Talking Fork

Ah Aji, the new sensation of the Palm at Vista Mare.

Touting a Japanese - Peruvian fusion experience called Nikkei cuisine, Aji has been extremely well appointed on the inside with a wonderfully intricate and ornate interior design approach that features a blend of wooden rustic tones with lovely upholstered, floral patterned seats and gold framed mirrors. Against this scene comes a nicely executed piece of wall art, which in this case does the venue justice and adding a little creative flair.

In all, Aji looks bespoke, impressive and expensive, matching the theme of the offering beautifully. The exterior has a neat terrace area but does not replicate the interiors in any way, which is understandable given the destination but a slight let down all the same.

What is Nikkei anyway?

Nikkei cuisine is of course not a new phenomenon, perhaps to Dubai it is, however it dates all the way back to the late 1800’s where it is said that 1000’s of Japanese workers were invited to Peru with the promise of jobs on special two year work contracts. After the job contracts were done, they stayed on and many tiny eateries sprouted up where the Japanese cooks stated adding little touches to Peruvian dishes. In many cases they transformed dishes normally served with meat and changed the base of the dish to fish.

Over time, the fusion became stronger to the point where the dishes were essentially Japanese with Peruvian touches creating a unique cultural merging of two distinct styles on a plate. It’s an enthralling story and one I think that is worth telling if you are a restaurant attaching yourself to this distinctive culinary concept.

With that piece of context in mind, our group of ten arrived expecting an insightful and exciting meal at this brand spanking new and hyped up venue. Upon arrival, we noted that we were essentially the only major booking for the service which was slightly odd given the huge amount of hype attached to the place and even so we didn't exactly receive so much as warm welcome. Did I miss something?

As the waiter seated us we received the menus and to our amazement not a single explanation of it, the narrative of the cooking style or the concept of the restaurant. Nothing. Left to our own devices we ordered up a pretty big cross section of items, some were great and some unfortunately were not.

On balance one could venture to say that what we were served was a reasonable attempt at this style of food. The Tacos and Gyoza were quite nice and the selection of Nikkei Shushi was also really good. On the other hand, the Udon noodles were a mushy mess and this item was regrettably sent back, while some of the ceviche’s were a real let down. The portobello mushroom grill with corn was a total non starter and akin to some sort of practical joke and the portions were also very small across the entire volley of dishes that hit the table.

Despite some culinary misses, the biggest issue was not the food but the service, which has to be said in the plainest terms was simply awful - bordering on incompetent. For instance, out of curiosity we asked for an explanation of many of the dishes as they arrived and one pearl of wisdom we got in reply for the sushi was - it’s rice! I’m not joking - that really actually happened.

To be clear, the food was not bad except the noodles - which really were utter rubbish truth be told, however, none of it was breathtaking either or befitting of the prices commanded by the establishment for the experience. This was an expensive meal and when combined with the exceedingly poor service and an argument over the noodles it really just left the entire table with an overall sense of frustration and bewilderment that a restaurant that has invested so much into the decor and has a unique platform and story to sell has invested so little in their people. In saying that, it’s not like this is the first time that’s happened but come on, really?

With out harping on about it, it really was a masterclass in how not to operate a front of house, in fact there was no actual service at all, let alone a comprehension of the finer points of high end dining. In a word, it was embarrassing and absolutely not what you would expect in 2017 at a fine dining restaurant.

Bottom Line:

Classic case of style over substance.

While Aji maybe the talk of town, this really was a huge missed opportunity. Despite being the only group in the place - a table of ten eager foodies, the service was nonsensical, the food pretty average and the bill extremely high for what’s on offer. Something in that mix doesn’t add up, the end result being ten people vowing to never set foot in the place again.

For this kind of price point, expectations are set a lot higher and Aji has a lot of work to do to get their staff and service offering where it should be to be considered fine dining.

*Note. The venue has closed down :(