Background
Lima has been serving discerning Londoners a selection of innovative and delectable flavours from Peru at its bright Rathbone Place restaurant since 2012. And for those missing out on those vibrant flavours, the restaurant now offers its at-home kit that celebrates the best of Peru’s world-renowned Andean delicacies, fresh ceviches, healthy superfoods and Nikkei flavours.

The Meal Kit
Choose from three meal kits, which include signature dishes from Lima’s ever-popular menu including slow cooked short ribs, corn puree, aubergines, criolla sauce, tuna tartar ‘acevichado’ avocado mousse, mango, tiger’s milk and pistachio cheesecake to finish.  Being January, Brummell opted for the vegetarian box, which includes all the ingredients to make truffled quinoa salad, baked celeriac and artichokes and pistachio cheesecake, with a side of Peruvian bread with açai berries dip and cancha corn.

How many does it feed?
Two or four

Packaging
This neat package was delivered in a box and each ingredient carefully prepared and divided into fully recyclable pots and bags. As an unexpected (and cute) extra, the traditional corn comes in a charming Peruvian drawstring bag.

Prep
All of the dishes have been prepared in such a way that your job is to assemble, mix and heat to achieve a three-course meal as close to what you would experience in the restaurant as possible. Each course is colour coded and comes with a handy booklet with clear instructions on what to do and when.

Truffled quinoa salad

The food
Super easy to prepare and full of flavour, we start with the truffle topped quinoa salad, which is an earthy treat, combining flavours you would expect from Lima: nutty shimeju mushrooms, grassy broccoli couscous and earthy kiwicha, enhanced by the welcome garlicky pungency of the truffle. We teamed the starter with the fluffy Peruvian bread rolls (warm from the oven) and zingy açai berry dip.

Celeriac is one of the unsung heroes of the vegetable world. It’s more versatile than we give it credit for and it’s always delicious. Here, it’s combined with coconut velouté and hauctay for a wholesome, creamy yet fresh and nutty main. We were instructed to carefully carve out the centre of the celeriac to use the hollow shell as a bowl for the finished dish later on, but this was harder than it looked and ours collapsed. Despite the jagged appearance the moreish and delectable flavours more than made up for it. Nothing can prepare you for the melt-in-the-mouth wonder of Lima’s pistachio cheesecake. Perfectly pre-baked and reheated, its soft crunchy pistachio base teamed with the creamy topping was the pièce de résistance. There was no time to plate up; this pistachio delight was consumed with spoons directly from its box, a moment when the benefits of dining at home suddenly became clear.

The price
£75 for two, £140 for four people Lima also offers their renowned Lima Sour cocktail pre-bottled.

The verdict
This was a welcome challenge in the kitchen that paid off perfectly in the flavour stakes. We were transported to Peru and Lima from the first mouthful and, if we’re ever feeling indulgent, may hop on to the Restokit website and order a few more of those cheesecakes!

Restokit brings the restaurant dining experience to your kitchen table offering meal kits for home cooks of all levels. restokit.co.uk; limalondon.com