City Paper - Ceviche Review

City Paper Review:
By Tim Carman

It’s not listed anywhere on the menu, but style is Ceviche’s main ingredient. The downtown Silver Spring establishment exudes it, whether with its monstrous jellyfish-like light fixtures that hover over low-slung lounge tables or with its self-conscious menu eager to convince diners that Latin American fusion isn’t the food world’s equivalent to Ricky Martin. Following a shaky period during which two chefs pulled the kitchen in different directions, Ceviche has settled upon Peru native Javier Angeles-Beron as its head toque. He’s tinkered considerably with the menu since the restaurant’s opening in mid-2005, more than doubling the seviche offerings while putting some of the lame dishes out of our misery. He’s smart enough, though, to keep around the tuna seviche, a beautiful bowl of sashimi-grade ahi dappled with wasabi-flavored flying fish roe and sitting atop a thin layer of ginger-soy-lime sauce. The best dishes, in fact, are often the simplest ones: a seviche, a roast chicken marinated in cumin and beer, or even a corn fritter appetizer stuffed with Gruyere. You also can’t go wrong with one of Ceviche’s Latin-inspired cocktails, notably the Amor Prohibito, a spicy blend of tequila, Serrano peppers, and ginger-infused passion fruit.

Tim Carman (6/5/2006)

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