantain, black sesame, and passion fruit leche de tigre. The chunky bits of fatty tuna balance perfectly with the sweet sauce and the crunchy plantain.

Each ceviche at Suyo is different yet harmonious. The delicacy of the seafood, the complexity of the sauces—it all works. As if I could pick just one.