The Best New Peruvian Restaurant in Toronto

Hidden in the alleyways of downtown Toronto’s Wellington Street lies an authentic taste of Peru.

The new Peruvian restaurant, Mira, brings creative and fresh dishes with seafood and meats to the Toronto palate, making it one of our new favourite food destinations!

The restaurant is one of few uniquely Peruvian dining destinations in Toronto and is managed by award-winning chef Stuart Cameron. As the executive chef  Toronto’s popular Mediterranean restaurants, Byblos and Patria, Cameron will now add Mira restaurant to his list of accomplishments as he further contributes to the increasingly enticing international food scene in Toronto with the opening of Mira.

After finding the restaurant, which was a bit of a challenge given my poor sense of direction, we walked through another small alleyway to Mira’s front door. As we made our way into the dimly lit restaurant, we were met by a hostess who found our reservation and proceeded to escort us to our table.

Making a reservation at Mira is a necessity for dining currently, due to the restaurant’s popularity and size. I always try to book my reservations on the OpenTable app when dining both locally and abroad as its points program collects points toward free dining experiences—who could say no to that?

Once we were seated at our table, I had the chance to take in the restaurant’s aesthetic. The bar is a major focal point of the small restaurant, with smoky mirrors and bold light fixtures. The walls are further adorned with artistic murals, playing into the restaurant’s unconventional, yet hip atmosphere.

Looking at the drink menu, we chose to order the unique Peruvian cocktail known as Pisco. A traditional pisco is an amber coloured brandy used in various cocktails and other alcoholic beverages. Our favourite Pisco was the Villa Maria as it had more of a sweetness than the Classic Sour.

As Mira is known as a tapas restaurant, we chose to order several sharing plates for our meal. Off the menu, we ordered the Tostado Morado, Concha, Mira Ceviche and Cerdo.

For our appetizers, we chose to indulge in the Tostado Morado, a tuna dish with purple corn, cilantro creme, and avocado; along with the Concha, consisting of bay scallops with atomic butter and lime. Both dishes were incredible, but my personal favourite was the Tostado Morado.

For our main meal, we chose to have the Mira Ceviche, containing fluke, sweet potato, leche de tigre, criollo and concha corn; along with the Cerdo, a suckling pig with fried quinoa,  ramen glaze and rocoto jam. Until this moment, I had never tried suckling pig and honestly, I wasn’t completely open to the idea at first. Yet, to my surprise, the dish was incredibly appetizing and flavourful!

Mira’s unique aesthetic and authentic food made us not only want to return to the restaurant, but book a trip to Peru! If you’re looking for a taste of Peru in the city, consider booking your next dining reservation at Mira.

Have you had a chance to dine at Mira? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!