I’ve been loving Ricardo Zarate’s Peruvian cuisine for years now. I’ve tried many of his restaurants including Pache, Picca, his Once pop up, as well as Rosaline. So, I was very excited to hear he was opening up a new restaurant on Pico called Pikoh! The restaurant was originally open all day serving breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner, but it seems they are refocusing and only serving dinner at the moment. From their website:

“As we are transitioning into our new concept of 100% Peruvian menu offerings, our restaurant hours have changed. We will resume lunch and brunch dining services at a later date.”

I made a reservation for 7:30 for a party of 4 only a few hours before on the day of. I was a bit surprised that it wasn’t filled up much, especially considering the fact that it was at a prime time and a new restaurant at that. However, I trusted Zarate’s food from my past experiences and I knew that stretch of Pico Boulevard is a bit sleepy. 

The decor has similar elements to West Hollywood’s Rosaline, but the space is much smaller. The room is modern with greenery and with casual furnishings, mid-century modern chairs and minimal table lamps. There’s a bar area, a dining room area, as well as a space with limited outdoor seating. 

The first dish we ordered was chickpea hummus with crudites. Nothing too special here, but a good appetizer to munch on while waiting for the mains. 

Next was an albacore tiradito with crispy onions, ponzu sauce, and chunks of sweet potato. I enjoyed the combination of crispy onions with the smooth sweet potato, however, the quality of the albacore was not exceptional.

The next dish we received consisted of roasted red pepper dip, slices of avocado, heirloom tomato, and burrata. An interesting mix of ingredients, but the roasted red pepper was  delicious, and balanced well with the burrata and tomatoes. 

As we well know, I have a special affinity for pasta so I was excited to see agnolotti on the menu. The corn agnolotti is done pretty well - each piece pops in your mouth in a satisfying way and provides a burst of flavor. There are also nuts and corn kernels tossed throughout for a nice crunch. 

The miso salmon with quinoa is one of my favorites. The fish is cooked well and has nice flavor, but what makes the dish great for me is the quinoa - it’s super bright and citrusy, and thankfully you’re given a fair amount of it. The miso in the salmon cuts the tanginess of the quinoa very well.

The seabass comes with zucchini, squash, and is topped with a green sauce. It’s summery and light, but if I were to choose between the seabass and the salmon, I would definitely choose the salmon. 

The best dish of the night, and the reason I love Zarate’s restaurants, is the lomo saltado. It comes with beef tenderloin, fries, onion, and tomato, on a bed of rice. The steak is extremely flavorful and tender, the fries add a nice crispiness, and the juices of the steak soak into the rice and vegetables to really bring it all together.

For dessert, we opted for both the vanilla yogurt panna cotta and the tres leches cake. The panna cotta comes with passion fruit gelee and pomegranate seeds. It’s refreshing and tart, and a perfect end to a super flavorful meal. The chocolate tres leches cake is interesting as it is not a typical tres leches - it comes with coconut shavings and meringue on top to create nice dimension. It’s a bit heavier than the panna cotta, but both are great dessert options. 

It seems that the beginning months of Pikoh were more of an experiment to combine different European and Asian influences on the menu. Some of the food didn’t stand out or wow me as much as I wanted it to. I personally love Zarate’s restaurants for the classic and modern takes on Peruvian food. I’m glad that he has now chosen to transition the menu to a fully Peruvian style, because I think that is definitely what he does best. I’ll have to try Pikoh again with the new menu, or I may just go back to Rosaline instead for my Peruvian fix.